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6 Min
02/12/2025
If you’ve got one pan, one brain cell, and zero interest in washing up after, these chicken dishes are exactly what you need. They skip the marathons, cut down the side quests, and still give you dishes worth posting on your socials. It's like a cheat code to meal prep that preserves the same delicious taste of a slow-cooked chicken with its spices and marinades.
Time isn’t the only thing you might be short on during weeknights; it’s also patience, clean dishes, and focus. This lineup of chicken dishes below isn’t just easy, it’s also efficient cooking without compromising taste. These one-pot chicken recipes don’t pretend to be gourmet shortcuts; they’re clever and packed with flavour. All of them are fuss-free, need no fancy gadgets, and will give you zero post-dinner regret.
This rich and creamy chicken dish originated in the colonial kitchens during the British Raj, evolving from the Tamil ‘milagu-thanni’ (meaning ‘pepper-water’) into a fusion curry‑style soup incorporating boneless chicken, vegetables, rice, apples, and coconut milk. It strikes a balance of savoury spices and sweet-tart apples, enriched by creamy coconut and tender chicken. For a quick version, use pre-cut chicken, ready-made curry powder, diced apples, and coconut milk. You start with sauteeing the curry powder, vegetables in butter, and then simmer the rest of it in broth. The chicken, apples, and rice go in the end, and after a few minutes, your dish is ready.
You can call it palak chicken too, and just like palak paneer, this dish looks and tastes similar. It features bite‑sized chicken simmered in a creamy, spiced spinach (or mixed leafy greens) sauce. Use frozen, thawed, and well‑squeezed spinach to save time; the drying prevents dilution. Toasting the spices briefly before cooking also releases their unique aroma. Make sure to cut the chicken into small pieces so they cook through faster. For even quicker prep, consider using a multi‑cooker: sauté the chicken and spices, then pressure‑cook for eight minutes. In under 40 minutes, you'll have a colourful, flavourful, and iron-rich dinner dish with nearly zero mess.
A classic, comforting go-to that comes together in about 30 minutes, you can make it quicker with clever swaps. Brown the ground chicken with garlic, coriander, and ajmod (celery seeds), then remove and sauté veggies in the same pot before returning the meat with broth and noodles. Use pre-chopped vegetables or a rotisserie chicken to speed things further. If freezing leftovers, omit the noodles, for they soak up broth and can get mushy; add fresh noodles when reheating. You get a cosy meal that is light on the stomach and perfect for a light dinner.
You can make a shortcut version of tandoori chicken that retains tandoori’s signature spice without needing a grill or oven. For that, make a quick 15-minute marinade with whisked yoghurt, tandoori spices, and lemon juice. Then sear directly in a heavy, oven-safe skillet (or stovetop pan), searing both sides to lock in the flavour. Add a little water or broth, cover, and let the chicken steam through in the same pot. Finish with a broil or lid-off cook to char lightly. You get classic tandoori flavour with charred edges and juicy meat, with no separate tools and no messy trays.
This Italian‑American favourite gets a quick spin with thinly sliced chicken (breast or thigh) and cooks fast – about 3 minutes per side. Once seared, deglaze the pan with Marsala wine and a splash of broth; the quick reduction doubles as sauce. No separate sauces or sides needed, just return the chicken to warm through. Add a pat of butter at the end to enrich the flavour of the dish. Serve right from the pan with a sprinkling of parsley and on a bed of quinoa or rice. It’s a delicious one-pot meal that roughly takes 25 minutes.
A Mughlai cuisine favourite, chicken korma’s creamy richness can be achieved in a jiffy by using a store‑bought korma paste or even the masala. To get started, brown bite‑sized chicken chunks in one pot, pour in the korma base, stir in some cream or yoghurt, and let it gently simmer until just tender. This cuts down the marination and long braising to minutes, to just around 5-10 minutes. By the time the chicken’s cooked, the sauce is infused and ready. It feels like the same as the tedious chicken korma recipe – indulgent and layered, but quicker with clever shortcuts to make your weeknight dinner.
This dish packs comforting Thai flavours without dragging out dinner. A good Thai curry paste, canned coconut milk, and sliced chicken are your time-saving trio. You don’t need a lot of spices either, or need to marinate the chicken – just sauté, simmer, and serve. To save more time, use pre-cut chicken and frozen, already diced, stir-fry veggies. You can add herbs of your choice used in Thai cuisine, like lemongrass, galangal, ginger, chillies (like bird's eye), kaffir lime leaves, or Thai basil. No thickeners or layering are needed for this one-pot chicken dinner; the coconut milk does all the work. It’s ready in under 30 minutes and cleaner than takeout.
Good food doesn’t need a production team; one person is enough. These one-pot chicken dinners prove that. They cut through the chaos of over-complicated recipes and, despite the swaps, let their flavours lead. You’re not sacrificing anything, you’re just skipping what doesn’t matter. A single pan, a few clever shortcuts, and ingredients you probably already have, have your weekday dinner sorted. And that stack of dishes you didn’t make? Also sorted.