- 4 hours ago
Looking for cheap and easy chicken dinners that don’t sacrifice flavor? In this video, Nicole shares five budget-friendly chicken recipes you can make for less than $15 each—perfect for weeknight dinners, meal prep, or feeding a crowd without overspending. From crispy, cheesy favorites to bold, globally inspired dishes, these recipes prove you don’t need a big budget to make something seriously delicious.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00If you've been in a dinner rut
00:01and you're tired of spending all the money on groceries,
00:03I've got you covered.
00:04Here are five cheap chicken dinners
00:06that are anything but boring.
00:07I'm starting with my viral one pan
00:09garlic Parmesan chicken dinner.
00:11This we like to call the magic chicken dinner
00:13because it's more of a formula and less of a recipe.
00:16To keep it on the cheap,
00:17we're using bone-in skin on chicken thighs.
00:20These to me are the most flavorful, they're inexpensive,
00:24and they're really hard to screw up
00:25because you really can't overcook these.
00:28First ingredient is your veggie base.
00:31To me, you gotta have something starchy in there
00:33to withstand a longer cook time,
00:35but also something to absorb the flavorful liquid.
00:39That is the magical part of this whole thing.
00:42Three parts to a magic chicken dinner are a veggie base,
00:46of course the chicken, and then a sauce.
00:48The sauce can be something store-bought or homemade.
00:51We just build in our casserole dish,
00:53and then I'm going in with green beans.
00:55It says these are washed and ready to use,
00:57so in case y'all are worried about that.
00:59To this, I'm gonna go in with a little olive oil,
01:02salt and pepper.
01:03Just gonna place your chicken thighs right on top.
01:05I've talked about this before,
01:06but a good way to eat on the cheap
01:09is to buy your chicken when it is on sale
01:12and keep it in the freezer.
01:13Chicken's probably the best protein to freeze
01:15because it holds up very well in the freezer,
01:18doesn't change the texture or the flavor.
01:20We're also gonna season this layer.
01:21Now, truth be told, you could stop here.
01:24You don't even have to add the third ingredient
01:26because the chicken creates its own sauce,
01:28but just to stick with the formula,
01:31we're gonna add a sauce.
01:32So I'm gonna use this Parmesan garlic
01:34Buffalo Wild Wings sauce.
01:35It has a little bit of a kick to it.
01:38It kind of creates a little crust on the chicken,
01:40and then it just goes into the oven, just like that.
01:4350 to 60 minutes or until that chicken is cooked through.
01:47You'll wanna check it halfway through to make sure
01:49it's not getting too brown before the chicken is done.
01:52Also, if some of those potatoes on the top
01:55haven't gotten submerged into the liquid,
01:57you might just wanna give it a little zhuzh
01:59so everything cooks evenly.
02:00Other than that, it is a no-fuss dinner situation.
02:05Mmm.
02:08Smells so good.
02:09Look at that caramelization.
02:11It's all about the liquid gold underneath.
02:14Here's how you plate this up.
02:15Just a chicken.
02:17And look at these veggies.
02:19I mean, this to me is the dinner,
02:21like if you get home around five,
02:24you dump this.
02:25It's a dump and go dinner.
02:26You just dump it in the pan,
02:28let it cook for about an hour,
02:30and that gives you time to like decompress
02:32after the day, you know?
02:33Tastes like a meal that's been cooking all day,
02:35but you were able to do something like this
02:37right when you get home.
02:38Wouldn't hurt to grab some crusty bread too.
02:41Mm.
02:43Oh my God, look.
02:44And it cuts like butter.
02:48Mm.
02:50It'll just hit you immediately
02:52when you put that in your mouth.
02:54There's so much flavor.
02:55We just did salt and pepper,
02:56and then of course that sauce,
02:58but I'm telling you,
02:59with any sauce or no sauce,
03:01you're still gonna get this like rich, savory,
03:04moist, tender perfection.
03:07Like something this simple shouldn't be this good,
03:09but it is.
03:10We're turning our chicken into street food
03:12in an easy way next.
03:14We're making easy donor-style chicken gyros.
03:17And to keep it cheap, ground chicken.
03:20I've been buying this so much after I learned
03:22that it makes the most delicious things,
03:25especially meatballs.
03:26So I've done this with ground beef,
03:27but we know ground chicken is cheaper.
03:29You can get two pounds for 10 bucks.
03:32So no rotisserie required for these gyros.
03:36Usually, you know, it's on a spit,
03:38and you, you know, shave off the meat.
03:40Start with your ground chicken,
03:41and then you're going to season it up
03:43with pantry staples.
