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A complete chicken dinner, with side dish and sauce, in just 30 minutes.
The reinvention of the chicken dinner for 2025
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Jack Bishop
Author, editor, and avid home cook
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Thank you for all the emails. I hope I’m inspiring you to cook more often and providing valuable tips. Many of you have written asking for one-dish meals that are really quick and really satisfying.
A chicken dinner sounds great, but the results often don’t merit the effort. Too slow. Too stodgy. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m especially fond of this clever chicken dinner with just eight ingredients (plus oil, salt, and pepper) that’s on the table in half an hour.
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This recipe starts by dusting chicken thighs with lemony, floral coriander, one of my favorite spices because it plays nicely with other flavors. The chicken is browned in a skillet and then transferred to a sheet pan so it can finish cooking through in the oven.
Don’t throw out the schmaltz left behind in that pan! Instead, brown cauliflower florets in that fat to create a stunning side dish. After 12 to 14 minutes, slide the pan off heat and stir in cherry tomatoes and garlic to add juiciness, acidity, and sweetness.
For the final touch, put together a 1-minute, no-cook yogurt sauce flavored with lime and mint. No mint on hand? Use cilantro, parsley, basil, tarragon, dill, or chives instead.
Crispy skin, meaty thighs, so many healthy veggies, and a stir-and-serve sauce. This chicken dinner has it all. Give it a try, then let me know what you think by writing to [email protected].
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My Weekend Recommendations
I’ll be back in your inbox on Sunday. Until then, here are some suggestions for the days ahead.
Watch
Why are steaks in good restaurants better than the ones we cook at home? Dry aging, which drives off excess moisture and creates complex new flavors, is often the difference. The always-brilliant Lan Lam shares her revolutionary technique for dry-aging steaks in just 2 hours. Check out Lan’s YouTube video and then cook her shio koji–marinated flank steak. I heartily recommended the bourbon-soy marinade.
Cook
I’m going to celebrate the start of apple season by visiting my favorite local orchard, Wickham’s Fruit Farm, and then making my absolute favorite apple pie. I’m a lazy baker and I love this skillet apple pie. It’s technically a pandowdy, but this smart recipe is too modern for that old-fashioned name! Simmer the apples with cider, maple syrup, and a little butter, then slide the dough on top and bake. No soggy bottom crust. No complicated assembly. Stunning results. Ice cream is mandatory.
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