Chicken is possibly the most versatile protein on the market. It’s usually the first meat that budding chefs and cooks prepare, owing to its subtle flavour, universal appeal, the sheer variety of recipes, and ease of cooking. Aside from that, there’s so much to use on a chicken. From a chicken maryland to the neck, wings, or breast, the number of ways to prepare delicious, hearty, and comforting chicken meals is nearly endless.
Without further ado, here are a few of our favourite chicken recipes that are sure to keep you warm in winter, or satisfy a table of rumbling bellies.
- Chicken Soup
A timeless classic. How many times have you heard something described as “chicken soup for the soul?” There’s a reason for that. Chicken soup is regarded as the go-to dish when treating a cold, or making a broth to warm up. Chicken stock is used as a base in many dishes from nearly every culture in the world, owing to its simplicity to make, long shelf life, and the fact that making fresh stock means that you then also have freshly boiled chicken to use in another dish if you like!
To make a simple stock, just prepare some raw vegetables (popular options include carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, and mushrooms) and put them in a pot with a whole chicken. Cover the chicken and veg with cold water, add some salt, maybe a bay leaf or two if you’re feeling like it. Then, simply set the pot on the heat and let it boil away until the vegetables are soft and the chicken meat pulls away easily from the bone. Remove the chicken and vegetables, and bam! Fresh stock!
From here you can strip the meat of the chicken and use it to fill out the soup, or you can use the chicken meat in another dish and use the broth for something else. When the stock cools, it may form a solid white layer on top, or become thick and jelly-like. The white layer is fat from the chicken, while the jellyish texture of the broth is due to the natural gelatin in chicken bones. Heating it again will melt the fat and bring the broth back to its watery consistency.
- Chicken Pasta Bake
There are few joys in life as wonderful as a pasta bake. Bready, creamy, cheesy, crispy. Warm and saucy, these delicious joys come in all kinds of flavours and configurations. One of our personal favourites is a chicken pasta bake.
If you’ve not made or eaten one of these culinary delights yet, you’re missing out. Making a pasta bake is much like making any pasta dish you like. You then have the added step of adding grated parmesan and/or bread crumbs to the top of it and putting it in the oven for a little while. The result?
You get a deliciously saucy meal. The sauce gets absorbed by the pasta, giving it a wonderfully comforting softness, as well as locking in all that beautiful flavour. The same goes for any chicken meat you might add to the bake. Not to mention, pasta bake freezes very well, making it an investment in future meals as well!
- Chicken Parmigiana
Need more be said? Pub grub is about as good as it gets, the next step up from home cooking. Nearly every pub in the world sells a good Parma (or “Parmi” if you’re like that). Parmigiana is one of the simplest if more time-consuming, recipes to cook. Simply flatten some chicken breasts, and coat in flour, egg, and bread crumbs. Cook a basic tomato sauce. Fry the crumbed chicken breasts. When cooked, put a slice of ham on them, cover with sauce and cheese, then put in the oven until the cheese melts. Classic, no frills, and utterly delicious.
- Chicken Pilaf
This is a very simple Middle Eastern dish. A sort of risotto-ish meal, Chicken Pilaf is a Persian rice dish with a velvety texture and incredible warmth to it. The recipe combines sweet and salty flavours, with the occasional burst of sweetness added through the sultanas within it.
Cooking simply involves sorting the ingredients into a casserole dish and leaving them to cook for an extended time. Not too quick during prep, but simple, easy, and incredible.
- Chicken Casserole
Another timeless classic, probably due to the sheer variety of ways there are to prepare one. Chicken casserole is the image of simplicity. Chuck everything into a casserole dish, and cook it for a long time on slow heat. Next thing you know you’ve got gorgeously cooked chicken in a lovely thick sauce with all your favourite veggies. The type of ingredients you put in that dish, however, all depends on what kind of casserole you’re making.
Are you Chicken or Something?
Just as Occam’s Razor states that the simplest answer to a dilemma is most like the right one, Chicken is one of the simplest, and wonderful meats to cook with. Its versatility renders it usable in pretty much everything, and so many of its recipes lend themselves to heart-warming, comforting food.