03:44Cumin, paprika, a little oregano,
03:47some coriander, a good bit of salt,
03:50and a good bit of pepper.
03:52Heavily seasoned.
03:53For moisture and flavor,
03:54I'm adding in some grated onion.
03:55You wanna grate it just on your box grater.
03:58That way it just kind of melts into the meat.
04:01Of course, some garlic,
04:02and then a little bit of Greek yogurt.
04:03You're also gonna use this Greek yogurt
04:05to make our tzatziki sauce.
04:06And then we mix.
04:08Oh, that's cold.
04:09That yogurt is gonna keep things moist also.
04:13Also needs a little oil in here.
04:15It's as hard as it's gonna get.
04:16You can roll out or cut out
04:18three kind of rectangular pieces of parchment.
04:21You're gonna spread this mixture among the three sheets.
04:24You're gonna spread it super thin all over the parchment,
04:27all the way to the edges.
04:28This is a fun recipe to entertain with,
04:31also, because it's one that like looks impressive,
04:34but is obviously super easy and inexpensive.
04:37All right, then you're just going to fold this over
04:39into like one to one and a half inch folds all the way.
04:45And then we just repeat with the rest.
04:47I have a little bit extra,
04:49so I'm just gonna go ahead and do a fourth sheet.
04:52Throw it on a baking sheet.
04:54You can obviously build these ahead of time.
04:56Makes for a good little make ahead meal.
04:58And then into the oven, 400 degrees,
05:01for just about 20 to 25 minutes.
05:03Some juices might accumulate in the pan,
05:05and you don't want it to steam too much.
05:07You want it to get a little bit brown or crispy around edges.
05:10So you might have to drain off some of that juice
05:12if it's too much in the pan, halfway through.
05:15While that cooks, we're gonna make our tzatziki sauce.
05:18And then we gotta grate our cucumber,
05:19so I'm gonna peel it and grate it.
05:21We wanna get as much water out of the cucumber as possible.
05:24So I'm gonna place it into a strainer and add some salt.
05:28The salt's gonna draw out any more moisture
05:30that hasn't already come out.
05:32While that drains, we'll put everything else to our yogurt,
05:35starting with some fresh dill.
05:38Now this is around $2.
05:41So if you don't wanna spend that,
05:43I bet you have the dried dill in your pantry.
05:46You're welcome to use that.
05:47I give you permission, but I would add it,
05:50because it does make it delicious.
05:51Some more garlic.
05:52So we're using a lot of the same ingredients
05:54in both applications.
05:57So you're not buying a ton of different ingredients.
06:00Using a microplane here is going to keep the garlic
06:02really small so you don't get a big bite of garlic
06:05when you take the sauce.
06:06Salt and pepper.
06:07And lemon juice.
06:09Lemony, garlicky, fresh dill.
06:11And then we'll just add in our cucumber.
06:13A lot of the water has come out of the cucumber,
06:16but I'm gonna give it even a bigger squeeze
06:18with some paper towels.
06:19Because that's the problem
06:20with a lot of store-bought tzatziki sauces,
06:22is they're just so watery.
06:24And then I also don't like stringy tzatziki sauce,
06:27me personally.
06:28So I like to give it another little chop.
06:30This cool, fresh, flavorful sauce
06:33with that roasted chicken in there.
06:36It's all you need.
06:38Get ready for the magic.
06:41Now, here's what you do.
06:43You just unravel it and you've got thin strips of euro meat.
06:47See?
06:49And then you just tear it into pieces.
06:51No one would ever know the way that ground chicken
06:54can press together like this.
06:56And look how much it makes.
06:58I'm also gonna take my pitas,
07:00heat them up a little bit.
07:02Just get all your stuff to make a perfect bite.
07:04I'm gonna add on a little more lemon juice.
07:06I'm gonna tear it into workable pieces.
07:11And they get like some caramelization on there.
07:14Cheaper than trying to feed your family from a restaurant.
07:16I can tell you that.
07:17So to build, here's what I would do.
07:20Grab your pita.
07:21I'm gonna go a little bit of tomato and onion.
07:24Instead of lettuce, just some parsley leaves.
07:28And then that delicious euro meat.
07:30Our yogurt sauce.
07:32That's a good bite right there.
07:36Mm-hmm.
07:37That was good.
07:38If you didn't know, you wouldn't know.
07:41You could fool anybody with this,
07:43making them think you really went the extra mile.
07:46This to me is the restaurant experience at home.
07:49If you're looking to save some money
07:51and not get takeout for the family,
07:52but you want, you know, a fun night in,
07:55something like this is the perfect dinner.
