Elegant Chicken Recipes | Cooking Light

Oven-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Artichokes and Toasted Breadcrumbs

Becky Luigart-Stayner

These recipes elevate chicken to company-worthy meals.

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Roasted Chicken with Asiago Polenta and Truffled Mushrooms

Photography: Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Roasted Chicken with Asiago Polenta and Truffled Mushrooms

The name sounds like something you'd find in a three-star restaurant, and the finished dish lives up to the name. Wonderfully creamy polenta and deeply earthy mushrooms complement a simply flavored roast chicken that's juicy and delicious. This dish is perfect for smaller gatherings where a whole turkey or roast would just be too much.

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Chicken Scaloppine with Sugar Snap Pea, Asparagus, and Lemon Salad

Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Chicken Scaloppine with Sugar Snap Pea, Asparagus, and Lemon Salad

Look for asparagus stalks with deep green or purplish tips that are tightly closed and not slick. Remove the fibrous ends by bending each stalk until it snaps; the tough part will break off naturally.

Sugar snap peas are crunchy and sweet. Choose plump, crisp pods, and refrigerate up to three days.

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Pan-Roasted Chicken, Squash, and Chard Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

This flavorful salad was legendary chef Eric Ripert's entry in our Market Basket Challenge.

Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Pan-Roasted Chicken, Squash, and Chard Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

This flavorful salad was legendary chef Eric Ripert's riff on autumnal fare. He adds savory roast chicken to a fresh salad of apples, Swiss chard, and butternut squash, and tops everything off with a flavorful bacon-mushroom vinaigrette. It's healthful, comforting, and tastes like fall.

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Moroccan Chicken with Fruit and Olive Topping

Beau Gustafson

View Recipe: Moroccan Chicken with Fruit and Olive Topping

This exotic spin on the ordinary boneless, skinless chicken breast earned top ratings from our readers. Sweet-tart dried fruit and salty olives combine for a sweet and savory flavor profile characteristic of North African cuisine. Serve with creamy pearls of jumbo-sized Israeli couscous.

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Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce

Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce

Bacon is the key to a simple sauce that transforms skinless, boneless chicken breasts into a meal that looks and tastes more involved than it really is. A little unsweetened apple cider rounds out the sauce with a subtle layer of flavor. Another sauce secret: Don't forget to scrape the browned bits from the pan when you deglaze it, because they're the key to a richer sauce.

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Grilled Lemon-Herb Chicken

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View Recipe: Grilled Lemon-Herb Chicken

In this recipe, the chicken is first split and then butterflied (flattened), a technique that allows for quicker and more uniform cooking. Rather than cutting through the breastbone, flip the chicken over and use kitchen shears to cut down the backbone. Once the chicken is cut, it will open up and lie flat on the grill for even cooking.

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Roast Chicken with Smashed New Potatoes and Garlicky Jus

Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Roast Chicken with Smashed New Potatoes and Garlicky Jus

The term new potato refers to any thin-skinned potato harvested in early spring while the plant is still thriving, regardless of its skin color or variety. (Fully mature potatoes are harvested after the plant dies.) If you can’t find true new potatoes, use small red- or white-skinned potatoes.

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Herb Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Herb Stuffed Chicken Breasts

A 4-ingredient dish worthy of serving to company? You bet! Good-quality goat cheese and fresh rosemary give chicken breasts a special spin that won't bust your budget (or your gut). Canadian bacon makes it taste indulgent.

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Roasted Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, and Gravy

Randy Mayor and Iain Bagwell

View Recipe: Roasted Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, and Gravy

When it's done right, there's nothing better than a simple roast chicken, and this recipe, created by Williams-Sonoma founder Chuck Williams, gets it absolutely right. Add a bed of vegetables to the nicely seasoned, moist chicken and you've got a one-pan meal. Pour the easy pan gravy over that and you've got near perfection.

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Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sauce

Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sauce

Distinctive morel mushrooms grace this dish with their nutty, woodsy flavor and unique texture. Because of their spongelike crevices, wash them well to remove dirt. If you can’t find fresh morels, look for one ounce dried, then rehydrate them in hot water before adding to the sauce.

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Oven-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Artichokes and Toasted Breadcrumbs

Becky Luigart-Stayner

View Recipe: Oven-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Artichokes and Toasted Breadcrumbs

Contrary to popular belief, baby artichokes are not immature. In fact, they are fully grown but simply positioned low on the stalk. Choose those that are olive green with tightly closed leaves. Because they have a tendency to discolor, place them in acidulated water after cutting.

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Elegant Chicken Dinners

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Roasted Chicken with Asiago Polenta and Truffled Mushrooms

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Chicken Scaloppine with Sugar Snap Pea, Asparagus, and Lemon Salad

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Pan-Roasted Chicken, Squash, and Chard Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

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Moroccan Chicken with Fruit and Olive Topping

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