recipes

The 10 Most Popular Chicken Recipes of 2020

From stir-fry to barbecue, these are our readers’ favorites.
Masala Fried Chicken
Photo by Laura Murray, Food styling by Yekaterina Boystova

Our most popular chicken recipes this year show just how versatile and beloved it really is. We keep developing new cooking techniques and flavor profiles to take chicken to new heights; you keep picking up what we’re putting down—and 2020 brought with it a new crop of reader favorites. We’re talking about the spicy celery and peanut stir-fry that uses a Chinese technique called velveting, in which the chicken is chopped small and tenderized in a lush cornstarch-thickened sauce before cooking quickly over high heat. The melty, crispy cordon bleu that helped us all travel back in time via our taste buds. And Adda chef Chintan Pandya’s crunchy masala fried chicken that’s marinated in tangy yogurt and coated in an array of vibrant spices. Here, you’ll find a short list of this year’s most popular chicken recipes, starting with the No. 1.

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  • OnePot Gingery Chicken with rice and peanut sauce
    Photo by David Malosh, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Cindy Diprima
    1/10

    One-Pot Gingery Chicken and Rice With Peanut Sauce

    We took loose inspiration from Hainanese chicken rice to create this weeknight-friendly dish that retains the comforting and fragrant qualities of the beloved original. Seek out the highest-quality basmati rice you can find (we recommend Daawat brand)—it will make a world of difference in yielding supremely fluffy, evenly cooked rice.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova
    2/10

    Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

    There are tons of shortcuts for chicken noodle soup, but this time we're not cutting corners—this is the long game! This version is about as classic (and as comforting) as they come, using a whole chicken—bones, skin, and all—to lend flavor and body to the broth.

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  • Photo and Food Styling by Molly Baz 
    3/10

    Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry With Celery and Peanuts

    This one-skillet recipe is fast and furious—ideal for those nights when you have 10 minutes to stand at the stove, tops. The cooking technique is in the tradition of Chinese stir-fry, in which proteins and vegetables are chopped small so that they cook quickly over high heat, then bound together with a cornstarch-thickened sauce.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Plates by Meilen Ceramics 
    4/10

    Healthyish Chicken Salad

    This is the summery chicken salad you could eat plate after plate of without feeling like you’ve downed a jar of mayonnaise—because you didn't!

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  • 5/10

    Chicken Cordon Bleu

    This classic dish features chicken breasts stuffed with thin slices of ham and cheese that are then coated in breadcrumbs and pan-fried. To avoid tearing the meat, pound it with a glancing (diagonal) motion rather than straight down, working from the center of the breast to the edge.

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  • Photographs by Mamadi Doumbouya, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Shannon Maldonado
    6/10

    Sticky Barbecue Chicken

    Kurt Evans, culinary director at Drive Change, marinates his chicken in advance to ensure it won’t dry out on the grill, then he bastes it with sauce at the end for the crackliest, stickiest skin. Evans’s homemade barbecue sauce contains just a touch of blackstrap molasses: a rich, dark flavor brought by African American migrants from the Deep South.

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  • Photo by Carla Lalli Music
    7/10

    Buttermilk Spring Chicken

    People have been brining chicken in buttermilk since forever, often as the first step in a dredged and fried chicken situation. But we have chef and cookbook author Samin Nosrat to credit for the idea of roasting poultry straight out of a buttermilk bath, which not only imparts delicious tangy flavor, but also helps the skin achieve a walnut-colored hue when roasted at high heat.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Pearl Jones
    8/10

    Healthyish Fried Chicken

    We really went for it here, drawing on the flavor and texture of idli podi (a coarsely ground spice mixture that also goes by the name “gunpowder spice”) to create a gluten-free version of craggy-crunchy fried chicken. Our version swaps chickpea flour and sesame seeds for wheat flour, and, once fried, we dust it with lime zest, coconut, and crushed red pepper flakes. Be sure to fry the chicken to a deep brown to create superior crunch and coax out the nutty flavors of the chickpea flour and sesame seeds. And don’t skip the honey: It will balance out all the bold flavors.

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  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food styling by Yekaterina Boystova
    9/10

    Masala Fried Chicken

    The vibrant flavor and color of this spicy, finger-licking-good fried chicken comes from an abundance of ground dried spices, so be sure to use the freshest ones you can find. If a jar has been sitting in your cabinet for more than six months, it’s probably time to re-up. Trust us, it’ll make all the difference in the world.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop Styling by Aneta Florczyk 
    10/10

    Crispy Turmeric-and-Pepper-Spiced Chicken Wings

    These wings are so crispy you won’t believe they were baked in the oven. Starting them in a cold oven allows the fat to render slowly so they get even crunchier. Pour off the infused fat and save for stir-fries or cooking eggs.

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Ali is a writer and editor at Bon Appétit whose culture and lifestyle work includes reporting on the health claims behind fake meats, interviews with opinionated chefs about the evolution of restaurants, personal essays on the intersection of work and identity, and subtle attempts to propagate her favorite Australian foods.... Read more
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