I've never really liked red meat, so chicken mince is basically my whole personality in the kitchen. It's low in fat, does whatever you need it to, and has saved me more weeknights than I can count. If I don't have mince on hand, I'll just grab a chicken breast, defrost it, and blitz it in the blender. It takes about 2 minutes, and it means I'm never stuck running to the shop mid-recipe. I think that's what I love about it.
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One day I'm laying it in lasagna, and the next rolling it into dumplings because I'm feeling a bit extra. Same chicken, completely different results. That's what this list is really about. 25 ways to use minced chicken that don't leave you bored by dish 12.
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1) 15-Minute Thai Basil Minced Chicken Stir-Fry
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, and chilies; cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add minced chicken and cook 4–5 minutes, breaking up lumps, until no pink remains.
- Stir in bell peppers, soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, and broth. Simmer 2–3 minutes until sauce slightly reduces.
- Remove from heat and fold in basil leaves until wilted. Serve over hot rice.
I love making this recipe, and it's so quick; it takes literally about 15 minutes from start to finish. I normally have Thai basil in a bag. I actually bought a whole bunch of this when I entered Thailand last year; it comes in packets, and that's all I do. Just fry your chicken breast with the packet sauce, add some Thai basil, and even a bit of chilies and spring onion if you've got them.
I like to flavor it with some soy sauce and a little bit of sesame oil, and then I squeeze some lime over it. And of course, this is classic served with fluffy jasmine rice, but I actually end up just eating it as is.
2) One-Pan Lemon Garlic Minced Chicken and Orzo
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes.
- Add minced chicken, breaking it up with a spoon; cook until no longer pink, 5–6 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.
- Stir in garlic and orzo; toast 1 minute. Add broth, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer.
- Cover and cook 8–10 minutes, stirring once, until orzo is tender and most liquid is absorbed.
- Fold in spinach and Parmesan, if using, until wilted. Adjust seasoning and sprinkle parsley before serving.
Who doesn't love a one-pan wonder like this one? I find that my son eats this without a complaint. Fry the chicken mince first in a pan or skillet, season it, and then add the orzo with a little bit of stock, and it all just comes together so quickly.
You can turn this from a lemon-garlic situation to something different by grating in tons of parmesan and adding a splash of cream, and then it becomes all creamy, which is what I sometimes do, but this is light and fresh. Typically, I'll cook some mushrooms and spinach with it just to give it some color.
3) Easy Minced Chicken Tacos with Quick Pico
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add minced chicken. Break it up with a spatula and cook 5–7 minutes until no pink remains.
- Stir in chili powder, cumin, garlic and onion powders, salt, and pepper; cook 1–2 minutes to toast spices. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Mix pico ingredients in a bowl while chicken finishes; let sit 5 minutes so flavors mingle.
- Warm tortillas in a dry skillet or microwave, fill with chicken, top with pico, and add cheese or avocado if you like.
This normally happens on a Friday night in our house because it's pretty much Friday free-for-all in our kitchen. Everyone's coming to one thing, so I stop trying to make them all.
What I do here is I make two versions. I do a chicken version for myself, and I do a red meat version for the boys, put them both out, and then anyone and everyone can build their own thing. They earn tacos from the air. There's no arguing over who wanted what, so I stick to my ticket, and everyone's happy.
I also do a quick pico on the side. I make a tomato and onion salsa, and I serve it with some fresh chili for my husband and me and, of course, tons of salsa.
4) Weeknight Minced Chicken and Veggie Fried Rice
Ingredients
Method
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; brown the minced chicken until no pink remains. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Push chicken to the side, add remaining oil, sauté onion and garlic until soft. Stir in frozen veggies and cook 2–3 minutes.
- Move mixture to the side, pour in beaten eggs and scramble until just set. Combine everything.
- Add rice, soy sauce, and sesame oil; toss and fry until heated through and slightly crispy in spots. Stir in green onions and adjust seasoning.
This is a family favorite when I've got tons of leftover rice from whenever, and I've frozen it, all sitting in the fridge. It either gets turned into egg fried rice, and then I add some minced chicken to it and tons of veg. Everyone seems to get quiet and settle down and eat this.
Serve it with whatever seasoning you've got: onion powder, garlic powder, fresh herbs, better. You could turn this into a Thai variation, Mexican variation, Mediterranean variation; honestly, the world's your choice. You can go crazy with this one.
