Winner winner, chicken dinner! Is there any ingredient easier and better than regular ol’ chicken? No? Take your chicken recipes to the next level by using frozen pre-cooked chicken tenders!
Update: 2/5/22 Do you just need a bunch of super easy dinner ideas to help you meal plan every week? We created an epic inspiration binder of the easiest cheap meals. These aren’t recipes- they’re just super easy but often overlooked dinner ideas to help you quickly plan out meals you’ll actually make. .
And you can get it for free if you use this link.
These easy recipe helpers are seriously life changing. They cut cooking time way down and they work great in almost any chicken dish.
Tyson’s pre-cooked grilled chicken (or whatever brand your local store has) is healthy, simple and found right in your grocer’s freezer (often on sale). There’s also a refrigerator version, if you plan to enjoy them all right away. I’ve used these pre-cooked strips in TONS of recipes and I totally love them.
Using pre-cooked chicken saves you from touching raw chicken if you’re squeamish about such activities (or if you’re a bit of a food safety nut like me). No worries about “cross contamination” and other kitchen hazards.
Plus, they work in almost any dish. If you want to up the protein on your salad, add meat to your mac and cheese, or find a quick sandwich filling, here’s your answer!
I learned to meal plan in the Hot Mess to Home Success course, which taught me how to reduce our spending by over $23,000 a year and actually organize my house (and keep it that way!). Which is pretty crazy considering where I started (you should have seen our fast food bill!). One of the things I learned in that course was to create change with bare minimum effort that I don’t need to have willpower to stick to. (I.e. I need to stop buying ingredients for chicken picatta and just give in to the fact that I’m not cooking full dinners.) It worked!
By far my favorite bonus about using frozen pre-cooked chicken in my recipes is how easy and FAST it is to make dinner for my family! I don’t have to worry about extra cooking time or last-minute trips to the store to buy new chicken (because how many times do we let the raw chicken sit in the fridge a few too many days before we get around to actually cooking it?). Meal planning and dinner prep is so much easier with pre-cooked chicken on hand. It’s always a win-win.
My kids love them, my husband loves them, and they’re made with white meat so they’re healthy, lower in calories, cheap and convenient. It literally doesn’t get any better.
Here are 12 awesome recipes using frozen pre-cooked chicken to get you in and out of the kitchen lickety-split. Enjoy chicken for dinner tonight!
1. Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad from Family Fresh Meals
Easily use Tyson Grilled and Ready Premium Grilled Chunk White Chicken in this recipe (you could also use shredded rotisserie chicken or any other leftover chicken on hand). The avocados are creamy and delicious. Cutting half the mayo with Greek yogurt is a great way to reduce your calories (if you’re watching your weight) without sacrificing on the flavor. Serve this yummy, different chicken salad in a pita or enjoy with crackers.
2. Baked Honey Sriracha Chicken Tenders from Meatloaf and Melodrama
Swap out the chicken tenders for pre-cooked chicken tenders (like Tyson Grilled and Ready Chicken Breast Strips) and you’ll shave off 5-8 minutes from your cooking time. The secret to this dish is all in the sauce! The honey, sriracha sauce is sweet, spicy and perfect! Use this sauce to liven up chicken for a salad, as a sandwich filling, or simply as a great main dish for dinner. Serve over rice, with your favorite veggie on the side.
3. Easy Dorito Chicken Tenders from Dancing Through the Rain
This recipe uses a secret to get the breading to stick—mayonnaise! Mayo adds plenty of moisture to the recipe and the breading sticks to pre-cooked chicken just as well as raw. Even better, you only need to bake until it’s heated through and the breading crisps up—10-15 minutes, as opposed to the full 20 called for in the recipe (test it’s warmed to the center). Doritos are the best cheesy, crispy coating. It only takes a few chips to create the breading but you get a lot of flavor!
4. 10-Minute Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta from Homemade Hooplah
You had me at ten-minutes! This pasta bake combines the great flavors of chicken cordon bleu in a savory pasta dish that comes together with only ten-minutes of prep time. It goes in the oven long enough for the cheese to melt and you’ll get the entire dinner on the table in fifteen! Plus, it’s got all the flavors of the original dish but in a super crowd-pleasing pasta.
