Food and Recipes Meat Chicken These Chicken Recipes Are Ready In 20 Minutes Or Less By Jenna Sims Jenna Sims Jenna Sims is a Digital Editor for Southern Living and joined the team in 2014. She writes, produces, and ideates content with a focus on email growth and commerce content. She covers a range of topics in the lifestyle space from holiday gift guides to new product launches to tips for cooking with your air fryer. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on October 27, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Linda Pugliese; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox Even if you have only 20 minutes, that's still plenty of time to pull together a homemade weeknight dinner for your family. Yes, really! These speedy chicken dinners are quick and easy, but still full of flavor. It is also likely that you already have most of the ingredients you need on hand. Recipes like Chicken Stir-Fry, Crunchy Pan-Fried Chicken, and Chicken Caprese Pasta may sound like they require an all day cooking affair, but they're actually ready in just 20 minutes or less! Turn on your favorite sitcom while you are making your meal and add one of these 3-Ingredient Side Dish Recipes to complete your easy weeknight dinner. Everything will be ready by the time you finish watching an episode of your go-to show. We think these chicken recipes will become your new favorites, not only for their delicious flavor, but also because you'll spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying your family's company around the dinner table. 01 of 16 Tropical Chicken Lettuce Wraps Photo: Jennifer Causey; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Torie Cox Recipe: Tropical Chicken Lettuce Wraps Serve the healthy chicken mixture in lettuce wraps, wheat wraps, or over a bed of mixed greens. With a little bit of mango and other fresh flavors, this recipe tastes like a vacation and the minimal effort you have to put in will make you feel like you're on one, too. 02 of 16 Chicken and White Bean Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette Greg DuPree Recipe: Chicken and White Bean Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette Homemade dressing elevates this vibrant salad that is an easy and filling dinner. With purple cabbage, cannellini beans, fresh orange segments, this recipe is a real people pleaser! 03 of 16 Balsamic-Garlic Chicken Breasts Beth Dreiling Hontzas Recipe: Balsamic-Garlic Chicken Breasts If you need more than four servings or want to have leftovers for the rest of the week, you can easily double this recipe. Additionally, you can pair this flavorful, yet versatile chicken with rice, orzo or even a simple green salad. 04 of 16 Breaded Chicken Salad with Grapes, Honey, Almonds, and Broccoli Hector Manuel Sanchez Recipe: Breaded Chicken Salad with Grapes, Honey, Almonds, and Broccoli Think of this recipe like a healthier version of your favorite chicken salad, complete with grapes and broccoli. Make the dressing and toss together the salad ingredients while the chicken is cooking; dinner will be on the table in 20 minutes. 05 of 16 Herb-Grilled Chicken Southern Living Recipe: Herb-Grilled Chicken Who doesn't love a good, versatile piece of chicken to pair with their favorite salad or side? Use your favorite herbs to pull together this quick dish that will soon become a weeknight staple. 06 of 16 Crunchy Pan-Fried Chicken Southern Living Recipe: Crunchy Pan-Fried Chicken While Mama's Fried Chicken may be reserved for Sunday supper, this pan-fried chicken is easy enough to serve any night of the week. In just 20 minutes you will have the perfect bite! 07 of 16 Grilled Chicken 'N' Cheese Sandwiches Southern Living Recipe: Grilled Chicken 'N' Cheese Sandwiches Chicken and cheese are always good together. We know this from our favorite casserole dishes, but slipping some chicken salad into your grilled cheese will seriously upgrade dinnertime. 08 of 16 Fried Chicken Tacos with Buttermilk-Jalapeño Sauce Photo: Iain Bagwell Recipe: Fried Chicken Tacos with Buttermilk-Jalapeño Sauce Make taco night easy by slicing up a few fried chicken tenders and blending your favorite store-bought ranch with a bit of lime, cilantro and garlic. A smattering of sliced radishes make this dish taste fresh and invigorating. 09 of 16 Chicken Noodle Bowl with Peanut-Ginger Sauce Greg DuPree Recipe: Chicken Noodle Bowl with Peanut-Ginger Sauce This colorful dish will be a bright-spot in your weeknight routine. You can even prep the veggies the night before to get dinner on the table faster. 10 of 16 Heirloom Tomato and Chicken Toss Greg DuPree Recipe: Heirloom Tomato and Chicken Toss This fresh salad is like a Panzanella without the bread. Although, we totally recommend pairing this dish with a crusty piece of bread and a glass of your favorite wine. 11 of 16 Chicken-and-Prosciutto Tortelloni Soup Alison Miksch Recipe: Chicken-and-Prosciutto Tortelloni Soup Store-bought tortelloni is both comforting and easy to prepare. You might not believe that a hearty soup can be ready in just 20 minutes, but this weeknight-ready recipe fits the bill. 12 of 16 Chicken Stir-Fry Greg Dupree Recipe: Chicken Stir-Fry This 10-minute stir-fry is even faster than takeout and tastes better too. Pair this dish with your family's favorite rice and they'll be asking for seconds before the end of the night. 13 of 16 Chicken and Fontina Panini Greg Dupree Recipe: Chicken and Fontina Panini Perfect for lunch or dinner, this panini uses rotisserie chicken to come together in just 15 minutes. The crusty ciabatta and the flavorful pesto make this simple sandwich recipe one you'll turn to again and again. 14 of 16 Green Chile-Chicken Soup Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis Recipe: Green Chile-Chicken Soup This soup will be ready to serve in less than an hour, but it tastes like it has been on the stove for at least two. We lean on rotisserie chicken to get that all-day cooking flavor. 15 of 16 Chicken Fingers Coated With Cheesy Snack Crackers Sheri Castle Recipe: Chicken Fingers Coated With Cheesy Snack Crackers If you are looking for a weeknight dinner that will make everyone smile, this dish can do that. Simply toss your chicken in some sour cream and seasonings, coat in your favorite cheese crackers, bake and enjoy! 16 of 16 Chicken Caprese Pasta Linda Pugliese; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox Recipe: Chicken Caprese Pasta This light pasta dish is great for a quick weeknight dinner, but also impressive enough to serve when entertaining on the weekend. You can use fresh or dried pasta for this dish. We recommend doing whichever is easiest! Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit