20 Easy 4-Ingredient Chicken Recipes

30-Minute Meals

For a really simple recipe, bookmark these family favorite meals for a busy night.

Apricot Glazed Chicken

Apricot glazed chicken is a quick and easy meal ready in under 20 minutes made with boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, apricot jam, fresh ginger, and apple cider vinegar.

Garlic Parmesan Chicken Tenders

These garlic parmesan chicken tenders are made with chicken tenderloins, mayo, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and salt for an easy dinner in under 30 minutes.

Chorizo Chicken

Add some spice and flavor to your meals with this super easy one pan chicken skillet recipe. Simple to make, this chorizo chicken is ready to serve in around 30 minutes.

Bacon Wrapped Cranberry Brie Stuffed Chicken Breasts

These delicious cranberry brie stuffed chicken breasts are simple to make, and loaded with brie cheese and cranberry sauce before being wrapped in bacon.

Juicy Cast Iron Chicken Breasts

This cast iron chicken breast recipe makes perfect pan-roasted chicken breasts in under 30 minutes. A cast iron skillet is all you need.

Spicy Italian Barbecue Grilled Chicken

Chicken breast is marinated in italian dressing, barbecue sauce, and hot sauce for 24 hours and then grilled until it’s cooked and juicy. It’s sweet, savory, spicy and so good.

Slow Cooking

The slow cooker is one of my favorite kitchen tools because you can set it and forget it. Slow cookers cook your food low and slow, so you can set it up in the morning, and dinner is warm and ready with little effort.

Crockpot chicken is especially good if you want shredded chicken. I use a Crockpot 6-Quart Cook and Carry.

Onion Soup Mix Chicken

Try this easy 4-ingredient Crockpot chicken recipe. With chicken breasts, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and dry onion soup mix, it's a flavorful meal with minimal effort. Enjoy this on its own or serve over egg noodles, white rice, or broccoli.

Slow Cooker Crack Chicken

This crack chicken is creamy ranch flavored chicken that’s cooked in the crock pot until tender. An easy slow cooker recipe that contains 4 ingredients or less.

Slow Cooker Pesto Ranch Chicken

Dump-and-go with this quick, easy recipe using jarred pesto and ranch dressing mix.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken with Italian Dressing

This slow cooker BBQ chicken with zesty Italian dressing is made with just three ingredients. Perfect for BBQ sandwiches or sliders.

Slow Cooker Maple Dijon Chicken

This crockpot maple dijon chicken is an easy, hands-off dinner made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a few kitchen staples.

Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks

These slow cooker chicken drumsticks are coated in a spice rub and barbecue sauce, then cooked to tender perfection in the crock pot.

Slow Cooker Chicken with Stuffing

This 4-ingredient slow cooker chicken with stuffing recipe is filling and flavorful. All you need is 10 minutes to prep and the slow cooker does the rest.

Instant Pot

An electric pressure cooker is a great addition to your kitchen. It can cut down on cooking time and is a great way to make one-pot meals. The best part of an Instant Pot meal is you can sauté veggies, brown your meat, and pressure cook all in one. I use the Instant Pot Duo 6-Quart.

Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

No more complicated recipes. Only 4 ingredients and you’ve got the perfect Instant Pot Salsa Chicken: frozen chicken breasts, taco seasoning, salsa, and chicken broth. Perfect for beginners. This is an easy pantry meal through and through.

Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken

This Instant Pot BBQ pulled chicken recipe is a family favorite and is so easy to make, makes great leftover pulled chicken, and tastes fantastic. This is the best way to make a big batch of shredded chicken.

Air Fryer

An air fryer is a countertop convection oven. It preheats incredibly quickly because of the circulating air and small oven size, so it cuts down on cooking time dramatically. There are basket-style air fryers and oven-style air fryers.

Air Fryer Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

Enjoy these tasty air fryer boneless skinless chicken thighs with herbs and spice for an easy weeknight dinner.

Quick Air Fryer Chicken Wings

These Air Fryer chicken wings are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and best of all, they’re a breeze to make. This is also a great recipe for game day.

Air Fryer Pesto Chicken

Full of flavor and so easy to make, enjoy these juicy air fryer pesto chicken thighs as a quick weeknight dinner idea.

Whole Chicken

Making a whole chicken is an affordable option as long as you make use of all of the different chicken cuts. Here are some tips for cooking a whole chicken.

4-Ingredient Roast Chicken Dinner

Easy and with almost zero prep, this 4-ingredient roast chicken dinner is sure to become a new family favourite. A fail-proof juicy whole roast chicken recipe that lets the oven do all the work.

Roasted Lemon Chicken

This roasted lemon chicken, or pollo a limone, is a classic Italian recipe that makes the juiciest and most flavorful chicken. The lemons are pierced and cooked inside the chicken so the lemon juice releases as it cooks.

5 Ingredients or Less

Love these 4-ingredient chicken recipes? Try some of these easy recipes with less than 5 ingredients.

Food Safety

• Always wash your hands before and after handling raw chicken.
• Chicken should reach a minimum internal temperature of 165°F (73.9°C).
• Refrigerate any leftovers promptly and store them in an airtight container with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.