Quick & Easy Chicken Breast Recipes

By Marion Kirkpatrick
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These quick and easy chicken breast recipes are a budget-friendly way to get dinner on the table, fast! Chicken breasts are so versatile: they’re good served hot or cold; you can poach, saute, bake, or fry them; and they’re easy to season and flavor as you please. From the simplest ways to cook chicken breast to the most deliciously easy dinner ideas, these family-friendly recipes are my go-to meals. Trust me, you’ll never get tired of this healthy, protein-packed ingredient with all of these easy chicken breast meals on the weekly menu!

A collage of chicken breast recipes, from top left to right: one-pot chicken teriyaki and rice, one-pot cajun chicken pasta, pesto chicken and vegetables, creamy pesto chicken, bbq cheddar baked chicken, and easy lemon pepper chicken.

Whenever I’m wondering what to do with the chicken breasts sitting in my fridge or freezer, I turn to this list of meal ideas to help me get through the week. No complicated recipes–just quick, budget-friendly dinners!

Simple Chicken Breast Recipes

Boneless, skinless chicken breast is one of the best, budget-friendly sources of protein available at the supermarket. And since they’re great served hot or cold, they’re a meal prep mainstay! These easy chicken breast recipes are my go-to for cooking them up and prepping them for a week of meals.

Baked Chicken Breast Recipe

Overhead view of four baked chicken breasts in a baking dish, garnished with fresh parsley.
These easy Baked Chicken Breasts are marinated in a simple brine before being seasoned to perfection and baked in the oven until golden, tender, and JUICY!
4.50 from 2 votes
$12.08 recipe / $3.02 serving Get the Recipe

The secret to juicy baked chicken breasts is brining! As long as you do that simple step, you can season this chicken as you please, pop it in the oven, and it’ll be ready to eat for any meal.

Air Fryer Chicken Breast

Overhead view of Air Fryer Chicken Breast on a plate with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans.
This juicy, tender, Air Fryer Chicken Breast is super flavorful and ready in less than 20 minutes. Perfect for meal prepping!
4.86 from 7 votes
$5.74 recipe / $1.43 serving Get the Recipe

When I started cooking chicken breast in the Air Fryer, I knew my dinner routine would be changed forever! Perfectly crispy in under 20 minutes, this recipe is the definition of quick, cheap, and easy.

Pan Seared Chicken Breasts

close up of cooked chicken breasts in the skillet
Learn how to cook tender, juicy, and flavorful boneless chicken breasts in a pan. Perfect for quick dinners and meal prep! 
4.41 from 37 votes
$7.29 recipe / $1.82 serving Get the Recipe

Kicking off dinner time is easy with this pan-seared chicken breast. I use my favorite seasoning mix then let them get beautifully juicy and crispy on the stovetop.

Easy CHICKEN SALADS

Quick, easy, cheap, and great for leftovers, these recipes are some of my favorites for lunch. Transform chicken breast into a satisfying meal in just 15 minutes!

Chicken Salad with Apples

Side view of a bowl of chicken salad with apples, croissants in the background
This chicken salad is packed with sweet and crunchy apples, tart dried cranberries, and a light and creamy homemade dressing.
4.89 from 27 votes
$10.35 recipe / $2.59 serving Get the Recipe

This chicken salad with apples and cranberries makes a perfect lunch, or light and easy dinner. It’s easy to prepare, super filling, and the perfect cold meal. It’s full of different textures and flavors, and is easy to switch up depending on your taste!

Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Salad

Close up side view of a bowl of Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Salad
This chunky chopped Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Salad is a great fresh salad that can be eaten on its own or turned into several different easy lunch ideas!
4.92 from 34 votes
$4.84 recipe / $1.61 serving Get the Recipe

Broccoli is a lot like chicken breast: it’s healthy, versatile, and can be prepared and served in so many ways–so that makes them a perfect pair. Next time you have some fresh broccoli on hand, you’ve got to try out this broccoli cheddar chicken salad! It’s so good, you’ll be singing broccoli’s praises as you devour every last bite. 

Crunchy Kale and Chicken Salad

dressing being poured over kale and chicken salad
This Crunchy Kale and Chicken Salad is full of flavor, texture, and a tangy-sweet homemade dressing. It's perfect for your weekly meal prep!
4.96 from 24 votes
$6.19 recipe / $1.55 serving Get the Recipe

Kale is super yummy on its own, but pairing it with diced chicken breast and a ton of other flavors and ingredients as we do in this crunchy kale and chicken salad is a great way to turn it into a satisfying meal! That being said, if you’re not a fan of kale, you can swap it with whatever crunchy green you like best. This recipe also includes a wonderfully easy honey mustard vinaigrette that will amp up the flavor of almost any salad in your arsenal. 

