Family friendly chicken recipes please!

Easy chicken pasta bake

Fry a chopped onion and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic in olive oil until soft. Add 500g diced chicken breast. Fry until browned all over. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, couple of tablespoons of tomato purée and half a cup of chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins. Add 400g cooked pasta shapes and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil and season. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top and bake for 20 minutes at 200c

Wonder if OP ever tried any recipes.

I tried the chicken and leek gratin above and it was very nice. Thanks for posting recipe. Can recommend.

I wondered what "family friendly " means. Does it mean quick or cheap or non-spicy? All of those things?

Yes, it means totally different things to different people. One poster in here said it was 'food without fuss, quick and easy'; this isn't my definition of family friendly at all. It depends on the family!

To me it means something everyone will eat so no "unusual" ingredients but that also depends how picky your family are

Would love some inspiration so hit me with your chicken recipes please!

I made this the other week and it vanished. was great to see 3 boys eating leeks; something they would usually turn their nose up at.

Very tasty and easy (I made the crumb mixture the day before). Will def make again:

http://www.annabel-langbein.com/recipes/chicken-and-leek-gratin/3444/ This is yummy too; have been making a version of it for years; a recipe for it was in her cookbook in 1988 which I brought and still use to this day (one below is slightly different not enough to worry about tho):
http://www.annabel-langbein.com/recipes/leek--mushroom-chicken-pot-pie/80

If I am in a hurry I do this sort of thing - the combinations are endless.

Butterfly a chicken and push garlic and or tarragon butter under the skin (or whatever herb butter takes your fancy), or sliced chorizo and roast.

Or rub with salt, olive oil and garlic, squeeze over lemon juice and sprinkle with fresh rosemary, and roast. Pop potatoes in same pan for a yummy chickeny lemony roast spud.

Or place on a large bed of fresh herbs - branches of rosemary, thyme, parsley and oregano with some lemon slices drizzle with olive oil, lemon or whatever takes your fancy and roast.

etc etc

Try this - kids love them, and so do the adults!
Especially as it's a "throw the ingredients in the dish, fire it in the oven, pull them out in about 40 minutes" kind of dish - perfect for busy families!
Some variations at the end.

Preacher or Ketcha Cola Chicken Drumsticks

A sticky, tasty, fast-to-make chicken drumstick family meal that can be prepared the night before and ready within an hour of getting home! Cheap, cheerful and oh so tasty!

Ingredients
8-12 chicken drumsticks
1 packet French onion soup mix
about 1½ cups cola (should come ½ way up drumsticks)
½ cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste, before serving

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 F).
Lay drumsticks onto greased baking dish (could be lined with baking paper, to save on cleaning. ! ).
Sprinkle with onion soup mix.
Pour over cola, tomato sauce, and soy sauce.
Bake, uncovered, turning once or twice, for approximately 40-50 minutes at 180 degrees C (350 F), until cooked through and browning.
Thicken sauce if necessary. Serve with mash, rice, or cous-cous.

Autumn’sTips - VARIATIONS:
Try being inventive!
[A] Use the basic ingredients, but instead of cola, use cider, instead of tomato sauce, use apple sauce, a ½ teaspoon of Worchester sauce, and finish with a couple of spoonfuls of whipping cream. Viola, Cheat’s Normandy Chicken!

[B] Another variation – again, use the basic ingredients, but substitute ginger ale for the cola, add ½ teaspoon ground ginger, some pineapple cubes and call it, oh, maybe Caribbean Chicken?

Food without the fuss – quick and easy. That was our aim - family friendly, right?

Chicken and Leek Pie Recipe
(for 2 people, triple the recipe for a family serving.)
• Good knob of butter
• 1 leek, washed and shredded
• Small bunch of thyme (can use dried but only a teaspoon)
• 2 rashers bacon, chopped
• 2 to 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced, (can use pre-cooked chicken pieces)
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• Third glass of white wine
• 70 to 80ml crème fraiche
• Small bunch of tarragon, leaves picked and roughly chopped or ½ tsp dried rubbed tarragon.
• Potato Mash to suit

Preheat the oven to 200°C - fan 180°C.
Heat a large frying pan on a medium heat, add the butter allow to melt.
Add the leek, salt and pepper and thyme and cook for 10-15 minutes until soft and sweet.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
In a separate pan on a high heat fry the bacon until crispy, then add the chicken and brown off too.
Once the leeks are softened, stir in the flour then add the wine and cook for a couple of minutes until the alcohol has cooked off.
Add the browned chicken and bacon, stir in then add the crème fraiche,
Stir through then add the chopped tarragon.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.
Place into a suitable sized dish, add the potato mash on top.
Bake in Oven for 30 minutes or until piping hot and golden on top.

Variation for Pork.

Instead of chicken use about 200 to 300 grams pork pieces.

Instead of Thyme to use a few fresh Sage leaves or 1 tsp dried sage.

Variation to topping.

Use a piece of Flaky Pastry to cover the top, trimmed instead of potato mash.

Tip for Crème Friache,
Comes in 200 mil packs, it can be frozen into smaller portions but make sure there is no air and thoroughly sealed.

Chicken Stroganoff - just use chicken instead of beef

A key thing to remember I think is just because a recipe looks 'long' it doesn't mean it is complicated or overly time consuming.

Many of these types of recipes are very balanced and include veges that would otherwise need to be cooked in addition to the main, and incorporating them into the main can save time in the long run. It can also mean people eat more veges than they realise, if you get my meaning.