Chicken is one of the most common meats used in dinner entrées. From time to time, many of us are faced with the question "What to have for dinner?" If your family likes chicken and you are short on time, try one of these simple chicken dishes for a perfect home-cooked meal tonight.
Barbecued Chicken
One simple way to cook with chicken is to barbecue it. For this idea, you only need two ingredients: chicken and a bottle of barbecue sauce. Barbecued chicken can be made either in the oven or in a crockpot.
To make oven barbecued chicken, spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place desired chicken pieces (such as breasts, wings and thighs) in the dish. Spread contents of a bottle of barbecue sauce over the chicken pieces, reserving approximately one-quarter of the sauce for later. Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 325 degrees F. for 2 hours.
If you prefer, prepare the barbecued chicken in a crockpot. First add the chicken pieces. Cover pieces with the contents of a bottle of barbecue sauce. Cook chicken on low heat for 6 to 8 hours. This chicken will turn out so tender that it may be difficult to remove from the dish or crockpot.
Creamy Chicken
Another simple way to prepare a delicious, tender chicken dish is by cooking your chicken in the crockpot with a can of cream-based soup. Place the desired chicken pieces (such as breasts, wings and thighs) in the crockpot and add one can of your favorite cream-based soup. You can use cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, cream of celery or any other type you desire.
Add one soup can of water and desired seasonings, such as salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes or parsley. Add additional seasonings to impart more flavor to the chicken. Cook the chicken on low for 6 to 8 hours. Remove the chicken from the crockpot and use the liquid to make a delicious, creamy gravy. This method for cooking chicken works great when you need cooked chicken for a casserole recipe.
Chicken and Noodles
One method for using the chicken from the Creamy Chicken dish is incorporating the chicken with egg noodles.
Cook a whole chicken, or chicken breasts, following the instructions for Creamy Chicken (above). When the chicken has cooked, remove the meat from the bones, if using a whole chicken, and shred the meat into bite-size pieces. Pour the liquid from the crockpot through a sieve into a large saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil and add one bag of egg noodles to the saucepan. Cook noodles according to package directions. Add the cooked chicken pieces to the saucepan. Serve.
Jennifer VanBaren - Jennifer VanBaren is a graduate of St. Josephs College, a small private University located in Rensselear, Indiana. She received a ...
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