34 Summer Chicken Recipes The Whole Crowd Will Love
Beat the heat with these easy eats.
Nothing will turn around a hungry crowd like a hearty chicken dinner, and summertime might just be when the crowd gets hungriest—between the pool days, bike rides, and general fanfare. Whether just feeding your family or hosting a big barbecue, you're going to be able to find more than a few reasons to serve up these easy dishes all season long.
Oven-Baked Barbecue Chicken
Nothing says summer like barbecue chicken. Spend a few short minutes making the homemade barbecue sauce, then let the sweet and sticky chicken drumsticks bake in the oven. You'll have plenty of time to prepare your favorite potato salad.
Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Greg Dupree; Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall
Don't worry—we've got Taco Tuesday handled all summer long. Toss chicken thighs in the Instant Pot with salsa, chipotles, and some seasonings, and dinner will be done in no time.
Spicy Grilled Chicken Breasts
Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen
Choose your own adventure—this versatile recipe includes 3 tasty sauces to transform chicken breasts into an exciting summer supper.
Lemon Pepper Air Fryer Chicken Wings
The air fryer is a great tool for summer cooking, because you can fire it up without heating up the whole house. These super-crispy wings are always a hit.
Herbed Chicken-And-Rice Salad
Incorporating two mainstays of the Southern diet—chicken and rice—this salad is an example of the kind of old-school home cooking that used everything in the fridge. In this case, summery herbs, tomatoes, and cucumbers are the highlight of the dish.
Baked Caprese Chicken
This fresh and fast supper comes together quickly on a sheet pan, which keep you dishwashing duty to a mininum.
Slow Cooker Honey-Garlic Chicken
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Your slow cooker is a lifesaver for hot summer nights. Here, it infuses meaty chicken thighs with rich flavor without heating up the house.
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Morgan Hunt Glaze; Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey; Prop Stylist: Christina Daley
This recipe is a tasty way to get your barbecue flavor fix this summer. Top your pizzas with grilled chicken for extra smokiness. Smoked Gouda adds to the chargrilled flavor.
Chicken And Sausage Jambalaya
This traditional Creole dish will feed a hungry table worn out from fun summer activities. The rice soaks up all the flavors of fire-roasted tomatoes and smoked sausage to create a supremely soul-satisfying meal.
Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Breasts
This no-fuss, kid-friendly meal will be your best friend whenever you need to feed the family pronto. The whole family will love dipping the crispy bacon-wrapped chicken and potatoes dipped in the mayonnaise-chive sauce, which can also be used as a dressing on your side salad.
Dry-Rubbed Smoked Chicken Wings
This recipe is from pitmaster Wade Reich of Butts To Go in Pell City, Alabama. The secret doesn't lie in the sauce, but the paprika-based dry rub. Low and slow cooking in the smoker makes the meat fall right off the bone.
Chicken Caprese Pasta
This popular summer salad can be converted to a meal that is just as flavorful. In 20 minutes, dress up a simple pasta with shredded chicken, blistered tomatoes, pesto sauce, and torn chunks of mozzarella.
Sheet Pan Greek Chicken With Roasted Potatoes
This sheet pan recipe has got major personality. Two spice rack staples—cinnamon and nutmeg—give wonderful depth of flavor—while oregano and tomatoes make this meal as refreshing as a summer day. Use bone-in chicken breasts with the skins for the most juicy and succulent meat.
Cast-Iron Chicken Piccata
This quick and easy chicken piccata recipe is a secret weapon for when you don't want to spend too long standing over a hot stovetop. Add the lemon juice, capers, and parsley at the end to preserve their color and flavor.
Tropical Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Everyone needs a no-cook summer lunch staple, and this rotisserie chicken salad with a tropical twist feels more than worthy. Fruity, slightly spicy, and a bit creamy, the salad can be served in lettuce wraps or wheat wraps depending on your taste.
Chicken-And-Collards Pilau
We enjoy a comforting chicken bog on cold winter nights, but in the summer we're looking for more garden-fresh flavor. This one-pot wonder is packed with chicken, sausage, quick-cooking rice, collards, and other vegetables.
Lemon-Rosemary-Garlic Chicken and Potatoes
Garlic, lemon, and rosemary—a delicious trio in the kitchen that makes this "Anytime Chicken" good enough for busy weeknights, fancy dinner parties, and every season of the year. You can brown the chicken right in the roasting pan on the stove before sticking it in the oven to complete its flavorful journey. It makes a delectable sauce you can pour over the chicken and slices of French bread.
