Whoever said chicken is boring was only fooling themselves. Whether crisped in a skillet or simmered with sausage in a rich, flavorful gumbo, chicken thrives either as part of a larger dish or as the main event. So to give you a little extra inspiration, we put together some of our favorite recipes featuring the humble bird, each created by either one of our professional chef partners or a member of the Made In kitchen team.
These recipes draw on an array of different techniques, cooking methods, and flavor profiles to show you just how versatile—and exciting—chicken can be.
While you can sub in shredded rotisserie chicken, we highly recommend using a whole cut-up bird in this gumbo recipe: Not only do the bones, skin, and fat imbue the broth with deep poultry flavor, they also insulate the meat and keep it from getting dry and stringy as it simmers.
The platonic ideal of roast chicken, this elegant one-pot recipe—known as Poulet Rôti Grand-mère, or “Grandma-Style Roast Chicken”—calls for nestling your bird into a bed of hearty vegetables like fennel, potatoes, and carrots before roasting. If the addition of butter seems gratuitous here, just remember that the original version of the dish calls for bacon as well.
This rich-but-not-stodgy chicken pot pie tastes about 1,000 times better than anything you’ve had from a box—partly due to the nutmeg-infused homemade roux and perfectly puffed, golden-brown crust.
Cabbage-haters never had a fighting chance with this one. Created by Garrison’s Chef Jakub Czyszczon, this recipe calls for roasting a whole chicken over charred cabbage wedges, which absorb all the beautiful fat and juices. An Italian-ish salsa verde adds brightness and a touch of heat from fresh green chiles.
Rather than an all-day affair, these tamales—which La Condesa’s Chef Rick Lopez makes using instant masa flour and rotisserie chicken—come together in just a couple of hours. With such simple ingredients, the hardest part is filling the corn husks before layering them in the steamer—aside from waiting until they’re cool enough to unwrap and eat, that is.
If you’re the kind of person who eats the roast chicken skin first, this skillet-roasted recipe is about to blow your mind. Before placing it in the oven to roast, recipe developer and food stylist Melina Hammer sears a whole chicken on the stove for a perfectly bronzed, crisp exterior and tender meat.
Posole—a homestyle Mexican dish made from nixtamalized corn, aka hominy—consists of a soothingly simple broth imbued with the nutty flavor of dried corn. We love this version, which Chef Chris Shepherd makes with homemade chicken stock and pureed hominy for a gorgeously fragrant broth.
This recipe from Made In’s Culinary Director Rhoda Boone makes for crispy-skinned yet incredibly moist, tender grilled wings that taste great on their own. But since everyone loves a good dip, we don’t recommend skipping the creamy, tangy homemade scallion ranch dressing served on the side.
An endlessly customizable, family-friendly weeknight meal that comes together in one pot—what could be better? Made in our Non Stick Saute Pan, this dish from Creative Culinary Director Rhoda Boone captures what cooking should look like: riffable, comfortable, and crowd-pleasing.
When we’ve got leftover chicken bones or carcasses (which we definitely do after testing all those recipes), our first move is to turn them into stock or broth. A million times more flavorful than the boxed variety, homemade chicken stock adds incredible flavor to all of your soups and stews. We like to freeze it in cubes for easy measuring.
As we’ve hopefully shown you, chicken can absolutely be a treat. And whether you’re sautéing, roasting, or searing your bird, the most surefire way to achieve juicy, crispy-skinned chicken greatness is by using the right cookware. Among others, our Enameled Cast Iron Skillet, Dutch Oven, and Grill Frying Pan do an excellent job of conducting and circulating heat—absolutely essential for preventing your thighs, breasts, and legs from burning or drying out.