07:57The cheapest chicken of all is the drumstick.
08:01We're making crockpot smothered drumsticks.
08:04They're going to fall off the bone,
08:06be succulent in this delicious gravy.
08:09And it doesn't get much cheaper than this meal.
08:11This might be the cheapest one of the day.
08:12So you're gonna start out with drumsticks.
08:14Because I'm not browning these,
08:16I have taken the skin off.
08:19Because there's just nothing worse than just soggy skin,
08:22you know.
08:23It's very easy to do.
08:24It's hard to find them without the skin on.
08:26All you have to do is just kind of pull it off.
08:29Now this isn't the most glamorous of tasks.
08:31But I mean, this meal is about 10, 12 bucks.
08:35I'm gonna make a seasoning blend,
08:36but you could just use your favorite if you want.
08:38Salt, pepper, a little bit of cayenne,
08:41a little bit of garlic powder, onion powder.
08:43I saw a lot of recipes use an onion soup mix.
08:46Pack it out like it's necessary.
08:48We've got a good bit of our granulated onion in there.
08:51You're gonna get that good flavor.
08:52Plus I'm using fresh onion.
08:54Give it some color with some paprika.
08:55And that's it.
08:56So I'm just gonna rub this all over the chicken.
08:59You just wanna be sure your chicken is well seasoned.
09:01On all sides.
09:03All right, then we're just gonna put this
09:05seasoned chicken directly into the slow cooker.
09:07I'm gonna give it a little spray.
09:09This is so easy.
09:10Right into our slow cooker.
09:12I love using paprika if I'm not gonna brown something.
09:15Cause it, you know, still gives it color.
09:18Makes it look like it's got that good flavor.
09:20Okay, and then right on top of that,
09:21I'm going onion.
09:23Think smothered.
09:24You think smothered in onions, sometimes mushrooms also.
09:28So I'm going in with mushrooms too.
09:30Of course we know all this is gonna cook down.
09:32And now we're just going to make our little gravy to go on top.
09:35I have learned about cream of chicken with herbs.
09:38It's just like one step up from the regular cream of chicken.
09:41And the girl that I was inspired by with this recipe,
09:44this is what she always uses.
09:45You could pour this directly over,
09:47but I'm gonna kind of add a little more flavor to it.
09:49To that, I'm gonna add in just a little bit of water and
09:54a little Worcestershire, which is also going to give it that kind of oniony soup mix flavor.
10:00I'm also going to add in a little bouillon paste.
10:03You could also throw in one bouillon cube if you want to.
10:05It just kind of adds another layer of richness.
10:08Because again, we didn't get to caramelize anything in a skillet first.
10:12Because if you were making this, you know, the classic way on the stove,
10:16you would give some of that caramelization that depth of flavor.
10:18But we're going to have, we're adding it.
10:21And then you just spread this right on top.
10:23And you're like, of course, maybe you've had smothered chicken before.
10:27Like we've all had that, but I've never had just smothered drumsticks.
10:30And I haven't had it in a slocum.
10:32I like to think if I haven't, you haven't.
10:34And I'm sure y'all will comment and say, I've been making that for years.
10:38Well, I just woke up to it.
10:40That's it.
10:41This is one that can go low and slow for a good bit of the day.
10:45Or you can go high for half the day.
10:47So I'm going to go high for about four hours.
10:49And we'll see how we're doing.
10:50Smothered chicken drumsticks.
10:53This might be your cheap Sunday supper right here.
10:56We just want to make sure that chicken is tender.
10:58Well, yeah, the chicken's tender.
11:00It's falling apart, right?
11:01This is kind of a two per person situation.
11:05I mean, there's so much good gravy in here.
11:07Of course, you got to serve it with mashed potatoes
11:09so that you can get all that good smothered gravy like grandma used to make.
11:13I mean, the chicken really does just fall apart.
11:19Just like everything that's smothered,
11:21A, it has so much flavor, but B, it just melts in your mouth.
11:24It's all about the gravy.
11:26You just don't think to make just drumsticks.
11:29I always feel like there's something better out there you go for,
11:31but this is the perfect recipe to use the cheapest chicken possible.
11:36Now this one, I didn't know if it was going to work, but it did.
11:40We are making cheap chicken parm because we are making chicken parm patties.
11:45Instead of expensive boneless, skinless chicken breasts to make this,
11:48we're breaking out the ground chicken again.
11:51This one kind of blows your mind.
11:52It gets extra crispy.
11:54Oh, P.S. No frying required.
11:56So I'm just going to start with the ground chicken and season it.
