Our 34 Favorite Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Recipes

Oftentimes, boneless, skinless chicken breasts are equated with a lack of flavor and a dry texture. While it's true that skin and bones are what breathe life and soul into many of our favorite chicken recipes, boneless, skinless chicken breasts can be just as appealing as bone-in cuts. Our proof? These 34 boneless, skinless chicken breast recipes that we make all the time.

1. Chicken Fingers 

Whether you bake or fry these chicken fingers, you’ll be transported to your childhood. Serve these crunchy tenders with your favorite dipping sauce.

2. Chicken Kiev

Thin chicken breasts are wrapped around garlic, fresh herbs, and butter before meeting a hot pan for a main dish that looks just plain classy. The pan sauce is what will keep you coming back.

3. Chilaquiles Verdes

With crisp chips, melty cheese, and tender chicken, chilaquiles makes a comforting lunch. Make your own verde sauce for standout flavor, and include a fried egg if you’re serving brunch.

4. Spicy Orange-Ginger Chicken 

Sweet, sour, and spicy, this homemade version of the takeout classic will be a family favorite. Use freshly squeezed juice if you have oranges handy.

5. Green Goddess Chicken Sandwiches 

Use a mixture of fresh herbs for the creamy green goddess dressing—parsley, basil, cilantro, and chives make an especially good combination. You can toss the sauce with shredded chicken for a chicken salad sandwich, too.

6. Walnut-Crusted Chicken Breasts

Ground walnuts, wheat bread, and a little Parmesan cheese make up the breading for these simple but memorable chicken breasts. Serve atop a fresh green salad for a healthy meal that feels like a treat.

7. Classic Chicken Piccata

This classic dish is simple enough for any old night but sophisticated enough for company. Serve over angel hair pasta to soak up all of the rich, tart sauce.

8. Chicken Tamale Pie

A meal in a bowl, chunky chicken chili is topped with a polenta-like topping and baked until bubbly and lightly crisp. Adjust the spices and salt in the chili to taste before baking.

9. BFF Crispy Coated Chicken

Perfectly crispy, crunchy, panko- and Parmesan-crusted chicken breasts are the ideal topping for a salad tossed with a lemony garlic dressing. Whether for lunch or dinner, you’ll crave this deceptively simple dish.

10. Massaman-Inspired Chicken Noodle Soup

A cross between a Massaman curry and a chicken noodle soup, this recipe is sure to cure what ails you. Serve with a wedge of lime on the side.

11. Lemon Chicken

A few ingredients and a few minutes are all you need to make a flavorful main dish. Serve with pasta or rice and a green vegetable and—just like that!—you have dinner.

12. Alabama-Style Chicken Kebabs

A white, mayonnaise-based Alabama barbecue sauce is used to coat these kebabs with outstanding results. Add more sambal oelek if you’re craving a kick.

13. Slow-Cooker Chicken Breasts With Lemon, Sage & Milk 

If you dread dry, stringy breasts, then cook your chicken low and slow in a milk and lemon bath. Add some aromatics like garlic and other herbs to the mix for extra flavor.

14. Herbed Chicken Cutlets With Panko & Parmesan

Panko bread crumbs and grated Parmesan keep these cutlets extra crispy. Pound your chicken breasts thin for a quicker cook time and a perfectly browned crust.

15. Sesame Noodles With Swiss Chard & Chicken

Chewy fettuccine get tossed with a tahini sauce and topped with chicken and Swiss chard for an effortless meal. You can easily swap the chard for spinach or shredded cabbage.

 

16. Chicken Orzo Soup

Orzo, the tiny pasta that looks like rice but with the chewy texture of wheat, is perfectly suited for soup. Combined with chicken and vegetables, it’s a comforting lunch.

 

17. Latke-Crusted Chicken

If you can’t decide between breaded chicken cutlets and latkes, make this glorious Frankenstein dish. You’ll have extra juicy meat and a crispy potato breading that’s meant for dipping in sour cream and applesauce.