5. Light and Easy Bruschetta Pasta from Tobin’s Tastes
I love bruschetta—those great little toasts at Italian restaurants with chopped tomatoes, basil and parmesan. They’re simple and super delicious. This pasta recipe takes all the flavors and adds chicken to create a pasta dish with great flavor and a protein boost. It’s healthy, simple and satisfying. It’s ready to be on the table in 15-minutes, so it’s a great weeknight dinner option!
6. Chicken Quesadillas from 7 on a Shoestring
My kids (and my husband and I) really enjoy quesadillas! They’re so simple and easy, plus they cost next-to-nothing. It’s another easy grilled cheese option swapping tortillas for bread. This recipe uses pre-cooked chicken to give quesadillas a little more dinner-power! Add a side of salsa (she suggests corn salsa to get in extra veggies), sour cream or guacamole for dipping, and you’ve got a great dinner for the whole family! Pull this recipe together in five-minutes or less!
7. Tyson Honey Barbecue Chicken Strip Pizza from Cooking in Bliss
For this recipe, she uses the Tyson Honey Barbecue Chicken Strips (oh yes, they come in flavors too!). if you love barbecue chicken pizza, this is an easy-peasy create-at-home version with hardly any prep. It’s out of the oven and on the table in less than half an hour. Serve with a salad as suggested for a healthy, satisfying meal to totally knock out your pizza craving!
8. Creamy Garlic Shells from For the Love of Dessert
She cooks up her own riff on creamy cheese sauce using butter, garlic, cream and a few other ingredients. The entire recipe comes together fast (about fifteen minutes) but if the sauce intimidates you, you could always use your favorite boxed shells and white cheddar, adding garlic. This is essentially dressed up macaroni and cheese with a little extra flavor and grilled chicken—simple, easy and comforting!
9. Buffalo Chicken Crescents from Plain Chicken
These little “buffalos in a blanket” are the ultimate fun, easy and a little different dinner options. Using Pillsbury crescent dough is genius, because it’s simple, bakes quickly (these take 18 minutes to cook) and the rolls are almost always on sale! Using Tyson Buffalo Crispy Chicken Tenders adds the awesome fried chicken wing flavor along with a little hot sauce. Use ranch or blue cheese to dip!
10. Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap from Eating Well
Caesar brings to mind images of salad, right? That’s why I love how this recipe puts it in a wrap form instead. It’s much more satisfying and easy-to-eat. Save time by using Tyson Grilled Chicken Tenders (or Crispy Chicken Tenders if you prefer). The sauce is easy to pull together and if you use pre-cooked chicken this recipe comes together in a flash.
11. Teriyaki Chicken Alfredo from Bombshell Bling
Teriyaki Alfredo? I had to check this recipe out, because the combination sounded strange, at first, but totally delicious. A creamy, sweet, salty savory sauce? With pasta? It sounds like the perfect dinner combination to me! Using pre-cooked chicken helps this entire meal come together in less than thirty minutes from start to finish. Try using Tyson Sweet Teriyaki Chicken Fillets to knock even more prep-time off! Easy and yummy—you’ll fall in love!
12. 15-Minute Mediterranean Pasta Salad from Busy Budgeter
This is hands-down my favorite potluck recipe, but it also works for an awesome dinner solution. For some reason the combination of feta, olives, artichoke hearts and tomatoes is unstoppable. You know how we all know one recipe that’s a sure-fire hit? Well, this is my go-to. Using pre-cooked chicken means the whole meal comes together in 15-minutes. It’s seriously unbeatable.
Bonus Ideas: 15 Minute Meals Using Precooked Frozen Chicken Breast
Want MORE chicken inspo? Check Out 13 Fast & Easy Family Favorites Using Tyson Grilled Chicken.
Pre-cooked chicken is bomb, guys. It’s yummy, simple, time-saving and easy. Plus, you’ll often find it on sale for the same price or less than raw chicken. What’s not to love?!
If you’re looking for great go-to recipes to use frozen pre-cooked chicken, check these out. Don’t stress about cooking from scratch or worry about prep times and whether or not the chicken is cooked enough. With frozen pre-cooked chicken, there’s never any worry – just delicious dinner, and fast! I’m sure you and your family will be glad you did!
