all things food
We love a good pasta night at our house. A few of our favorites include baked ziti, lasagna, cacio e pepe, and pasta pomodoro. This easy Chicken Penne Pasta is another favorite, my boys request it often. They love the creamy, cheesy sauce that covers t…
We love a good pasta night at our house. A few of our favorites include baked ziti, lasagna, cacio e pepe, and pasta pomodoro. This easy Chicken Penne Pasta is another favorite, my boys request it often. They love the creamy, cheesy sauce that covers the penne pasta and chicken. I also add a fresh…
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These Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken Breasts are so tender, juicy, and flavorful, you’ll want to spoon that delicious pan sauce over EVERYTHING.
The post Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Are you in a chicken rut? Cooking the same ol’ boring chicken breast week after week? Yeah, then you need to try this Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken ASAP. It’s savory, tart, and peppery, and has a delicious pan sauce that you’ll want to spoon over your entire plate! This one is so quick and flavorful, I know it’s going to go into your regular rotation. ;)
This quick skillet cooking method requires thin chicken pieces that cook quickly, like boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into thinner pieces), chicken tenders, thin-cut chicken breast, or chicken thighs. This method is not suitable for bone-in chicken.
Nope! While I did garnish this dish with some fresh lemon slices (I had those leftover from another dish), you actually don’t need fresh lemon to make this lemon pepper chicken! Most of the lemon flavor comes from the potent lemon pepper seasoning. The small amount of lemon juice added to the pan sauce can be bottled.
The lemon pepper seasoning I used to flavor this recipe is a mix of lemon zest, pepper, citric acid, and salt. Most major spice brands in the U.S. as well as many major generic store brands make their own lemon pepper seasoning, so it should be easy to find in just about any grocery store in the U.S. If you can’t find lemon pepper at your local store, there are plenty of recipes online for homemade lemon pepper seasoning.
Make sure to check if the lemon pepper seasoning you have contains salt. If it does not, you may need to add more salt to the recipe below.
I went full-on lemon and served my Lemon Pepper Chicken with Lemon Parsley Pasta, but it would also go great with some Sautéed Vegetables, Roasted Broccoli, Spinach Rice with Feta, or Spanish Chickpeas and Rice.
Use a sharp knife to carefully fillet two boneless, skinless chicken breasts into thinner pieces (or use thin-cut chicken breasts).
Combine 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour and 1 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning in a bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over both sides of the chicken pieces.
Smear the flour mixture over both sides of the chicken until they’re evenly coated.
Heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a skillet over medium. Once hot, add the chicken pieces and cook on both sides until golden brown (about 5 minutes per side). Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate and cover to keep warm.
Add 1 Tbsp butter and one minced clove of garlic to the skillet. Sauté the garlic for about one minute.
Pour ½ cup chicken broth into the skillet and whisk to dissolve all the browned bits off the bottom. Add 1 tsp lemon juice to the broth, then let the broth simmer in the skillet for 3-5 minutes, or until it has reduced just slightly. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed (I did not add any, but this will depend on the salt content of your lemon peppers seasoning and broth).
Return the chicken to the skillet and spoon the sauce over top. Allow the chicken to heat through (a few minutes).
Top the chicken off with some freshly cracked pepper and chopped parsley (optional), then serve!
The lemon helps keep the chicken extra tender, juicy, and flavorful! Enjoy!
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When it comes to weeknight meals, it doesn’t get any better than Lasagna Soup. It has all the same ingredients and flavors of classic lasagna without the layering and baking! This one pot meal is favorite at our house and I think you will love it…
When it comes to weeknight meals, it doesn’t get any better than Lasagna Soup. It has all the same ingredients and flavors of classic lasagna without the layering and baking! This one pot meal is favorite at our house and I think you will love it too. I really enjoy one-pot recipes. It not only…
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When you don’t have time to soak and boil dry beans, these Quickie Red Beans and Rice get you all the flavor in a fraction of the time.
The post Quickie Red Beans and Rice appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Mardi Gras is definitely looking a little (okay, a lot) different this year, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t celebrating! I no longer live in New Orleans, but I still like to celebrate every year with a big pot of red beans and rice. I usually make a traditional pot of my Louisiana Style Red beans using dry beans, but I get so many questions about how to do it with canned beans that I decided to make this Quickie Red Beans and Rice recipe for those who just don’t have time to soak and cook dry beans. It’s not a traditional pot of red beans, but it’s faster, satisfying, and will make you wish you were watching parades and catching beads!
Okay, I’m calling these “quickie” red beans and rice, but they do still need a little time to cook and for all those delicious flavors to blend and develop. But we’re talking more like one hour instead of several hours, like a traditional pot of beans.