18. Moroccan Chicken Hash

Spiced with harissa and ras el hanout and studded with olives and preserved lemon, this hash has flavor to spare. Serve with khobz or whatever bread you have lying around.

19. Grilled Herbed Chicken Breasts With Radicchio

Smoky grilled chicken pairs so nicely with a punchy pickled red onion dressing and bitter radicchio. To keep the bitterness in check, soak the leaves in ice water for about 15 minutes.

 

20. Chicken Caesar Salad With Anchovy-Caesar Vinaigrette

When you’re craving Caesar dressing but don’t want to mess with raw eggs, this light but flavor-packed vinaigrette will do the trick. Use it to marinate the chicken as well as dress the salad.

 

21. Melissa Hartwig's Instant Pot Sesame Chicken 

This healthy main dish is ready in a flash thanks to the Instant Pot. Serve it with steamed broccoli for a light, low-carb meal.

22. Slow-Cooker Chicken Breasts With Creamy Mustard-Leek Sauce

Marinated chicken breasts are braised in a creamy mustard sauce for a dish that begs to be served over noodles or rice. Even though it’s a slow cooker recipe, the chicken cooks in just over two hours.

23. Maple-Curry Chicken With Kale

Dijon mustard and curry powder provide a nice contrast to earthy maple syrup in this saucy recipe. Cook some bulgur on the stovetop while the chicken bakes, and you have a meal.

24. Elegant Easy Chicken

This recipe is super simple, delivering big flavor with minimal effort and just a few "elegant" ingredients, like champagne (leftover works great), cream, and fresh herbs. You’ll have a main dish on the table in under 30 minutes.

25. Pesto-Rubbed Chicken & Spring Vegetables

Cooking in parchment packets means a rustic and dramatic presentation along with easy cleanup. Chicken breasts emerge juicy and spring vegetables coe out crisp-tender.

26. Chicken Salad

Make chicken salad the right way—with poached, shredded chicken breasts and just the right amount of dressing. Add your choice of mix-ins, like herbs and nuts, or keep things simple.

27. Persian Grilled Chicken Kabobs

A saffron, yogurt, and lemon marinade keep chicken kabobs tender and delicious. Marinate the meat for at least a few hours or up to 24 hours before grilling.

 

28. Pozole With Chicken

Chewy hominy, chicken, and a blend of spices are the star of this festive soup. Load on the toppings, like fresh lime, lettuce, Tajín, and hot sauce.

 

29. Whole-Wheat-Crusted Chicken Pot Pie

Clean out your fridge and create a comforting one-pot meal at the same time. A flaky whole-wheat crust, dark greens, and white meat chicken keep the pot pie wholesome.

30. Chicken Marsala

Sweet marsala wine, mushrooms, and a touch of cream create a luscious sauce for chicken breasts in this beloved dish. Serve over linguine.

31. Vietnamese Mango & Chicken Salad

This bright salad is a pleasing mix of sweet, savory, umami, crunchy, tender—it really has it all. If you can’t find rau ram, a Vietnamese herb, then up the basil and mint or add cilantro to the mix.

 

 

32. Cheater’s Chicken Schnitzel

Instead of lining up bowls of flour, eggs, and bread crumbs for a messy dredging process, use this clever cheat and go straight from a mayo-mustard marinade to panko to a hot pan.

33. Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan Soup

Enjoy the flavors of chicken Parmesan in an easy to eat, lighter form. Simmered in the slow cooker, it’s the kind of dish you can forget about until the timer goes off. Top each serving with shredded cheese.

 

34. Sesame Chicken With Radicchio & Orange Salad

A coating of sesame seeds gives chicken breasts real crunch and a nice nutty flavor. Serve with bitter radicchio and orange or slice and use to top a Chinese-inspired salad.

What's your favorite way to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts? Let us know in the comments.

This article was originally published in January of 2015.