So, guys what’s your favorite chicken dinner recipe? Do you have a crowd-pleasing chicken recipe you love? Would you make the switch to using frozen pre-cooked chicken?
Wish every dinner was as easy as these ideas? It can be!
We use this free printable cheap and easy meal ideas as an inspiration binder to plan our entire weeks worth of meals that take less than 15 minutes to make. You can grab a copy for free here.
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I’m reading this post at 10 PM, and it’s making me hungry. Our family usually buys fresh meat, but I can see the convenience of these recipes. Pre-cooked chicken does save time!
There is so much you can do with rotisserie chicken and grilled chicken breasts. I shred the rotisserie chicken and you can make burritos, chicken noodle soup, chow mein,green chicken enchiladas( just roll up w/cheese in warm corn tortillas and put green enchilada sauce mixed with a bit of sour cream and cheese on top and bake 15-20 mins! ), Thai peanut sauce chicken noodles, with pasta, chicken salad sandwich or cut thick and chicken sandwich.
The grilled chicken pieces can be used as above or added to stirfries, Caesar salad wrap,fajitas( they have steak too). Chicken parmigian sandwiches and cordon bleu sandwich. I tend to cook my own meats and slice the meat but I keep a couple of bags in hand for quick meals on busy days instead of fast food or eating out.
Another idea is at Costco they sell these breaded chicken patties which can be used in sandwiches, cordon bleu, chicken parmigian, with alfredo (cut up the chicken patty), Caesar salad or honey mustard salad, cut slices over rice drizzle tonkatsu sauce( our favorite way to have these) or teryaki sauce over it and serve with broccoli or edamame and rice. I am all for easy bc I cook 3-4 meals a day and usually gourmet from scratch so this gives me a break feom full on cooking!
Oh I forgot to mention that one rotisserie can be used for more than 2-3 meals! One day you can serve as a roast chicken, I sometimes jazz it up with soy sauce, garlic powder and a bit if peach jam( mango, pineapple and guava/ passionfruit jams also give good flavor). Then the next day you can shred it for the burritos( add Spansh rice and beans),fajitas( add bell peppers and onions),green chicken enchilada or chicken salad sandwiches on croissant or on regular bread and by the third meal usually you can make chicken matzo ball soup or chicken noodle/ rotini soup( use carcass too for flavor) or quesadillas bc there is less meat.
Now the trick to this is to extend each meal by adding other filling stuff like chicken salad sandwiches I add grapes and apples. The enchiladas I add cheese and uf I have time I can add diced zucchini and corn ( esp if I don’t have much meat left). Or with the soup, add either matzo balls or noodles( we like rotini) and then add carrots and celery, cabbage, etc. Sometimes if only a little bit if chicken left I dice it small( really just for flavoring) and add ut ti cream of corn soup with water and bit of soy sauce, sesame oil and drop an egg and swirl it around when hot and fresh green onion diced on top and make egg drop corn soup( Chinese soup)- good on a winter night!
Btw sorry for typos, typing on cell and cannot see whole post well and typing fast and fingers picking up letters next to ones I was trying to pick! Is there a way to edit/ correct? My apologies-I can spell but fat finger syndrome on small cell phone!
Wow, some of these really look mouth-watering! I enjoy cooking from scratch but I also like to save some time with pre-made items, especially on the weekend!
Love these ideas!
Carolin Eichholz recently posted…How To Make Traditional Moroccan Beet Salad
It’s great to find all these awesome chicken recipes in one place. This would suit my son so much as he loves chicken, and loves it fast! On the other hand, I love chicken on the bones, especially my favourite Jamaican Jerk chicken! Thanks so much for these though. Definitely a keeper.
Can you use in a recipe straight from frozen or does it have to be defrosted first?
Yay! That’s what we like to hear!
Thanks! Glad you liked it! 🙂
Is this post sponsored by Tyson? Because if it is, you’re not being clear about that which is in violation of the FTC guidelines. A little blurb under every post is not good enough.
Hey Jessica! That’s absolutely true. This post is NOT sponsored by Tyson. I just love their chicken and you can make so many awesome dishes with them. I appreciate you reaching out!