21 Weeknight Chicken Dinner Recipes for Fall

By Jenna Sims

These chicken dinners are quick, easy, and delicious making them perfect to add to your weeknight menu. Whether you are using rotisserie chicken as a shortcut, or tossing the ingredients into the slow cooker, these recipes are easy enough for you to prepare for your family on busy weeknights. Schedules during the fall can be hectic, but these recipes will allow you to enjoy the comforting flavors of the season without spending all of your time in the kitchen cooking dinner.

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Poppy Seed Chicken

Recipe: Poppy Seed Chicken

Learn how to make this simple Southern staple for quick weeknight dinners. It's speedy, easy to prepare, loaded with rich flavor, and sure to please each and every hungry member of the family (including picky eaters). It’s also an outstanding one-pot meal, making cleanup a breeze. By utilizing pantry and refrigerator staples like cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and basic cooked chicken, our poppy seed chicken recipe is also a handy, go-to inexpensive main dish for your next church potluck or supper club. Though you may have to purchase a bottle of poppy seeds for this dish, you’ll also find that poppy seeds are perfect to have on hand for quick and easy recipes like freezer-friendly Lemon-Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread or Lemon-Poppy Seed Waffles, in addition to this weeknight-casserole favorite.

Perfect for a busy family, the best part of this meal—what makes it ideal for weeknights—is that it involves minimal mess and effort, with only 10 minutes (or less!) of active hands-on time, and 40 minutes of hands-free time in the oven. And though you can cook the chicken any way you prefer—roasted, boiled, or even in the slow cooker—consider making this dish even easier by purchasing and shredding a prepared rotisserie chicken (click here to see our guide to carving a chicken at home). Keep in mind that a typical store-bought rotisserie chicken will yield about 3 to 4 cups of shredded chicken.

Though round buttery crackers are the perfect crispy, crunchy topping for this dish, you can also use other kinds of crackers—feel free to experiment with what you have on hand in your pantry, but always be sure to mix the crackers with ¼ cup butter to keep them moist.

Serve up this classic Southern comfort food alongside a healthy side with a different texture, like a big green salad or some roasted veggies. Meet your new favorite 6-ingredient casserole recipe—trust us, your family will ask for it by name, and you'll want to prepare this again and again.

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Chicken Bog

Greg DuPree

Recipe: Chicken Bog

This comforting rice dish will be your new favorite 30-minute meal.

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Chicken and Herbed Cornmeal Dumplings

Hector Manuel Sanchez

Recipes: Chicken and Herbed Cornmeal Dumplings

Comforting chicken and dumplings shouldn't be reserved for weekends. This recipe will be ready in just 40 minutes.

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Braised Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Lemons

Hector Manuel Sanchez

Recipe: Braised Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Lemons

We suggest serving this dish with mashed potatoes so you can enjoy every last drop of the pan sauce.

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Quick Chicken and Barley Stew

Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Quick Chicken and Barley Stew

Stew is the perfect meal for those cool autumn nights, and even thought this dish only takes 30 minutes to prepare it is still packed with flavor. 

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Kale and Sweet Potato Salad with Chicken Recipe

Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Kale and Sweet Potato Salad with Chicken Recipe

Candied pecans and roasted sweet potatoes create the perfect weeknight salad. 

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Creamy Chicken Alfredo Casserole

Greg DuPree

Recipe: Creamy Chicken Alfredo Casserole

Rotisserie chicken and jarred alfredo sauce will help your family enjoy a comforting chicken casserole in under an hour.

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Creamy Ham-and-Chicken Medley Recipe

Hector Manuel Sanchez

Recipe: Creamy Ham-and-Chicken Medley

Store-bought pastry shells serve as an easy base for this creamy medley. 

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Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots

Alison Miksch

Recipe: Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots

Toss the ingredients onto a sheet pan and help the kids with homework while this one-dish supper is in the oven.

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King Ranch Chicken Soup

Alison Miksch

Recipe: King Ranch Chicken Soup

This comforting Tex-Mex soup is a cinch to prepare.

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King Ranch Chicken Mac and Cheese

Jennifer Davick

Recipe: King Ranch Chicken Mac and Cheese

This hearty take on macaroni and cheese will become a new family favorite.

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Lemon-Rosemary-Garlic Chicken and Potatoes

Becky Luigart Stayner

Recipe: Lemon-Rosemary-Garlic Chicken and Potatoes

Serve this one-dish dinner with a loaf of crusty French bread for dipping. 

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White Lightning Chicken Chili

Becky Luigart Stayner

Recipe: White Lightning Chicken Chili

From start to finish, this one-dish chili takes just 30 minutes to get on the table.

 

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Easy Chicken and Dumplings

Beth Dreiling Hontzas

Recipe: Easy Chicken and Dumplings

Although you may not usually think of chicken and dumplings as a weeknight meal, this easy recipe comes together in just 40 minutes with the help of deli-roasted chicken and canned biscuits.

 

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Soulful Chicken Soup

Iain Bagwell

Recipe: Soulful Chicken Soup

Your trusty slow cooker will help this comforting soup come together just 20 minutes after you walk through the door. 

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Stovetop Chicken Pie

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Stovetop Chicken Pot Pie

A one-dish dinner made with rotisserie chicken in the answer to our weeknight dinner plans.

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Pecan-Crusted Chicken and Tortellini with Herbed Butter Sauce

Photo: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Pecan-Crusted Chicken and Tortellini with Herbed Butter Sauce

Get dinner on the table in 30 minutes with this nutty and buttery dish.

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Tex-Mex Chicken Chili with Lime

Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Tex-Mex Chicken Chili with Lime

This flavor-packed chili uses store-bought chicken to shorten cooking time to just 45 minutes.

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King Ranch Chicken

Southern Living

Recipe: King Ranch Chicken

The slow-cooker version of traditional King Ranch Chicken casserole will become a regular on your weeknight dinner menu. 

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Chicken Cobbler Casserole

William Dickey

Recipe: Chicken Cobbler Casserole

A speedy 25-minute dinner that the whole family will love.

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Creole Chicken with Field Pea Succotash

Photo: Oxmoor House

Recipe: Creole Chicken with Field Pea Succotash

You’ll want to use bone-in chicken thighs (instead of the boneless ones) to ensure success with this slow-cooker favorite.

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Chicken Chili

Hector M Sanchez

Recipe: Chicken Chili

This chicken chili is so easy to make, we suggest doubling the recipe and freezing the leftovers for later. 

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