5) Simple Minced Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until softened, 3–4 minutes.
- Add minced chicken, breaking it up with a spatula; cook until no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and ginger; cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- Mix hoisin, soy sauce, and rice vinegar in a small bowl; pour into skillet and stir to coat.
- Add shredded carrot and cook 2 minutes to soften. Taste and add red pepper flakes if desired.
- Remove from heat and stir in green onions.
- Spoon filling into lettuce leaves, sprinkle sesame seeds, and serve immediately.
Such a nice, light, refreshing meal to have for lunch or dinner, but dinner is better because there are no carbs and you just feel light. I find I can eat so much of this and I don't feel guilty. It just goes: hoisin with the minced chicken, and then a crispy cup of lettuce.
You could serve this with some sriracha mayo, which I do sometimes.
And if your husband, partner, or children are not up for lettuce cups, this can go with anything: rice, egg noodles, or a potato. Very versatile.
6) Cheesy Minced Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Cook shells until al dente; drain and cool.
- Heat oil in a skillet, sauté onion 3–4 minutes, add garlic and minced chicken; cook until no pink remains.
- Stir in spinach until wilted, season with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper; remove from heat.
- Mix chicken mixture with ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, and 1/4 cup Parmesan.
- Spoon filling into shells and place in a baking dish spread with 1 cup marinara; top shells with remaining sauce and cheeses.
- Bake 20–25 minutes until bubbly and golden on top; let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Giant people off when you see this, thinking it takes tons of work to do it; it really doesn't. You just have to have everything already, and then you're assembling it, and it's quick in the oven, done.
You can use store-bought spinach or fresh spinach depending on how much time you've got. I always use fresh because we have tons of it in the garden.
And then you squeeze all of that out; make sure you get everything out, otherwise this dish becomes very watery. And then you mix it in with whatever cheese you've got, but I go for cheddar most of the time, and then your minced chicken.
It's better when everything is cold because you can kind of stuff it in those shells without it all falling out. Put this in the pan or oven pan, and then add your tomato sauce.
Crispiness. And this is a delicious, fancy meal.
7) Minced Chicken Chili with Beans for Busy Nights
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add minced chicken and cook until no longer pink, breaking it up with a spoon. Stir in garlic and cook 30 seconds.
- Add tomatoes, beans, broth, and spices. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and cook 15–20 minutes to meld flavors.
- Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or spice. Serve with toppings your family likes.
I will do this for a weeknight dinner; it's a very easy put-together meal. We always have some kind of beans in the fridge, some kind of tin of tomatoes, and I'm pretty sure you've got some green pepper in your fridge. Then you just fry this off with some onion, fry the chicken, and add all the spices that bring it together; it makes a good chili.
Cumin, paprika, all of those flavors. Then serve this with some rice. This freezes very well, and it's nice sometimes to switch it up with chicken mince instead of red meat; I just enjoy it that way.
8) Quick Teriyaki Minced Chicken Bowls with Broccoli
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add minced chicken, breaking it up; cook until no longer pink, about 5–6 minutes.
- Push chicken to one side; add garlic and ginger, cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in broccoli and cook 3–4 minutes until bright and tender-crisp.
- Mix teriyaki, soy, and sesame oil; pour over chicken and broccoli. Stir to combine.
- Add cornstarch slurry, simmer 1–2 minutes until sauce thickens and coats the chicken.
- Serve over rice, garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.
I always make my own teriyaki; I just find the bottled stuff sometimes too sweet and tasting like nothing. It's so easy, soy, bit of ginger, garlic, honey, boom in a pan, and it's done in the time it takes the rest to steam away. And then I also add the broccoli to the steamer.
The chicken mince gets sticky in the pan, rests underneath, and it all comes together in one pot basically, no extra dishes. This is such a proper dinner in about 20 minutes. It really is finished off nicely with some toasted sesame seeds and some finely sliced spring onion.
9) Mediterranean Minced Chicken Pita Pockets
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium; sauté onion until soft, 4–5 minutes.
- Add garlic and minced chicken; cook, breaking up meat, until no pink remains, about 6–8 minutes.
- Stir in oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper; cook 1 minute to bloom spices.
- Warm pitas in oven or toaster briefly.
- Mix chicken with cucumber/tomato, feta, and parsley; spoon into pitas.
- Dollop tzatziki inside each pocket and serve immediately.
