Eight One-Pan Chicken Dinner Recipes for Busy Days | Rockin W Homestead (2024)

A One-pan chicken dinner is perfect or busy days when you don’thave a lot of time to spend in the kitchen. Chicken is versatile and one-pot cooking means easy cleanup.

Chicken goes with everything. It stands in as a great main course since it is inexpensive, easy to find, simple to use in various meals, and of course a healthy lean protein. The meals below are perfect for fall, or any time of year, and are a great way to use chicken that you have cooked ahead of time and frozen.

Whether you are cooking ahead or using fresh chicken, these recipes are easy to do since only one pan or pot is going to be used for the entire meal.

Straight Up Chicken and Veggies

If you only want to use a single pan for your entire chicken dinner, it doesn’t get much simpler than chicken and vegetables. This has a lot of variations you can use, depending on what your family likes and what you have on hand.

Start with the chicken first and make sure it is fully cooked throughout. Once the chicken is cooked, add some olive oil to the pan and add all of your chopped veggies. Sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus are great for this chicken dinner. We also like broccoli florets and onion.

Try one of these recipes

One Pot Lemon Chicken with Vegetables by Jessica Gavin
15 Minute Stir-fry Chicken and Veggies by Gimme Delicious

Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice

Another one-pan chicken dinner you can make combines chicken with cheese, broccoli, and rice. This is a healthy dinner that is done entirely in one pan and works well if you use cooked chicken you made earlier in the week and have saved.

Prepare the meal: Add olive oil to a large skillet and 2 cooked chicken breasts, cut into slices or shredded. Add one cup of rice and 1 cup of chicken broth at the same time. By the time the rice is cooked through, the sauce you used is now thicker, the chicken is warmed up, and it is time to add in your broccoli until it gets soft.

Try one of these recipes

One Pot Chicken and Rice by The Kitchen Girl
Cheesy Chicken and Rice by Buns in My Oven

Rosemary Chicken With Veggies

This one-pan chicken meal is healthy and packs a lot of flavor. Like the other recipes, you will need to cook the chicken first if it is raw, otherwise, you can add it at the same time as the vegetables.

You can use sweet potatoes since they are a good fall vegetable, or go with regular russet potatoes if you prefer. Cut them into cubes and add them with the chicken since they take a little longer to take.

Season your chicken, add the oil, then add the chicken and potatoes. The green beans should be the last thing you add since they don’t take as long to cook through.

Try one of these recipes

Rosemary Lemon Skillet Dinner by Life Made Sweeter
Balsamic Rosemary Grilled Chicken by Simply Scratch

Chicken and Butternut Squash

This is a convenient dinner that can be cooked with roasted chicken, such as a rotisserie you buy at the supermarket, or with chicken breasts.

For precooked chicken, pull apart the bird and cut the meat up into slices. Add it to a large skillet.

Peel, seed, and cube a butternut squash. Add the cubes to your pan with your preferred seasonings and a splash of chicken stock. Cook with a lid until the squash is almost finished, add the cooked chicken and toss.

This is a healthy and light fall chicken dinner that comes together in about 30 minutes.

Try one of these recipes

One Skillet Chicken Thighs by The Coconut Mama
Chicken with Butternut Squash and Kale from Greens N Chocolate

Give these recipes a twist with dehydrated food

1. Use tomato powder to make a simmering sauce
2. Make homemade instant rice ahead of time and make the meal cooking go even quicker!

Not sure how to get started dehydrating? Take our Mini-course Mastering the Three Fears of Dehydrating and give it a try!

Give these eight one-pan chicken dinner a try and let us know, which is your favorite busy day recipe?