Country Captain Chicken
This fragrant dish is packed with fresh vegetables, sweet raisins, and toasted almonds for an absolutely irresistible flavor. The Lowcountry favorite has been around since at least the 19th century, and it's time you give it a try if you haven't already.
Mama's Fried Chicken
Behold: our best-ever fried chicken recipe of all time. It's great anytime of year, but we love it on a Southern summer day. Make sure to soak your chicken in buttermilk for a minimum of two hours before frying.
Grilled Chicken Legs
Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely
What makes this grilled chicken different from the rest? How about a briny marinade made of mayonnaise and dill pickle juice. The result is incredibly juicy meat with flavor that penetrates to the bone.
Marry Me Chicken
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
If you have so much basil in the garden you don't know what to do, it's time you try this easy but luxurious skillet recipe. Sundried tomatoes, cream, and fresh herbs marry together in a dish that's worth getting hitched for. Serve it over pasta or with slices of garlic bread.
Chicken Salad With Grapes And Pecans
Personally, we're pro-grapes-in-chicken-salad, especially when it comes to this recipe. You get a wonderful mix of textures from the juicy grapes and crunchy pecans. Sour cream and a squeeze of lemon juice provide a light tang to balance out the salad.
Doritos Casserole
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Somewhere between enchiladas and nachos, this delightfully easy casserole uses ready-made ingredients like Nacho Cheese Doritos, rotisserie chicken, cans of Ro-tel and beans, and cream of chicken soup. This recipe is sure to be a kid-favorite and can serve a crowd.
Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken Cutlets With Haricots Verts
Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely
We love an impressive-looking meal that is deceptively simple to prepare. You'll love the satisfyingly salty prosciutto wrapping chicken cutlets and anise-scented tarragon. Haricots verts are just a French variety of green beans, which can be swapped with any fresh-picked beans from the farmer's market or your garden.
Chicken Brunswick Stew
Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Micah Morton; Prop Stylist: Jillian Knox
This recipe starts with simmering a whole chicken in a pot until the meat falls off the bone. Corn, butter beans, tomatoes, onions, okra, and pepper join it for the classic summertime stew served up at every Southern barbecue joint.
Chicken-And-Vegetable Pot
Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Micah Morton; Prop Stylist: Jillian Knox
Chicken quarters nestle in a bed of tomatoes, fresh corn kernels, potatoes, and bell peppers in this recipe reminiscent of a hearty vegetable stew. The ingredients simmer in a Dutch oven undisturbed until they have fully absorbed each others' flavors. This soul-food favorite comes from Ruth L. Gaskins' 1968 cookbook, A Good Heart and A Light Hand.
Martina McBride's Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
When the country artist shared her personal recipe for tortilla soup, it quickly became a fan favorite. A creamy masa mixture makes the soup thicker and richer than most. She recommends using fresh corn and adding more jalapeños if you get a kick out of spice.
Chicken And Fontina Panini
This five-ingredient recipe packs a lot of flavor for so little effort. Buy a jar of pesto sauce from the store, or make your own with fresh basil. Plum tomatoes melt slightly along with the fontina cheese.
King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Stacy K. Allen, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley
Here's a Tex-Mex dish that's equally popular at family dinners and summer potlucks. Chicken, tortillas, bell peppers, and chiles melt into a bubbly mixture of cream soups and cheese. This dish can also be made ahead and frozen until you're ready to bake it.
Chicken Noodle Bowl With Peanut-Ginger Sauce
Light, refreshing, and wonderfully cool, this noodle bowl features rotisserie chicken, cucumber, bell pepper, Napa cabbage, and a tasty Peanut-Ginger Sauce. Save this dish for when you'd rather not heat up the kitchen.
One-Pan Hot Honey Chicken And Rice
Hot honey makes everything taste better, including chicken. This one-pan meal saves on clean up time and makes a complete supper, rice included!
Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs
Fred Hardy II, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Caleb Clarke
Fried chicken is synonymous with summer picnics and potlucks, but who wants to stand over a frying pan? These oven-baked thighs are your ticket to cooler cooking.
Chicken Stir-Fry
This stir-fry only takes 10 minutes and can be whipped together on any busy night. While the recipe allows for frozen veggies, it is meant to be customized with your favorite fresh produce—especially in summer.
Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
Since this easy dish gets all of its flavor from the salsa, splurge for a nice jar to make this a top-notch chicken dinner.
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