I will generally have some pita pockets in the freezer; they take literally about 5 minutes to defrost, but I do make my own tzatziki for this one. Don't buy it, because it just gets really watery.
It's very easy to make. Grate cucumber on a grater; make sure you squeeze it really dry, like through a tea towel or whatever you've got on hand. Stir in some garlic and lemon; it takes about two minutes, I promise you. It's also great with fresh dill if you've got it.
Then for the chicken you need mince, garlic, and a bit of lemon, cook that off in a hot pan, it's quick, and then load it into the pita pockets with the tzatziki and whatever is in the fridge, typically tomato again, and some shaved lettuce. This is a fabulous meal to make; it really comes together and is super tasty.
10) Skillet Minced Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff
Ingredients
Method
- Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown minced chicken until no longer pink; drain excess liquid if needed.
- Add onion and mushrooms; cook 5–7 minutes until softened. Stir in garlic for 30 seconds.
- Sprinkle flour over the mixture and cook 1 minute, stirring to remove raw taste.
- Slowly pour in chicken broth, scraping browned bits, and simmer until slightly thickened.
- Reduce heat and stir in sour cream and Dijon; warm through without boiling. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve over noodles or mashed potatoes and garnish with parsley.
My gran told me this version of skillet minced chicken and mushroom stroganoff because she also wasn't a huge red meat eater.
So what I've learned with this one is that mushrooms are the one thing I refuse to rush, and I let them sit in the pan until they properly darken. Not burnt, of course, not stirring every 10 seconds, so they get that delicious caramelized effect. I think that's the bit that makes it taste like something.
And then I add chicken mince, and when the mushrooms are done, a splash of stock; let that come together for a little bit, and then I add sour cream. If you don't have sour cream, you can add cream; it doesn't really matter. Stir it off the heat at the end, so it doesn't split.
And then, typically, because it goes so well together, I serve this with some fresh egg noodles, but if you don't have any fresh, just use the ones you can find.
It comes together really fast and makes a really comforting, delicious meal.
11) 15-Minute Minced Chicken and Zucchini Skillet
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 1–2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add minced chicken; break up and cook 4–5 minutes until no longer pink. Season with oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Stir in zucchini and tomatoes; cook 4–5 minutes until zucchini is tender-crisp. Reduce heat if needed.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. Sprinkle Parmesan and fresh herbs before serving.
A classic in our house is this minced chicken and zucchini skillet. It's because we normally have tons of zucchini and don't know what to do with it from the garden, so I find myself making all sorts of things- stir-fries- and this is one of the dishes that really stuck.
Make sure you salt that zucchini first, guys. If you don't, it releases so much water; it's actually crazy how much water it releases. The salt just sucks all of that water out- osmosis, I think. And then fry that off with your chicken, salt and pepper, delicious, and it's done.
I actually normally just eat this as is; I don't have it with anything else. But you can serve this with anything; normally, rice would probably go better with it.
12) Honey-Soy Minced Chicken Meatballs and Rice
Ingredients
Method
- In a bowl, mix chicken, panko, egg, 1 tbsp soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and pepper until combined.
- Form into 1-inch meatballs and set on a plate.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and brown meatballs, turning so all sides get color, about 6–8 minutes.
- Whisk remaining soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, and sesame oil in a small bowl.
- Pour sauce over meatballs, reduce heat, and simmer 3–4 minutes until sauce thickens and meatballs are cooked through.
- Serve meatballs over rice, sprinkled with green onion and sesame seeds.
To be honest, I don't make these meatballs from scratch. I buy them already pre-made from the supermarket, and that just makes the meal so fast. Fry the meatballs in some honey soy in a pan and let it get that stickiness, reduce it, then finish it off in the oven, making sure you add maybe a little bit of stock, a little bit of water to loosen it up. Then, yeah, literally it's done. So, some sesame seeds, some chives; make sure you get all that liquid from the pan and pour it over your fluffy rice so it soaks it all up.
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These also make really good canapés. Literally just stick toothpicks in them, put them on a tray, and voila.
Thighs have enough fat to braise themselves over six to eight hours without drying out. Breasts are leaner and need watching, which is why most of my rotation leans on thighs for weeknights.
13) Sheet-Pan Minced Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a large rimmed sheet pan with foil for easier cleanup.
- Toss minced chicken, peppers, onion, oil, and spices in a bowl until evenly coated.
- Spread mixture in an even layer on the sheet pan; avoid overcrowding so it browns.