12:00This is ground chicken breast, but you could use the chicken that has the dark meat in it also.
12:04Salt and pepper.
12:06Here, a little garlic powder.
12:07And then I'm also adding in some grated parmesan cheese.
12:10This is going to help hold that meat together.
12:13Truthfully here, the cheaper the parm, the better.
12:15Because you kind of want it dry so it holds things together.
12:19Then you just mix this, and we're going to form it into four kind of large meatballs.
12:23So obviously, ground chicken is looser than a chicken breast,
12:27but you still, you know, need it to hold its shape.
12:30Okay, then I'm going to pop these in the freezer for just about 10 minutes,
12:32and then we bread them, but in a very easy way.
12:35Our little, like, chicken balls are not frozen.
12:38They're just going to be a little firmer and easier to work with.
12:41I'm going to take some flour.
12:42I'm going to get you a parchment-lined baking sheet and spray it with some oil.
12:46I like using, like, an olive oil spray for this recipe.
12:49And then you're going to take your chicken, roll it in the flour,
12:52and then give it a press into the patty shape, and then place it down on your pan.
12:58So we're still incorporating all three steps of a breading process.
13:01We've got our flour, then we're going to do egg, and then breadcrumb.
13:04So I'm going to take one egg and beat it.
13:07And we're just going to brush the egg on, because these patties can be a little delicate.
13:12I love the crunch of panko, especially when I'm, like, fake frying something.
13:16But I love the flavor of Italian breadcrumbs.
13:19I've got plain panko and seasoned Italian breadcrumbs, so I'm doing a combo.
13:22Brush the patty, and then press the breadcrumbs on.
13:26And then you're going to flip it and do the other side.
13:28It's just about a tablespoon of breadcrumbs on each side.
13:32All right, once they're all lightly coated, spray them with more olive oil spray.
13:37This is kind of key.
13:38You want to kind of moisten all those breadcrumbs.
13:41And that's it.
13:42Now these go into the oven at 425 degrees until they're browned and crispy.
13:45You can see how thin they are, so you know this does not take long.
13:49After eight to ten minutes, flip the chicken, give it another spray of olive oil,
13:53and go back into the oven for another five minutes or so.
13:55Chicken is done.
13:56I just pop on the broiler for the last minute just to get it extra brown and crispy.
14:01You're not going to believe it.
14:05Chicken parm patties coming right up.
14:10Crispy.
14:11I mean, see how substantial they are in size, just from one pound of ground chicken.
14:15Now let's turn it into chicken parm.
14:17I like to just put the mozzarella on and then top it with the sauce later because we worked
14:23so hard to get it crunchy, and you know that sauce makes it soggy.
14:25And then back into the oven for just maybe a minute.
14:29You have to be careful with parchment paper under the broiler.
14:33You got to watch it.
14:35Disclaimer.
14:35Just enough to melt it.
14:37All right, let's build our masterpiece.
14:40We know pasta and sauce are cheap, but you also got to have it with chicken parm.
14:45A little more parm, just a little something green.
14:49Doesn't it look impressive for like a five or six dollar pack of chicken?
14:53Wait till you see the inside.
14:54That's the part that blows everybody's mind.
14:57And we look, it doesn't look like ground chicken.
15:03This is the perfect budget solution to chicken parm or to just any kind of breaded
15:08fried chicken cutlets where you don't want to buy chicken breast.
15:11You can get that crunchy, toasty perfection.
15:13There's a lot of flavor in that crust and inside, thanks to that parmesan cheese we added.
15:18But I mean, it just works.
15:19Whether you're making chicken parm or something else,
15:22this is a great little money saving hack.
15:26Not crunch.
15:27Are you ready for my final trick?
15:29Buffalo chicken rice.
15:31The ultimate cheap one pot meal.
15:33We are using the boneless skinless chicken thigh this time.
15:38So I'm going to start by cutting it into one inch pieces.
15:43To me, this is a new way to have chicken and rice,
15:45and it's a new way to have buffalo chicken.
15:47Buffalo chicken's not just for appetizers.
15:49This makes a lot.
15:52So this, if you've got like hungry eaters, maybe some teenage boys,
15:56this would be like a perfect meal for them.
15:58My family ate it twice.
16:00But the second time I turned it into fried rice.
16:02Buffalo chicken fried rice.
16:04All right, seasonings.
16:05I feel like I've done the same thing every time, but just been wanting to
16:09keep it as simple and cheap as possible.
16:12So salt and pepper it is.
16:13And then I'm also doing some garlic powder and paprika.
