MyPlate-Inspired Chicken Recipes

Cooking Light is working with the Partnership for a Healthier America and USDA’s MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to thousands of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit the MyPlate website.

Adding a tortilla transforms this American salad into a fun, portable meal. Choose a pungent blue cheese, like Roquefort, for a strong hit of flavor, or go with milder Gorgonzola for just a touch.

The marinade infuses dark-meat chicken with a light coconut flavor; flaked coconut in the breading heightens the nutty taste. Find panko in your supermarket's ethnic food aisle.

This Asian-inspired chicken noodle bowl is full of flavor from a combination of soy sauce and sesame oil mixed with fresh snap peas.

Other fruit preserves, such as apricot, blackberry, or peach, will also work in this rich, easy-to-make, chicken recipe.

This dish puts dried porcini mushroom powder to use as a flavorful coating for chicken cutlets. If fresh porcini or chanterelle mushrooms are available, use them for the sauce. Serve with steamed haricots verts and garlic mashed potatoes.

Bring the heat of the southwest to the dinner table with a delicious take on the weeknight meal of grilled chicken. Serve with chipotle rice.

Chile paste and fresh ginger add just the right amount of heat to this flavorful stir-fry, which will add a little zip to your weeknight dinner rotation.

A rich mixture of Monterey Jack cheese, grilled chicken, and fresh veggies will make these quesadillas a hit with everyone in the family.

The tangy-sweet flavor combination of this sauce will work equally well with chicken thighs or pork. Serve with hot cooked rice and steamed haricots verts or a tossed green salad.

In this chicken and butternut squash soup, sugary butternut squash and meaty chicken thighs remind us how well sweet and savory flavors play together in Moroccan cuisine.

Sweet and savory, this chicken and fresh cucumber salad combo is under 250 calories and will leave you full and satisfied.

Cover your basic grilled chicken with a zesty herb topping for an anything-but-average meal. It also works well over steak or fish.

Make these easy barbecue pulled chicken sliders by pairing shredded rotisserie chicken with homemade barbecue sauce for an easy weeknight meal.

Grilling chicken is an easy way to transform this humble food. You'll get the best results if you let the chicken stand out at room temperature before grilling.

If you can’t find fresh tomatillos, substitute canned whole tomatillos and use less salt. Grilled lime wedges are a zesty garnish.

This dish gives a Southwestern accent to the American summertime classic, grilled chicken. For more intensity, pickle the onions overnight.

Play up the buffalo chicken theme with a side of celery sticks and light ranch dressing.

For a shortcut version of this recipe, use store-bought, unsalted chicken stock instead of making your own.

Briny olives and tart lemons combine with fresh herbs for a Mediterranean-influenced chicken dish. Serve with hot cooked orzo.

For a colorful accompaniment to this hearty chicken dish, add mini bell peppers to the broiler pan with the skewers.

You can also use 8 thighs or 8 drumsticks or 4 pieces of each; cook about 10 minutes per side.

If the skillet gets crowded, brown the chicken in batches.

This recipe is similar to our Garlic-Buffalo Drumettes but has a sweet-tangy flavor and a little more spice.

Your family will adore the fluffy deliciousness of this potpie's biscuit topping.

Pierogies are the comfort dumplings of all comfort dumplings. We just chickened them up. The browned veggies lend color and flavor to the sauce; be sure to keep them moving in the pan so they don't get too brown.

Take these in your lunch box for an tasty, energy-packed meal to keep you going the rest of the day.

These meatballs make a terrific party snack. Look for flat skewers at Asian markets, or use two skewers for each group of meatballs so they'll turn easier.

You can easily substitute kale or spinach for the mustard greens if you would prefer.

Talk about flavor! Green curry paste (found in the Asian-foods section) and chile paste impart tons of savory-spicy-fragrant hits to ground chicken.

This lightened-up classic—beloved in both the South and the Midwest—is satisfying enough to be a one-dish meal. This particular recipe is based off of the more biscuit-like Midwestern version of dumplings.