- Roast 12–15 minutes, stirring once halfway, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender-crisp.
- Warm tortillas in the oven 1–2 minutes with the fajita mix, then serve with lime and toppings.
I make this when I need something that comes together quickly, but you do need to keep an eye on it because chicken mince on a sheet pan in the oven tends to get a bit dry. Make sure you put a good amount of olive oil, a lot of seasoning; I'm thinking cumin, coriander, all of those Tex-Mex flavors.
Add whatever peppers you've got; any colors are fine here. And then let it go on a broiler for about 5 to 7 minutes, and it's done. And then I make them into fajitas; people must just serve themselves from this one sheet pan. It's that simple and easy.
14) Minced Chicken and Sweet Potato Hash
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add diced sweet potato; cook 8–10 minutes until starting to soften.
- Push potatoes to the side, add minced chicken and onion; cook until chicken is browned and onion is translucent, about 6–8 minutes.
- Stir in bell pepper, garlic, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper; cook 4–5 minutes until peppers soften and flavors meld.
- If using eggs, make small wells and crack eggs in; cover 3–4 minutes for set whites. Sprinkle parsley or green onions and serve hot.
I make this for my husband and my dad. They absolutely love the hash, and I actually end up having it for breakfast, so I save it with a fried egg on top.
It's not something I make that often. It's something that I will also make when I need to use up some sweet potato.
Make sure your sweet potato is already cooked, because it's a little bit denser than a regular potato. So, actually, to save time, make sure it's cooked beforehand, and then everything just crisps up together after that in the pan. Crack an egg, place it on top, and there's your meal. Can have it for dinner, for lunch, or breakfast.
15) Crispy Minced Chicken Sliders with Quick Slaw
Ingredients
Method
- Mix chicken, panko, egg, seasonings, and soy sauce in a bowl until combined; form into eight small patties.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high; fry patties 3–4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through.
- Whisk mayo, vinegar, and honey; toss with cabbage to make quick slaw.
- Toast buns briefly in the skillet, assemble sliders with patty and slaw, serve immediately.
This is a great party meal, and I typically make it for my son's birthday parties because there are quite a few halal kids who come, and, of course, there's something about little sliders that just go down so well at parties.
Make little patties with the chicken mince and fry them in a pan with some olive oil and some spices; make sure they get that delicious crispy exterior. Then I like to make a garlic aioli for the brioche bun and serve it with some slaw, really pre-made, cut from the shop; you just mix it with some mayo and a little bit of vinegar. It's super easy, and of course you can just use brioche rolls.
16) Minced Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Heat oil in a skillet over medium; sauté onion until soft.
- Add garlic and minced chicken; cook, breaking up meat, until no longer pink.
- Stir in cumin, chili powder, black beans, corn, and 1 cup enchilada sauce; simmer 3–4 minutes. Season.
- Spoon filling into tortillas, roll, and place seam-side down in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas, sprinkle with cheese, and bake 15–20 minutes until bubbly.
- Garnish and serve with sour cream or avocado if desired.
This one I haven't actually made yet. I think the closest I've got is the taco setup I do most weeks, which is basically the same chicken mince base, just rolled up differently, heated with black beans and cheese instead of powder, into a shell. I do think the sauce is bitter; homemade beats the jarred stuff every time, but I'd probably cheat with a good jarred one on a Friday.
Just roll it up, bake it till the cheese is probably bubbling, and it's sorted with barely any extra effort. This goes really well with a dollop of crème fraîche or sour cream and some guacamole if you've got avocados.
“The dinner that makes itself while I make everything else work.”
17) Easy Minced Chicken Bolognese for Pasta Night
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Add onion, carrot, and celery; cook 5 minutes until softened.
- Add garlic and minced chicken; brown, breaking meat into small pieces, about 6–8 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, broth, oregano, and basil. Simmer 10–12 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Meanwhile cook pasta according to package; drain and reserve 1/4 cup pasta water.
- Toss pasta with sauce, adding pasta water if needed to loosen. Season with salt and pepper and top with Parmesan.
I made this as a lifesaver one time for dinner. My son wasn't feeling well, and we had got him quite late, and I'd already had some chicken breast that had defrosted. I realized there was no dinner, no mince, nothing.
And I know that his comfort food when he's feeling off is spag bol, so I just quickly dusted up some chicken and made it into chicken bolognese, and served it with some spaghetti, and it went down like a treat. He actually prefers this version now instead of red mince.
