21 Three-Step Chicken Dinners to Make This Spring (2024)

Dinner is easier when you can make it in three steps or less. From herby pasta with seasonal veggies like asparagus and broccoli to skillet dinners with mushrooms and peas, these meals are just what you’ll want on your table this spring. Recipes like our Kale Salad with Quinoa & Chicken and Sheet-Pan Balsamic-Parmesan Chicken & Vegetables are easy, healthy and flavorful options you can rely on again and again.

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Spring Green Soup with Chicken

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Sautéing chicken in a little oil first (rather than poaching in the broth) creates some browned bits in the pan (aka fond) that give this green soup a richer flavor.

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One-Pot Chicken Pesto Pasta with Asparagus

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This healthy chicken pesto pasta recipe is easy to make thanks to convenience ingredients like rotisserie chicken and store-bought pesto. The addition of fresh asparagus brightens up the look and flavors of this easy one-pot dinner. Fresh basil, if you have it on hand, is a nice finishing touch.

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Kale Salad with Quinoa & Chicken

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Toss the cooked chicken into this healthy salad recipe while it's still warm to lightly wilt the kale, making it softer and easier to eat. Using store-bought salad dressing saves time, but you could alsomake your own tangy vinaigrette.

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Creamy Garlic Skillet Chicken with Spinach

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Quick-cooking chicken cutlets are coated in a garlic cream sauce, while spinach adds a boost of color and nutrition in this easy, one-skillet recipe.

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Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

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All the delicious flavors of your favorite chicken Cordon Bleu—salty ham, melty cheese, tangy mustard—with no tricky assembly required. This healthy comfort food recipe would be perfect for a potluck.

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One-Skillet Chicken Paprikash with Mushrooms & Onions

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Try this quick and easy one-skillet version of the Hungarian classic chicken paprikash. Serve the chicken cutlets, mushrooms and creamy sauce over egg noodles with a green salad on the side.

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Sheet-Pan Balsamic-Parmesan Chicken & Vegetables

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This flavorful dish--with the combination of balsamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese--makes a great weeknight meal since it requires little legwork (and only one pan!). The marjoram adds a distinct earthy aroma. If you don't have marjoram in your spice arsenal, you can use dried oregano instead. Both have a woodsy flavor that complements the dish beautifully.

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Teriyaki Chicken Skillet Casserole with Broccoli

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Whip up this quick and easy teriyaki chicken casserole in just one skillet—it’s the perfect go-to recipe for hectic weeknights that’s sure to satisfy a crowd. It’s ideal for making use of any leftover chicken and rice you have on hand. If you’re short on leftovers, a rotisserie chicken paired with a package of microwaveable brown rice is a good substitute.

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One-Pot Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Pasta

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This creamy chicken and mushroom pasta recipe makes for an easy weeknight dinner. Using store-bought rotisserie chicken saves time when cooking, and leftover chicken would work just as well.

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Chicken & Broccoli Curry with Turmeric Brown Rice

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When students in Georgia were challenged to use local ingredients to come up with a creative dish that could be easily made in cafeterias, this recipe was a finalist. The kids wanted to cook their rice in milk with turmeric to give it a creamy texture and golden color, but they swapped in rice milk to keep the dish dairy-free. Regular milk works just as well. Adapted from Georgia Farm to School.

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Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan for Two

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In this easy weeknight dinner, we combine lean chicken breast and sautéed spinach for a flavorful meal that is simple and quick. This recipe was adapted from our popularto serve two instead of four.

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Sesame-Ginger Chicken Salad

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Keeping cooked chicken and prepared sesame-ginger dressing on hand means this healthy lunch salad comes together in a snap.

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Chicken & Asparagus Skillet Pasta with Pesto

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Fresh lemon juice, tangy sun-dried tomatoes and zippy pesto tie together the flavors in this quick and easy skillet meal. The 30-minute dinner is so versatile--you can use any quick-cooking protein or vegetable you have on hand and still have a delicious meal on busy weeknights.

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Pulled Chicken & Pickled Veggie Wraps

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These colorful chicken wraps are perfect for a crowd. Marinated radishes, onions, and carrots add a salty crunch-and a sneaky serving of vegetables!

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One-Pot Chicken & Broccoli Pasta

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This creamy chicken and broccoli pasta makes for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. We opt for small shells in this recipe, but any other small pasta, like orecchiette, would work, too.

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One-Pot Chicken & Rice

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This one-pot chicken and rice dinner is creamy, cozy and packed with vegetables! Tarragon offers a sweet mellow flavor, but if you're not a fan, basil can be used in its place.

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3-Ingredient One-Pot Lemon Pasta with Rotisserie Chicken

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This satisfying one-pot pasta cooks with just the right amount of water so you're left with perfectly cooked noodles and enough starchy liquid to act as a sauce. Stir in lemon juice and zest at the end for a bright finish.

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Easy Miso-Chicken Ramen

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Warm up a chilly evening with this healthy chicken-and-vegetable ramen noodle bowl recipe. For a little spice, top with hot sauce, such as Sriracha. Look for dried curly Chinese-style noodles near other Asian ingredients in most well-stocked supermarkets. For a substitute, try whole-wheat angel hair pasta and cook for a few minutes longer.

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Chickpea Salad with Broccoli & Golden Milk-Poached Chicken

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Poaching chicken in turmeric-infused milk for this healthy salad recipe yields tender results with a golden hue. Bright yellow turmeric has been used for centuries in traditional Indian medicine. The early spice's potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound, curcumin, shows promise in fighting certain cancers, including breast, pancreatic, colorectal, lung and prostate. (See Tip to learn more about turmeric's health benefits.) Don't toss the cooking liquid: some of it goes into the salad dressing and you can use what remains to cook grains or as a soup base. Make sure to use whole milk and don't go beyond a bare simmer, otherwise it may curdle.

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Lemony Chicken and Green Beans

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Lightly breaded chicken and green beans are flavored with a scrumptious lemon-caper sauce in this quick 20-minute main dish recipe.

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Tarragon Chicken Linguine

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This quick and easy recipe features chicken, broccoli and pasta all topped in a light sauce. It's a complete healthy meal in just 25 minutes.

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