Meal Prep Chicken – 3 Ways
Chicken meal prep for the entire week! Salsa verde, lemon pepper + orange chicken marinades included. SO GOOD, SO EASY!
Hello to the best kind of chicken meal prep for the entire week!
One recipe. Three marinades. Three epic marinades – salsa verde, lemon pepper and orange chicken.
You’ll need 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (chicken breasts can easily be substituted) for each marinade. So if you’re prepping for yourself and for your family/boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/best friend, you can make either two of the three marinades or all three – that way you can mix it up without having orange chicken every single day.
Yes, sometimes there’s such a thing as too much orange chicken.
All marinades are super easy to whip up with easy-to-find ingredients you already have on hand. Let them marinate for 2-8 hours and throw into a skillet (separate skillets for separate marinades) until tender and golden brown, letting them simmer in those fantastic juices.
Serve with desired veggies, grains, and/or protein for your favorite salad.
Meal Prep Chicken - 3 Ways
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 recipe of desired marinade
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salsa verde marinade
- ¾ cup salsa verde
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the lemon pepper marinade
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- 1 ½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the orange chicken marinade
- 3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and desired marinade; marinate for at least 2 hours to overnight, turning the bag occasionally.
- Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and marinade, and cook, stirring often, until golden brown and marinade has reduced, about 13-15 minutes.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons water, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
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This looks amazing. Definitely gonna try this recipe out.
Thanks for sharing.
Its really a nice recipe will try this
We are trying the orange chicken tonight, but we loved the other two! I cut up chicken breast, put the marinade in and froze them. When I was ready to cook, I just threw it frozen into my instapot! Came out perfect. Used the Salsa Verda for fajitas, the lemon pepper with some naan, tzatziki, and oven roasted onions, red, yellow, and orange peppers. Very good! Would love to know what the calorie count on the chicken with marinade is, though.
If throwing in frozen to your Instapot, how long do you cook it for? Thanks!
For the friends asking if this can be prepared and immediately frozen: YES! That’s exactly what I do. I make double batches of all 3, leave one or two in the refrigerator to marinade and be used for the week, and freeze the rest. Next time I need a chicken dish, I pull one of the containers/bags, stick it in the refrigerator, and it marinades as it thaws! I keep my fridge really cold, so it takes a couple of days to completely thaw, but now that I know that, I plan accordingly. All 3 are fantastic, but my favorite is the Orange Chicken.
Cook chicken and marinade before freezing or after?
After freezing 🙂
The way I was describing…I prepare the marinade, add the raw chicken, and freeze it IMMEDIATELY. When I need it, I thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, and that’s when it marinates. I cook it the night I need it.
I love your recepies. They are easy, and damn delicious. Tahnk you.
Love all your recipes! Thank you for all your hard work! Q: how do you reheat chicken with out it tasing nasty?
I’ve got these marinating in the fridge as we speak. So excited to have a ton of chicken to put on my daily lunchtime salad this week!
Question – I want to pre cook a batch to send with my daughter on her return to college. She’ll be in COVID quarantine for a few days and I know dorm meal delivery isn’t going to work for her.
She likes things a little saucy, would you recommend doubling the marinade, marinading the chicken and cooking down the other half the mixture for additional sauce? Or, just send the extra marinade (that hasn’t been used with chicken) in a separate container?
Also, any suggestions for sides – I’m thinking quinoa and steamed broccoli in the meal prep container.
Thank you!
I’m adding the verde to my meal prep list for the week, but I usually do at least one in the slow cooker for my mental health, LOL. I assume this can be done with chicken breast and put it all in the slow cooker after marinating, maybe with a little extra broth? Thanks!
Haven’t made these yet but I’m excited to try instead of winging it. Meal Prep recipes can be a little redundant after a while so these are great.
If anyone wants the macros, after inputting to MyFitnessPal:
Salsa verde, 50 calories, 8 carbs, 1 protein, 2 fat
Lemon Pepper, 56 calories, 6 carbs, 1 protein, 4 fat
Orange, 63 calories, 7 carbs, 1 protein, 4 fat
These are all based on 4 servings, and measured in grams.
Basically, not enough to even tip the scale on my macro goals. Awesome!
Thank you for the macros. So are you saying that one serving is 1/4 of what you have listed (salsa verde 50 calories is the calories for 4 servings)?
These were delicious! But does anyone know the calories per serving of this? I would like to incorporate this into my meal prep but need to know the calorie count.
What is the salsa verde recipe?
Made the salsa verde for the first time today and it was delicious and EASY. Slightly too salty for my taste so will adjust that next time. But was a great way to switch things up!!! Served it with roasted veggies and quinoa
Only did the Lemon Pepper and Salsa Verde preparations but both were delicious! Used both preps with chicken breast instead of thigh and still enjoyed. Have done the Salsa Verde chicken on many other nights for easy dinner and leftovers!
I’m going to try the lemon pepper marinade one, just without the orange zest, because I don’t know where to get it.
For the orange zest…buy a fresh orange, take a zester, and run it against the orange skin, scraping only the colored part of the fruit. (Some of my friends don’t know how to turn on the stove, cook an egg, or make a pot of rice, so it wouldn’t surprise me if you were a true beginner cook and didn’t know that “orange zest” is not an ingredient you usually find pre-packaged.) Happy eating!
I tried all three. All were so easy to make and all delicious! Perfect for a busy week. I like how all three were so different so you can’t get tired of eating them throughout the week. I used 2lbs of chicken and I think it’s perfect for three meals for two people (+ one toddler) if you have sides like salad or lots of vegetables.
What is the serving size for each meal
Prep of chicken?
All 3 are delicious. The lemon pepper is my family’s favorite. I make at least one marinade once a week. It is so easy for those busy days with little ones.
Can this be done with chicken breast rather than thigh? If yes, would baking the marinaded chicken breast work? Doing meal preps on a big sheet pan in the oven all at once would be so much less work I would think.
Full of flavour and delicious! Has really perked up my lunchtime salad! Thanks!
so mouthwatering as always !!!!