18) Coconut Curry Minced Chicken with Spinach
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium; sauté onion until soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add garlic and ginger; cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in curry paste.
- Add minced chicken; cook, breaking up, until no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes.
- Pour in coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar; simmer 5 minutes to meld flavors.
- Stir in spinach until wilted, then finish with lime juice and adjust seasoning.
- Serve over rice with cilantro or chilies if using.
This one takes me back to Thailand every single time because that's where I really got into how quick Thai curries work- not too heavy, just the base of coconut and paste and all the flavor and all the work.
I feel like the chicken mince really picks up the paste really well. I like to add the spinach in right at the end because it wilts so much, and if you don't, it can get a bit bitter.
And of course we'll turn to rice; this is so simple, but it goes. It's got that taste that tastes like something else is going on. Save this for chili, lots of coriander, and it's a real treat if you use glass noodles. So that's one.
19) Minced Chicken and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Drizzle peppers with a little oil and place upright in a baking dish.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium; sauté onion until soft, 3–4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.
- Add minced chicken, breaking up with a spoon; cook until no pink remains, about 6–8 minutes. Season with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.
- Stir in cooked quinoa, diced tomatoes, and corn; heat through and adjust seasoning.
- Spoon mixture into peppers, top with cheese, cover with foil, and bake 25–30 minutes until peppers are tender. Remove foil last 5 minutes to brown cheese.
I really rate quinoa as one of the best grains to eat, but on its own in a dish like this, it can go dry pretty fast, so make sure there's enough moisture in the mix. I like to add a bit of stock or, like, a tomato base- any kind of sauce stirred through before it goes anywhere near the oven.
Chicken mince and cooked quinoa, then pack it into those peppers, grate some mature cheddar on top so it doesn't dry out during baking. They come out looking really cute, which tempts my son to eat them, but he never follows through.
20) Quick BBQ Minced Chicken Flatbreads
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium; sauté onion until soft, 3–4 minutes.
- Add minced chicken, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; cook until browned, about 6–8 minutes.
- Stir in 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and simmer 2 minutes to meld flavors.
- Preheat broiler. Spread remaining BBQ sauce on flatbreads, top with chicken mixture and cheese.
- Broil 2–4 minutes until cheese melts and edges brown. Add optional toppings and serve warm.
This is a good way to use up leftover minced chicken that is sitting in the fridge, fried up with some barbecue sauce, which I think everyone has in their fridge or pantry, and then loaded onto the flatbread. You could even make the flatbreads from scratch; they're not that hard. I'm not saying that I would do that; I'm just saying it's not that hard, but I normally have these in the freezer.
Lots of cheese, that chicken barbecue, and something crunchy; we've got maybe some onion, tomato. I think with this one you can just sort of build your own kind of thing, and it would work amazingly in a pizza oven if you've got one; it gives it that charred, delicious base.
Almost every recipe in this list freezes well. I double-batch on a slower Saturday, freeze half in flat zip-top bags, and pull them out on the kind of weeknight where dinner needs to happen yesterday.
21) Weeknight Minced Chicken Ramen with Soft Egg
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high. Add garlic and ginger, cook 30 seconds.
- Add minced chicken, break up, and cook until no longer pink, about 4–5 minutes.
- Pour in broth, soy sauce, and mirin; bring to a simmer.
- Add noodles and greens; cook per noodle package until tender, 2–4 minutes.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve in bowls topped with soft egg halves, green onions, and a drizzle of sesame oil.
The good old ramen. Boy, I've tried to get this down to the perfect ramen dish, but I somehow failed every single time. It just never tastes the same as it does at the authentic place. Anyway, I'm not saying don't try, but you've got to get that broth just right, and there are all sorts of things here, like toasting anise seed, cinnamon, all sorts of spices, and then making the chicken broth.
So what I do to make it super quick is I use a stock cube as my base. I add the noodles; the chicken is already cooked, spring onion, chives, and then a perfect soft egg. I'm not even aiming for that authentic ramen here; this is actually more like quick eating for me, and I'll have the bowls out.
22) Minced Chicken and Corn Gyoza (pan-fried)
Ingredients
Method
- Mix chicken, corn, green onions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, and pepper in a bowl until combined.
- Place ~1 tsp filling in center of wrapper, wet edge with water, fold and pleat to seal.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium; arrange gyoza flat-side down without crowding.