Skillet CHICKEN Breast recipes

Cooking chicken breast on the stovetop is an excellent way to get dinner on the table in around 30 minutes. Since almost everything is good with chicken, it’s the easiest choice to pair with whatever other ingredients or side dishes you have on the menu.

Creamy Pesto Chicken

Overhead view of a skillet full of creamy pesto chicken.
Creamy pesto chicken is a fast, easy, and impressive main dish for dinner, whether you just want to treat yourself or impress guests!
4.95 from 122 votes
$10.70 recipe / $2.68 serving Get the Recipe

I’ll put pesto on just about anything, but it is particularly delicious in this chicken breast recipe. This creamy pesto chicken has a super lush, decadent sauce, and you won’t want to waste a single drop! Make sure to serve it with garlic bread, or spoon it over pasta or rice to soak it all up.

Easy Pesto Chicken and Vegetables

Easy pesto chicken and vegetables in a skillet with a spatula
This Easy Pesto Chicken and Vegetables meal prep is super fast and easy, and holds up well in the fridge for tasty lunches all week!
4.78 from 27 votes
$11.07 recipe / $2.77 serving Get the Recipe

I’m serious about my love of pesto! This easy pesto chicken and vegetables is a lighter dish, but is absolutely bursting with flavor. Since the variety of vegetables you can add to this recipe is nearly endless, it’s the perfect way to clean out the fridge. Never let an ingredient go to waste!

Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken

Overhead view of lemon pepper chicken in the skillet with lemon slices
These Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken Breasts are so tender and juicy, and you'll want to spoon that delicious pan sauce over EVERYTHING. 
4.95 from 77 votes
$7.58 recipe / $1.90 serving Get the Recipe

The best way to keep chicken breast feeling fresh in your dinner rotation is to pair it with punchy ingredients, like lemon, to really make it shine. The best part about this easy lemon pepper chicken? There’s no need for fresh lemons! Instead, we use budget-friendly alternatives that are easier to keep on hand.

ONE-POT chicken Breast recipes

Cooking one-pot meals is “like riding a bike.” Once you learn how to make them, they really are that easy. They truly make dinnertime a breeze, both before and after eating. Here are a few of our most popular one-pot recipes made with chicken breast!

One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta in the pan.
Cook a complete dinner in one pot with this Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta, using mostly pantry-stable items. Perfect for busy weeknights! 
4.64 from 399 votes
$9.41 recipe / $2.35 serving Get the Recipe

If there was a Budget Bytes Recipe Hall of Fame, this one-pot creamy cajun chicken pasta would absolutely be the star! This fantastic recipe unites our foolproof one-pot methods with classic Cajun spices. The heat level of this dish is very moderate, so it’s approachable for everyone, but feel free to kick it up a notch if that’s what you like! 

One Pot Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta

Close up of one pot creamy pesto chicken pasta in a shallow bowl with a black fork.
This super lush and Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta is perfect for busy weeknights. Everything cooks in one pot and is done in under 30 minutes! 
4.84 from 221 votes
$11.77 recipe / $2.94 serving Get the Recipe

One of my go-to ways to make dinner with chicken breast is simmering it in a creamy, decadent pesto sauce, then adding whatever veggies I have on hand to round it out into a full meal. Since serving it with pasta is an obvious choice, I might as well cook it in one pot! While this one-pot creamy pesto chicken pasta won’t do the dishes for you, it really helps!

One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice

Close up of One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice in the skillet.
This One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice is an easy and satisfying meal that the whole family will love. It also meal preps well for lunches all week! 
4.30 from 51 votes
$6.26 recipe / $1.57 serving Get the Recipe

This Asian-inspired one-pot Teriyaki chicken and rice is packed with veggies but requires very little chopping. The leftovers are also amazing, which makes it an easy choice for meal prep. Don’t be deterred if you’re a rice-cooking novice, you can always prepare the rice in a separate pot! 


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Saskia Wilson
03.20.23 10:59 am

I have received your recipes for several years now and I do enjoy them. However my family, my daughtersโ€™ families, all my 9 grandchildren, none of them like to eat chicken. They will eat fish, beef, porc, beans and veggies but no chicken. You show a high percentage of chicken recipes and I try to change them, and I know some of my friends do too, but I wish you had a bit less of chicken recipes and more a variety of other ingredients.