Chicken is universal. Whether we are haunting our local restaurant for a few pieces of their delicious fried chickens or adding grilled chicken to our salads, this is one of the most versatile ingredients we use in our meals. Grill them into a steak, put them in your salad, fry them or steam them, add them to your soup, make them into sausages and nuggets – there are lots of ways for us to eat chicken.
Unlike most other delicious recipes, chicken is actually healthy. Nutritionists suggests as much as 3 ounces of chicken per person per meal, as many as several times in a week. Although it is best to eat the lean portions of skinless and fatless chicken, it is altogether a healthy alternative to most other kind of meat.
In this article, we’ve compiled 15 healthy ways to cook and serve chicken that your whole family would love.
1. 3-Ingredient Pineapple Salsa Chicken
You might have had the combination of chicken and pineapple on a pizza, but there’s a healthier way to incorporate this unlikely pair of ingredients. In a slow cooker, it takes a little over 4 hours to prepare and cook this recipe from Dash of Jazz that brings out all the hidden flavors of salsa, pineapple and chicken.
2. Slow Cooker/Pressure Cooker Russian Chicken
This recipe from This Old Gal can be prepared both in your slow cooker or your pressure cooker. Quite different from other chicken preparation, this recipe needs the chicken to be cooked in a mixture of Russian Dressing, Apricot preserves and a pack of Onion soup mix. Together, all the ingredients will give your chicken an uniquely tangy taste that’s best served with steamed rice.
3. Salsa Lime Chicken
The combination of salsa and chicken is always exciting. This recipe from Bless Her Heart Y’All uses only 3 ingredients: chicken breasts, gluten-free salsa and limes. Mix all the ingredients together and the chicken can be cooked in a pan, a pressure cooker or a slow cooker – whichever suits your time.
4. Slow Cooker Applesauce Chicken
In a slow cooker, two very basic ingredients will come together to add a unique flavor to your chicken. This recipe from Strength and Sunshine is both sweet and savory, and can be cooked with just two cups of homemade applesauce, a few pieces of chicken breasts and some spices, including onion powder, garlic powder and cinnamon. The whole recipe takes 7 hours to cook at the end of which, the chicken breasts can be shredded into pieces.
5. Tandoori Chicken Tikka
Indian cuisine is supposed to be spicy and hot, but they are also cooked with healthy alternatives and nourishing herbs and spices. We’ve all tried Tandoori Chicken or Chicken Tikka from our favorite Indian delis, but this recipe from Simmer to Slimmer is a healthier way to cook spicy chicken. You only need the most basic ingredients to cook this completely fat-free chicken recipe from scratch.
6. Rotisserie Chicken with Cranberries
This recipe from Mighty Mrs. combines the holiday favorites: rotisserie chicken and cranberries, but also plain Greek yogurt, chopped walnuts and raisins, celery, mustard and other herbs. In a single recipe, you get the amazing taste of cooked and grilled chicken and holiday nuts and fruits, mixed together in a salad that you can take with you to work.
7. Buffalo Stuffed Chicken
What can you stuff inside a chicken? Just about anything you want to! This delicious recipe from Delightfully Low Carb, however, uses a mixture of blue cheese and cream cheese inside a few pieces of boneless and skinless chicken breasts. The pieces are then baked in the oven for under 30 minutes with a glaze of buffalo sauce all over, giving you a delicious and healthy meal.
8. Snap Pea and Chicken Stir Fry
If you are in a hurry, this is a great recipe for you to try that takes around 35 minutes to cook. This recipe from Rachel’s Crafted Life uses chicken breasts, a pack of frozen string beans or snap peas, some rice vinegar, a little Sambal Oelek, some honey and a few cloves of garlic. Chop the chicken and the vegetables bite sized pieces, add all the other ingredients and cook over high flame – a healthy and delicious meal ready for the whole family.
9. Mexican Soup with Chicken
From the bland to the spicy. This recipe from a Mexican food is spicy but healthy at the same time, loaded with not just skinless chicken pieces, but also with vegetables. This recipe from The Cooking Collective uses chicken breasts, tomatoes, black beans, an assortment of healthy vegetables like onions, carrots, potatoes, celery and corn, tomato paste, lime juice and special Mexican spices, i.e. cumin, oregano, garlic, paprika and chili.
10. Keto Citrus Chicken with Carrot Salad
If you are on a Keto diet or a low-fat diet, this would be the perfect recipe to serve your family. Completely Keto-friendly, this recipe by Fit to Serve is best served with a side dish of carrot salad. According to this recipe, chicken pieces cooked with a special citrus sauce, made from a combination of minced garlic, lemon juice and chicken broth, flavored with different herbs and spices.
11. Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs with Citrus-Chipotle Glaze
This recipe from Beyond Mere Sustenance tastes just as amazing as it looks! This very colorful chicken preparation takes a total of 40 minutes to cook and needs chicken breasts, the zest and juice of blood oranges, a little chipotle powder mix, some honey and various spices. Besides the chicken pieces, this healthy recipe also includes an assortment of vegetables, i.e. sweet potatoes, zucchini squash, shallots, bell pepper, tomatoes and scallions.
12. Cauliflower Chicken Fried Rice
Chicken is always best served with rice, but sometimes that might be a problem if you want to skip the carb options. However, when you can use cauliflower florets, you won’t need to serve white rice or even brown rice with your meals. This recipe from Sorey Fitness uses cauliflower rice, a bag of frozen vegetables, soy sauce, scallions, eggs and other spices.
13.Healthy Tuscan Chicken
Skinless chicken breasts, sundried tomatoes, freshly chopped baby spinach, artichokes, coconut milk and chicken broth – these are the basic ingredients needed in this delicious chicken recipe from Cook At Home Mom. The whole recipe takes less than 15 minutes to cook from start to finish, and is sure to be a favorite of the whole family.
14. Healthy Chicken Moussaka with Potatoes
From the everyday to the exotic: a healthy moussaka made with tomato puree, onion, tomatoes, potatoes and a wide number of herbs and spices. The special sauce, according to this recipe from Healthy Recipes.guru is made of a mixture of flour, yogurt, eggs, oil, water milk and salt. Together, this is a healthy and delicious meal best served with rice or bread.
15. Syn-Free Hunters Chicken Stew in Slow Cooker
If you have leftover chicken in the fridge that you don’t want to eat, this recipe from Recipe This is a great way to use them. In a slow cooker, this recipe needs 6 to 7 hours to prepare, with cooked chicken pieces, tomatoes, carrots, red pepper, white and sweet potatoes, frozen peas, and an assortment of herbs and spices.
Even cooked in a healthy way, chicken can be absolutely delicious. Serve it with bread or rice, or even in your salad, and you get a filling meal for the whole family. Chicken – especially the skinless and boneless pieces – are healthy for people of all ages and background, and can be incorporated regularly in your meals without any guilt.