- Cook until bottoms are golden, 2–3 minutes; add 1/4 cup water, cover, and steam 4–5 minutes.
- Remove lid, cook uncovered 1 minute to re-crisp bottoms; transfer to plate and serve with dipping sauce.
These mince chicken and corn gyoza are very durable. I always have frozen pastry in my fridge- dumpling pastry, that is. Take it out in the morning, let it frost a little, and then I make the filling. More like it's not meat, but you just take a little bit further in the blender and then add an egg, and also sorts of flavorings like ham product; it's even really good with some prawns or so. And then corn; I make a whole variation of these, so I do the ones with some corn.
And then you roll them up and fold them; you don't have to get them perfect because no one's ready to judge you, yeah. And then serve it with a good dipping sauce; I normally buy a dipping sauce already from the Asian grocery.
23) Creamy Dijon Minced Chicken and Pea Pasta
Ingredients
Method
- Cook pasta according to package; reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium; sauté onion until soft, 4 minutes.
- Add garlic and minced chicken; cook, breaking up meat, until no pink remains.
- Stir in Dijon, chicken broth, cream, and peas; simmer 3–4 minutes.
- Toss in pasta, Parmesan, and reserved pasta water to reach desired sauce consistency.
- Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using; serve with extra Parmesan.
A delicious pasta that everyone in my house seems to radiate joy over is this creamy Dijon mince chicken and pea pasta. It's funny, my son and my husband won't eat peas just by themselves, but mixed in with this creamy pasta, no one is complaining.
I tend to use any pasta that I've got in my pantry; it's normally penne or rigatoni, and I just find that the cream goes so well with the Dijon mustard. Make sure you season this properly with some white pepper and salt, get it nice and thick, and that the minced chicken just literally melts into it.
Serve it with a good grating of parmesan.
24) Minced Chicken Shepherd’s Pie in a Skillet
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat; sauté onion until soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add garlic and minced chicken; cook, breaking up meat, until no longer pink.
- Stir in tomato paste, peas and carrots, thyme, Worcestershire, and broth; simmer 5–7 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Season with salt and pepper, then dollop mashed potatoes over the mixture and spread to cover.
- Dot butter on the potatoes and broil 3–5 minutes until top is golden, or bake at 425°F for 10 minutes.
Such a classic is the minced shepherd's pie in a skillet, but the chicken mince version. So I will make this for myself; the boys would get red meat. It does tend to come out a little bit different than the red meat version. Minced chicken mince doesn't have that much fattiness, or actually hardly any fat at all, so it doesn't give you that, what's the word, dense way that the red meat does. Richer maybe.
The chicken one does tend to get a bit dry, but it all comes together; just make sure you bind it with some good stock, peas and carrots, and then delicious fluffy mash on top. I like to add a white cheese also, and then under the grill it goes. I actually make myself little balls of those, individual bowls, and freeze them. I use them when I know the boys won't be around, or when they're eating something else and I feel like something comforting.
25) Five-Spice Minced Chicken Lettuce Cups with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
Method
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high and cook onion until soft, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and five-spice; stir 30 seconds.
- Add minced chicken and cook, breaking it up, until no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes.
- Stir in soy, hoisin, rice vinegar, and shredded veggies; cook 2–3 minutes until veggies soften but keep some crunch.
- Whisk peanut sauce ingredients in a small bowl, adding water to reach drizzling consistency.
- Spoon chicken mixture into lettuce leaves, drizzle with peanut sauce, and top with green onion and cilantro.
Five-spice does something to chicken mince that I love; it just makes it so warm and a bit sweet, and it's always a different vibe from the usual seasoning. And then lettuce cups go so well.
I make the peanut sauce myself; I just find that the pre-made stuff is too sweet and a bit gloopy. It's really easy to make: peanut butter, a splash of soy, some lime, and a bit of chili garlic if you want, and then just whisk it all together. It's so quick; it definitely takes less time than finding the jar in the cupboard anyway. It's my go-to to eat with it every single time.
The Whole Point
When we think of a chicken breast, we think of things to make like chicken salad, chicken curry, the normal stuff. We don't really think about making it into mince; we're all about buying it as is. But in fact, it's lean, and it just adapts to whatever you make. So, like tacos one night, curry the next, stuffed peppers after that. Same base, completely different meal every single time.
, Sara