As the iconic 90s ad jingle suggests, I almost always feel like “chicken tonight”, but to be honest, I’ve never bought a jar of that sauce. Regardless, I still demand simplicity of any weeknight dinner and I find recipes that require few ingredients overall are more attractive to my busy working day brain than something offering speed alone.
I’ve chosen five chicken dishes that are easy to put together and, even better, I expect you’ll have most of the ingredients in your cupboards already. Just add chicken!
Olia’s Chicken Pörkölt
This famous Hungarian chicken stew takes slightly longer to cook than the others but is otherwise very easy: only half an hour of prep and pan time before you leave it to do the work on its own. The simplicity of the ingredients really appeals to me, too: you need little more than chicken, onions and paprika.
I began making it from the Olia Hercules’ book, Home Food, and the London-based Ukrainian chef credits “the doyenne of modern Hungarian cooking” Zsófia Mautner with the recipe.
Hercules recommends using chicken drumsticks, thighs and wings, two each to serve three to six people. Brown these in a large pan that has a lid until the skin is golden on every side in three tablespoons of fat, preferably goose or duck but oil is fine.
Add two large sliced onions, turn the heat down, mix well and scrape up any bits of chicken skin stuck to the pan. Give them at least ten minutes, stirring from time to time.
Season with salt, pepper and two tablespoons of sweet paprika (one if using hot or smoked paprika). Pour in 300ml water, bring to a simmer, put the lid on and cook on a very low heat for an hour.
Cooking for such a long time produces tender meat that falls from the bone with the slightest nudge, rich in its paprika-red juices.
Hungarians eat this with short noodles called nokedli but you can use any short pasta, or any grains, potato or bread that you fancy.
Chicken traybake with za’tar and lemon
I used to marvel at the whole aisle of za’atar in my local Middle Eastern supermarket and first tried it out in this chicken traybake, which can be prepped in five minutes and cooks in 40. It’s from a book called Teaching Dad to Cook Flapjack by Miranda Gardiner, a gentle and flavourful guide aimed at getting reluctant or inexperienced cooks into the kitchen.
Za’atar is a blend of dried herbs such as oregano, thyme and marjoram, along with ground sumac, cumin, sesame seeds and salt. It is used across the Middle East and there are plenty of regional variations.
Start the night before, or the morning of, your chicken dinner. Marinate 500g wings or thighs with two cloves of crushed garlic, three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a very thinly sliced lemon, one tablespoon of za’atar, about 10 sprigs of thyme and 200ml water. I often also add a handful of fat green or black olives. Stir well and leave in the fridge for at least four hours.
If you do this in an oven dish, you won’t need to transfer it before cooking. Let it reach room temperature before cooking for 30 – 40 minutes at 200°C/180°C Fan.
To speed dinner up even more, pop small potatoes in the same dish.
Creamy chicken with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes
I don’t often do creamy sauces at home. It’s possible that I’ve been leaving it to the professionals, but as trips to restaurants become few and far between, I find myself wanting to cook richer dishes in my own kitchen.
You can use thigh or breast for this. Thighs give more flavour, but you do you. I used a 500g packet of skinless and boneless higher welfare thighs, which meant the chicken was £1-£1.50 per portion. Take it out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before cooking, season with salt and cut into chunks. Fry in two tablespoons of olive oil until cooked through, about 12 minutes. Add a few sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped. These are optional but bring a deep savoury edge to the sauce.
It’s time for the creamy part. This is an opportunity to use whatever you have in the fridge. I tend to add half a tub (100g) of cream cheese, but you could also go for single or double cream, sour cream or yoghurt.
Stir well to melt the cream cheese, add 200ml chicken or veg stock (veg is fine but chicken will bring a better flavour) and a good crack of pepper.
At this point, your sauce will be very thin and that’s fine as you’re going to cook your spinach in it. I would add a whole bag, at least 50g per person. You need to add it in handfuls and stir until it wilts and there’s space in the pan for more.
Once all your spinach is cooked, turn the heat up slightly so that the sauce simmers. Allow it to bubble for another five to eight minutes. If the sauce still looks thin at this point, whisk in a tablespoon of cornflour (don’t worry if it clumps up at first).
Once you’re happy with the sauce, take it off the heat, season and serve.
Whole chicken legs with sherry, almonds and potatoes
This is a dish that calls for whole chicken legs. They look so impressive on the plate with a scattering of almonds and coins of potato.
I’ve made versions by José Pizarro and Nigel Slater. Each specifies different sherries: manzanilla by Pizarro and fino for Slater, and while your choice definitely affects the flavour, both are delicious and you can use whatever you have.
Put the oven on to 200°C/180°C fan. Choose a pan with a lid that can go in the oven and brown the chicken legs, one per person, well in a few tablespoons of oil. Take your time. Once you’re happy with the colour of the skin, add in slices of small potatoes and stir to coat in the fat, followed by a handful of almonds; skinless are best.
Once these have lightly toasted, add a small glass of sherry (around 125ml). Let the alcohol burn off for a minute or two, then add the same quantity of water. Put the lid on the pan and give it 25 minutes in the oven.
The result is a fairly rich dish, which feels like such a treat for a speedy weeknight recipe, and goes well with steamed green veg like kale, cavolo nero or Tenderstem broccoli.
Poached chicken rice bowl
This dish is unshowy but incredibly nourishing and comforting. If you want to keep skinless chicken breasts – the least flavoursome part of a chicken – juicy, poaching brings great results. Add a few aromatics such as bay leaves, rosemary and thyme, along with salt, peppercorns and a smashed garlic clove or two to a large pan of water and bring it to the boil. Turn the heat down and gently add your chicken breasts, put the lid on and reduce the heat to a very low simmer.
The chicken breasts should cook in 10-12 minutes, but they might take longer if they’re very large. Test by piercing to see if the juices run clear and return to the pan if you’re not sure, keeping the heat low. Once you’re happy, remove from the pan and cool a little.
Meanwhile, cook brown rice to packet instructions, around 20-25 minutes. Once cooked, stir a tablespoon of brown miso paste through the warm rice.
Almost anything goes from here. I’ll slice the chicken breasts into fat discs to serve on top of the rice with pickles, kimchi, steamed veg and a favourite chilli sauce such as Lao Gan Ma or the Peanut Rayu from White Mausu.
As chicken breasts are often large, you can split one between two or make extra for lunchtime salads the next day. Instead of slicing, wait until your extra breasts are cool and pull them apart to give you a great texture for salads and sandwiches.
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