To calibrate yourself to be a better cook, learn to use all of your senses throughout the process. For the richest sauce, use a stainless steel pan; the browned bits that stick to the bottom provide flavor.

Frozen peas and arugula offer a little taste of spring, even in cooler months.

The empanadas can be made ahead of time and chilled until ready to bake. For less heat, seed the jalapeño peppers after roasting.

Have a filling you want to make but need an empanada dough recipe? This Whole-Wheat Empanada Dough is light and flaky and can be baked rather than fried. Wine in the recipe adds yeast flavor and aids in flakiness; its acidity also breaks down the gluten, allowing you to stretch the dough easily when forming the empanadas.

These chicken thighs are messy, but that's part of the fun. Serve with steamed sugar snap peas and hot cooked rice tossed with green onions.

For a sweeter profile, substitute apricot jam for the red pepper jelly.

This budget-friendly dinner runs just $2.36 per serving. Serve with 2 cups of hot cooked brown rice.

This simple recipe is a revelation: It tastes as good as the old-school, supersavory chicken you'd get in a bucket.

Lettuce wraps are a fresh alternative to pancakes or tortillas. If you can't find Bibb lettuce, iceberg will work.

Citrus zest perfumes the chicken while it marinates. A fresh salsa of citrus segments and herbs doubles down on fruit flavor. The natural sugar from the citrus in the marinade creates a caramelized glaze on the roasted chicken while the serrano chiles add a layer of heat. Buying a whole chicken that still has the skin on and bones-ins will add a depth of flavor that skinless and boneless chicken breasts lack. Even though the chicken will be roasted in the oven, the citrus and herbs keep this dish very light and fresh. Pair with a fresh orzo or quinoa salad to let this zesty, roasted chicken shine as the main dish.

Craving salty and crunchy chicken fingers? You can have them for dinner but this time they are covered in hazelnuts, crispy panko, with half the calories and so much more flavor. This oven-fried chicken recipe delivers full flavors of Dijon mustard, hazelnuts, sage, and red wine, and is ready in less than 40 minutes. If you don’t have ruby port, you can substitute it with a sweet red cooking wine such as dry sherry or Marsala wine. This is a weeknight chicken meal the whole family will enjoy with the crunchy, oven fried chicken and elevated port sauce - ketchup or a homemade ranch would pair well if children do not like the port sauce. Serve with roasted butternut squash as a side to complete the meal.

We dressed the bird boldly in this dish with briny olives and tangy-sweet vinegar.

Fresh basil perfumes the sauce in the stir-fry and makes a pretty garnish. You can substitute chopped unsalted peanuts for the cashews as well.

Just a touch of butter gets the brandy-spiked sauce gorgeously glossy and adds an elegant touch to this simple supper.

As a variation to sautéing, you could grill the chicken thighs—a little charring would complement the sauce. No mortar and pestle? Process the paste base in a mini chopper.

This big-batch recipe is an unusual but brilliant choice for freezing. Moist chicken thighs hold up well, especially in the spicy tomato sauce.

A quick vinegar soak keeps the chicken moist and intensely flavorful in this light dish.

Lemon is a bright partner for the caramelized leeks. They are sautéed, then roasted to meld with the honey and lemon.

This Chicken, Rice, and Parmesan Skillet is perfect for a sunny weekend al fresco lunch or dinner.

When you think rhubarb, you may only think pie, but that's selling it short: The rosy stalk packs enough bright tanginess to transform a variety of dishes. Here, paired with smoky heat and sweet tomato, it makes homemade BBQ sauce sing.

Powdered peanut butter (which you'll find on the nut butters aisle) adds richness here; if you'd rather not use it, sub more flour. Find plum sauce in the Asian foods section.

The tomatillos in this braising sauce offer a tangy contrast to the rich chicken flavor. Select firm (but not hard) fruit that feels heavy in your hand and with the papery husk intact.