16:16All right, let's set that aside.
16:18All right, I'm going to chop up some green onion.
16:21And you know what we love with buffalo chicken?
16:23Celery.
16:24So I'm putting a little celery in here as well.
16:27This one actually is family friendly.
16:30You can control the heat level in it.
16:32So even my son ate this one and he doesn't love it when it's too spicy.
16:36He also doesn't love it when it's like too creamy.
16:38So this one kind of comes out like jambalaya style.
16:42All right, everything's done.
16:43Now the rest happens in our skillet.
16:46Get a large deep skillet or saucepan.
16:49Get it hot.
16:50And then we're going to put our chicken in.
16:51You know how I am.
16:52Like come back to the one pot meal lesson
16:56where you're building layers of flavor.
16:58So we want this to be really hot and we're going to caramelize that chicken.
17:01Get some good crust on it.
17:03So we're going to add the chicken in and then you don't touch it for about four minutes.
17:06Spread it out into an even layer and then walk away.
17:11But not too far.
17:12Flip them.
17:13Let them cook about another minute and then end with the celery and the green onion.
17:18At least don't take that long to cook.
17:19So just give them one to two minutes.
17:22Now I'm going in with a little butter.
17:23So I'm about to add my rice.
17:25I want to have a little more fat in there.
17:27This is the meal you make when you're in a hurry.
17:31Start to finish.
17:31It can be on the table in about half an hour and only one pan to clean it.
17:37And once that butter has melted, I'm going in with the rice.
17:40Then you want to toast that rice in the fat here for about a minute.
17:44You want to be sure every little grain is coated.
17:47That way it doesn't stick together when it's cooked.
17:49You've got a little barrier of fat around each grain of rice.
17:54Then it comes out more like a pilaf.
17:57Then let's turn it into buffalo.
17:59Now I like to just use regular hot sauce.
18:03This is the best kind when it comes to buffalo.
18:05If you want something not as spicy, you can just use the already prepared buffalo sauce.
18:10This really still isn't too bad.
18:12But we're using that in combination with our water to make this flavorful liquid.
18:16Give it one little scrape in case there's any little flavorful bits on the bottom.
18:20All right, you're going to bring this to a boil.
18:22One more little zhuzh, cover, reduce the heat, and it'll be ready in about 20 minutes.
18:28Check her out.
18:30The liquid has absorbed.
18:31You can tell the rice is tender.
18:32You can give it one more little stir if you want.
18:36So we have one more little thing to do, and that is top it with cheese.
18:40Now, because it's buffalo, I'm going to go blue cheese.
18:43But the other night when I made it for my kids, I just did some white cheddar over the top.
18:47You could do cheddar.
18:48You could do whatever kind of cheese you want, or you can just do no cheese.
18:50And then put the top back on and let that cheese kind of become acquainted with the rice.
18:55Okay.
18:57Here's how we're going to finish this.
18:59Cheese is melted.
19:01Also, what we like is a little ranch with our buffalo wings.
19:04So I'm just going to do like a little drizzle.
19:08And optional.
19:09This is optional.
19:10I heated a little more hot sauce with a little more butter.
19:13It's really not spicy at all, I don't think.
19:14So you can do that just on individual plates if you want.
19:17And then those green onions we saved from earlier.
19:19We may have saved the best for last.
19:21Buffalo chicken rice.
19:23Looks so good.
19:24No cream of soups needed in this casserole.
19:28There's a first time for everything.
19:30Told y'all.
19:31You could smell the buffalo.
19:32Let's just see how spicy it is.
19:37Mmm.
19:39It's delicious.
19:40In a way, I feel like you think it's going to be a little overwhelming,
19:43but it's not.
19:43It's like the most subtle buffalo flavor, but it's also the most like kicked up chicken
19:48and rice because it's not boring.
19:50It's not overly rich.
19:52It's just a flavor packed chicken and rice, almost like a little jambalaya.
19:56And just a touch of creaminess from the ranch and the cheese is all you need.
20:00The chicken cooked perfectly.
20:02The rice cooked perfectly.
20:04The celery is just like a little confetti in there.
20:07It adds a little texture.
20:09It's not crunchy, but it's not just soggy.
20:11It doesn't just disappear.
20:12This is the one where I'm like, I knew it was going to be good,
20:15but I didn't know it was going to be that good.
20:16And it's that good.
20:17It is.
20:18It's just that good.
20:19Chicken is never not going to be on the menu in our houses.
20:22It's just a thing.
20:22And now you have five new recipes to cook chicken with.
20:25And I'm telling you, saving money has never tasted this good.
Comments