
I am the worst at meal planning. I have great intentions. I’ll make a shopping list, pick up what I need, keep the fridge stocked. The problem is by the time I’m ready to break away from work, or whatever I happen to be doing, to start cooking everyone is starving and wants something right now!
It doesn’t help that I’m usually not in the mood to cook whatever it is I planned to make for dinner that night anyhow.
Last week I knew was going to be especially busy with afternoon Zoom meetings and conference calls, virtual school, appointments, and driving my kids to/from their jobs. With a little of that “work smarter, not harder” ingenuity, I came up with the perfect menu to help me survive until Saturday.
Using one main ingredient, whole chicken roasters, I made four quick, HEALTHY, and delicious dinners for six. And the best part?!? I spent less money on all the ingredients for those four dinners, than I would have paid for one night of takeout!
And you can do it too.
Monday night I made the most amazing oven-roasted chicken dinner. It was so delicious and simple to make!
Almost ridiculously simple.
Brine the chicken for an hour; season, and cook for an hour. (Scroll down for the instructions.)
I’m not kidding when I tell you it was the best roasted chicken I have ever made. My kids nearly devoured half of one of the chickens within minutes. Good thing I cooked three (when you have six people to cook for, you have to double or triple pretty much everything)! Thankfully, I’m always sure to grab the biggest chickens I can.
Tuesday night I cut up the leftover chicken thighs and legs, and I made my yummy Tortilla Soup. It’s so easy! Just throw all the ingredients in the Instant Pot and it’s ready in about 20 minutes!
Wednesday night I used breast meat to make my new favorite recipe, Pomegranate Chicken with Halloumi Cheese, Tomatoes, and Peppers. This recipe won the Sassool Grocery Challenge (I beat out eight other bloggers!) and the dish is now featured at both restaurant locations through the month of January.
And, finally, on Thursday I used the last bit of the chicken breast to make my Copycat Chick-fil-A Grilled Market Salad. This is one of my most popular blog posts of all time, and another favorite dish of mine.
On Friday we always pick up Papa Murphy’s $5 Favs pizza and have a movie night with the kids, so I didn’t need to worry about dinner.
I can’t tell you how nice it was to not have to stress about what I was going to make for dinner every night.
Hope you enjoy these recipes and can use them to carve out a stress-free week of meals for your family.
The Best Oven-Roasted Chicken Dinner









Oven-Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
Brine:
- 1/2 cup table salt (if using kosher salt increase to 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 quarts cold water
Roasted Chicken:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 lemon cut in half
- 1 tablespoon McCormick Perfect Pinch Roasted Garlic & Bell Pepper Seasoning
- Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 quarts cold water in a large container (I used a KitchenAid mixing bowl, it's the perfect size.)
- Submerge the chicken in the brine, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Place shallow roasting pan in oven and heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Brush chicken with butter and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and Perfect Pinch seasoning.
- Stuff the lemon halves in the cavity of the chicken.
- Remove heated pan from oven and set oiled V rack in it.
- Place chicken on rack, wing side up.
- Roast 20 minutes, then rotate chicken, other wing side up. Roast 20 minutes, then rotate chicken, breast side up.
- Roast breast side up until instant-read thermometer inserted in breast registers 160 and in thigh registers between 165 and 170, 10 to 15 minutes longer.
- Transfer chicken to cutting board; let rest 20 minutes.
- Carve and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 106Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 810mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 0g
Suggested Equipment (affiliate links):
Oh yum, everything sounds delish. I need to start meal planning more. I hate to cook, so I should try to be more organized with it.
I use a roast chicken like this all the time. I love how I can get multiple meals out of it!
The brine is it! Such a simple prep but it adds so much flavor to chicken.
Sometimes,the more simple the dish is,the more delicious the outcome. Like this one.
I’m all about meal planning but sometimes I plan out the menu and then don’t want to make what I had on the menu. lol
I love simple meals! I’m always looking for new ones, especially for busy nights.
All of these look amazing! I’m a meal planner and we shop once a week (sometimes every other) for food and I buy a lot of chicken! Always looking for more ideas for what to do with it!
Everything looks and sounds so delicious. I would love to give this a try.
The chicken looks delicious! I’m not very consistent with meal planning, but it does make life easier when I do it!
The ingredients are so simple! I bet this is so scrumptious.
I totally admit I am awful at doing meal planning as well. I could definitely do with this in my life it would things so much easier.
Can I just say, I drool while reading and seeing the pictures in this post. I literally crave for some! I wish I could cook this right away!
These are some really great Chicken options for Chicken lovers. The Pomegranate one sounds really unique.
I love meal planning because it saves time preparing the food.
Your chicken recipe looks really delicious and will try to make that this weekend.
I need to work more on meal planning. I think after this year is over I need to start doing this. I know it would help with figuring out what to make each day too.
I need to get better at meal planning .These are great ideas for delicious chicken dinners.
I started meal planning a few years ago and never looked back. That chicken looks delish!
The chicken tortilla soup looks amazing! I love easy dinners too.
Meal planning is one thing that I love doing for my family! All these recipes you shared are making me super hungry. I’m sure my loved ones will enjoy them.
You just gave me a delicious dinner idea that everyone will love in my house! It looks so tasty!
That sounds delicious, I will surely try roasting the chicken this way next time!
I love chicken recipes and I can’t wait to try all of these recipe thanks to this!