Juicy, delectable and ever delicious. There’s no single phrase that can capture all the goodness that comes with chicken. For some, chicken may even be considered ambrosial. These attributes are not for nothing. Aside from being just delicious, chicken as a meal checks all the right boxes. It is affordable, a healthier option- relative to red meat and it is very easy and simple to cook. With a versatile dish as this, it’s only right to pair it with similarly amazing sides for chicken.
In this article, you’re going to find out more on
- simple and easy ways to prepare sides for chicken
- healthy side dishes for chicken.
In these two categories, you’ll find mentions of the various good sides for chicken as well as 2 recipes (well-elaborated) in each category. Read on!
Simple and easy ways to prepare sides for chicken
With these sides, you can prepare them easily with very few ingredients and serve them in no time with your chicken. And they’re very delicious too.
Here is a list of a few sides for chicken you can try:
- Sautéed kale.
- Chicken rice and parsley.
- Broccoli with feta.
- Arugula salad.
- Creamy mashed potatoes.
Sautéed kale
Aside from just being simple to prepare, this side comes packed with lots of flavor and natural goodness.
For the health conscious folks, this’ll definitely be fav side for you.
Procedure
- First off, wash the kale and dry them. You can then start removing stalks from the kale. Do this using your hands, breaking off the stalk from the leaf.
- After de-stalking, you can then chop the kale. Based on your preference you can chop the kale into small or a bit larger pieces. Smaller pieces give the best result.
- Next, peel 2 garlic cloves, then you can either crush/ grind them or you can dice/ mince them.
- Heat a skillet on medium high heat, then add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet. Swirl, to ensure the oil distributes evenly.
- Proceed to add the chopped kale on the skillet.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes ensuring you stir occasionally. Add the garlic after 1 minute.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and add ¼ a teaspoon salt and ground pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately with the chicken.
- Enjoy!
With the chicken base, this is just chicken stock that is highly concentrated. You can use chicken stock that comes as cubes.
There are two varieties of kale: Tuscan kale and curly kale.
If you’re starting out, you might need to use Tuscan kale as it’s taste is more appealing for beginners, compared to the less sweet curly kale variety.
Chicken rice with parsley
Procedure
- Add 2 cups of water to a fairly/medium sized sauce-pan.
- Heat the sauce-pan on medium-high heat.
- Add the following to the sauce-pan: 1 cup jasmine rice, 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon butter (non-salted) and 1 tablespoon chicken base.
- Let the rice cook until the water is completely absorbed by the rice. This should be 12-15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, and crumble 1 tablespoon dried parsley to the rice. Add ground pepper to taste. Stir all this in the rice, then let the rice rest for 5-8 minutes before serving with the chicken.
- Enjoy!
Healthy Sides For Chicken
Healthy side dishes don’t have to be boring or taste bland. With these side dishes, you can eat healthy, but have the side dishes taste yummy and all kinds of delicious. So much with the “you can’t have your cake and eat it”.
As you are soon to find out, these healthy side dishes for chicken are mostly made of vegetables.
Here is a list of a few you can try.
- Cucumber salad.
- Marinated chickpeas. (This one is quite spicy)
- Roasted carrots.
- Broccoli salad.
- Greek lentil salad.
Cucumber salad
Whether you’re serving with baked chicken or grilled chicken, this cool (well, not exactly, it has some spice to it) healthy salad is for you.
Procedure
- Start off by first slicing the cucumbers into thin slices. You can either dice or slice the avocado.
- Add the following to a fairly sized bowl: 2 minced garlic cloves, balsamic vinegar (2 tablespoons) and olive oil (3 tablespoons). Mix these properly until well combined, then add kosher salt and ground pepper to taste.
- Add the sliced cucumbers and avocado to this bowl. Combine all together.
- Serve with chicken. Enjoy!
You can use any cucumbers out there, but the English cucumber variety are best as they are large and almost seedless.
Roasted carrots
Carrots are not fun to eat.
But that shouldn’t be the case, as they are highly nutritious and healthy.
With this recipe, there’s lots of sweetness and yummy to go around, just enough to make for an interesting side. Dig in.
Procedure
- Start off by heating your oven to 400 degrees (oF).
- Add 2 tablespoons honey, 1 a tablespoon fresh thyme leaves and 2 tablespoons olive oil to a fairly sized bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add about 10 medium sized carrots (peeled and tops removed) to the bowl. Toss them until the carrots are well coated.
- Drizzle a fair amount of salt and ground pepper on the carrots.
- Place the carrots on a baking sheet, fairly spacing them out.
- Bake them until they are brown and tender. This should take 25-35 minutes.
- Let it rest for a while then serve with the chicken, (preferably grilled chicken)
As for olive oil, thyme and honey; feel free to vary the amount to your taste or needs.
You can always replicate this recipe with other vegetables. It doesn’t have to be just carrots.
You can try using potatoes or even broccoli florets; but it can really be any vegetables, provided it can be baked or roasted.
Conclusion
That sums it up for good sides for chicken.
This article covers the various sides for chicken, grouped into 2 categories.
- Healthy sides for chicken
- Simple and easy to prepare side dishes for chicken.
As always, try out different variations to these sides recipes, and when you find the one that works for you, stick with it. Bon a petit.
