These Are The Best Chicken Recipes Of 2016 (2024)

There's a reason that everything unknown "tastes like chicken." It's because we want it to taste like chicken. It's the most versatile, customizable, and crowd-pleasing meat on the planet. From battering and frying to coating in koji to smothering in yellow adobo, you can cook chicken in just about any way imaginable, and over the past year, we did. These were our best new chicken recipes in 2016, and yeah, there's soup.

Alex Lau

This aromatic Vietnamese-inspired dish calls for pounding the chicken breasts to a uniform thinness, which eliminates any dryness.

Alex Lau

This irresistible matchup of crispy and creamy releases more dopamine than a bag of Cheetos.

Alex Lau

Depending on your personal preference, you can brush off and discard the peppercorns before cooking, or leave them on for stronger flavor. One of our food editors says this chicken adobo recipe is actually the greatest of all time.

Alex Lau

As you’re crisping the rice for this chicken salad recipe, the leeks and carrots may look very dark. Don’t be scared or angry at us; the veggies aren’t burnt, they’re just deeply caramelized and will add lots of flavor to the final dish. Check out step-by-step photos here.

Alex Lau

Sticky rice is worth using for this porridge-y, comforting chicken soup recipe; it releases lots of creamy starches and helps builds nice body as it cooks.

Danny Kim

At Pietro’s, the cooks deep fry the chicken cutlets in a large, wide skillet, which allows the oil to come up to temperature very quickly and stay there once the cutlet is added. Smart, but potentially messy (it’s a lot of oil!). If you have a Dutch oven with high sides, that will minimize splatter—we’d feel rotten if you got burned.

Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott

Don’t have an acorn squash for this chicken thighs recipe? Use butternut. Not into mustard greens? Use kale, Swiss chard, or spinach.

Peden + Munk

Steady medium heat is best for grilling wings; they need time for the fat to render and the skin to crisp.

Alex Lau

The traditional stuffed pork roast is so delicious but so laborious. This chicken has all the same garlicky, herby flavors—not to mention lots of crispy bacon bits—and it’s optimized for a weeknight meal.

Alex Lau

This sandwich is engineered for maximum impact. Each element is awesome, but it’s the way they come together that puts it over the top. Mmmmm, yeah. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

Alex Lau

Instead of chicken, this curry recipe is really good with boneless pork chops. Cut into ½" pieces and proceed as written. Check out step-by-step photos here.

Alex Lau

If possible, plan in advance for this easy chicken recipe; letting it chill for 2 days after being seasoned has a huge impact on the flavor and also gives the skin time to dehydrate, which magnifies its crispy potential.

Alex Lau

See Also

The Best (and Easiest) Frozen Yogurt Recipe

If you’re not following our weekly meal plan and not making the Grilled Cheese (though you really should; it’s delightful), which you need wheat bread for, use country loaf or sourdough bread, crusts removed, for optimal breadcrumbs for this chicken stew recipe. Check out step-by-step photos here.

Alex Lau

A single pan leads to many wonders: crackly-skinned chicken, hardy escarole, and a touch of smoky bacon.

Alex Lau

Though widely accepted as the national dish of the Philippines, no two adobos are the same. This one calls for an unapologetic amount of turmeric, which has a somewhat bitter, definitely earthy flavor, and those deep, dark notes are backed up by charred coconut. This recipe is from Bad Saint, one of the Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

Peden + Munk

The real magic in this roast chicken recipe is in the pool of schmaltz, AKA rendered chicken fat, sizzling in the pan.

Peden + Munk

Chicken soup is the ultimate comfort food. This healthy version packs spicy flavor, thanks to jalapeño. The squash and cabbage greens are seasonal and healthy, but you can add whatever veggies you like.

Alex Lau

Long-grain rice is not starchy enough to hold together, so make a batch of short-grain a day ahead and you’ll be good to go.

Gentl & Hyers

This isn’t a super-saucy chicken curry; the aromatics from the coconut chicken will brown in the pan, yielding lots of yummy crisp bits.

Alex Lau

We took the traditional Jamaican jerk spice and…simplified it. Before you call the authenticity police, give it a try on roast chicken legs.

Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott

To make the finished dish less of a knife-and-fork affair, remove the braised chicken from the bone, shred it with a couple of forks, and then stir it back into the tomato-kimchi sauce.

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