I used dark red kidney beans for this recipe because that’s the only canned variety that was available when I was shopping. When I make a pot of red beans from dry beans, I prefer small red beans instead of kidney beans because they make a smoother, creamier pot of beans. I usually can’t find small red beans canned, so kidney beans are the next best option. You can use either light or dark kidney beans.
You can make these red beans and rice either spicy or mild, according to your preference. If you prefer mild, make sure the sausage you get is not spicy and skip the cayenne pepper in the spices listed below. If you want your red beans to be spicy, use a spicy sausage and increase the cayenne pepper to your liking.
It’s super easy to make this recipe vegetarian or vegan. Just skip the sausage and use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth. To make up for the richness of the pork fat that comes from the sausage, use coconut oil in place of the cooking oil listed below, and consider adding a couple extra tablespoons. This will make your red beans super rich and delicious! Here’s a link to my Vegan Red Beans made from dry beans.
Slice 14oz. Andouille sausage (or any smoked sausage, if you can’t find Andouille) into rounds or half-rounds. Add it to a large pot with 1 Tbsp cooking oil and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it has browned.
While the sausage is cooking, dice one yellow onion, one bell pepper, and three ribs of celery. Mince four cloves of garlic. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to the pot with the sausage and continue to stir and cook until the onion is soft and translucent.
Next, add 2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried thyme, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper. Continue to stir and cook for about a minute more.
No, this is not a photo of a strawberry smoothie, but this is where the recipe gets a little interesting. Drain two 15oz. cans of kidney beans. Pour the third can, including the liquid from the can, into a blender and purée until smooth.
Add the two cans of drained beans and the one can of puréed beans to the pot. The puréed beans are going to help thicken the pot and make everything nice and creamy.
Finally, add 1 cup chicken broth to the pot and stir everything to combine. Place a lid on the pot and let it come up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium low, and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes. (Photo above is before simmering)
While the beans are simmering, begin the rice. Add 1.5 cups long grain white rice to a pot with 3 cups water. Place a lid on top and turn the heat on to high. When it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let the rice simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest, with the lid in place, for an additional 5 minutes. Fluff just before serving.
Once the beans have simmered for 30 minutes, give them a taste and add salt if needed. Between the sausage and canned beans, I didn’t find that I needed to add any salt, but if your beans are tasting bland try adding a little. Salt doesn’t just make things salty, it actually helps our tongue distinguish different flavors, so it can really make a dish pop when used correctly!
Serve your red beans in a bowl topped with a scoop of rice and a few sliced green onions. Cornbread or corn muffins are also a nice side with red beans. ;)
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With little more than some aromatics and time (also: thyme), drab dried beans become tender and buttery in a richly flavored broth, complete with wilted bitter greens and grilled bread to top it all off. Dried beans are a pantry staple, but it can take some practice to cook them properly! This brothy beans and […]
The post Brothy Beans & Greens with Grilled Bread first appeared on Love and Olive Oil.
With little more than some aromatics and time (also: thyme), drab dried beans become tender and buttery in a richly flavored broth, complete with wilted bitter greens and grilled bread to top it all off.
Dried beans are a pantry staple, but it can take some practice to cook them properly! This brothy beans and greens recipe is our favorite method, resulting in a rich bean broth that’s surprisingly full of flavor. Serve with slices of toasted crusty bread for the perfect meal!
2020 was undeniably the Year of the Bean.
Dried beans were not something we cooked with any regularity before last year. We honestly had no clue what we were doing in the beginning, and the first few batches surely reflected that (mmm crunchy beans).
Surprisingly, now that we have a bit more experience with them, we’ve been pleasantly surprised at just how good a properly-cooked pot of beans can be. Easily as satisfying as a good plate of pasta, and significantly healthier at that.
We’ve made probably made these brothy beans and greens, or something similar, at least a dozen times in the past year, and every single time it turns out different. So finally, after enjoying yet another soul-satisfying bowl of brothy beans, we decided to start writing things down and fine-tuning our favorite aromatics and additions so we could share it here with you.
You can’t go wrong with a bowl of classic Chicken Noodle Soup. This is one of those recipes that just makes you feel better! It is the ultimate comfort food. Our Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup is VERY popular, but some of you requested a classi…
You can’t go wrong with a bowl of classic Chicken Noodle Soup. This is one of those recipes that just makes you feel better! It is the ultimate comfort food. Our Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup is VERY popular, but some of you requested a classic chicken noodle soup recipe and this is the best one…
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There are few things more comforting than a bowl of this thick and hearty split pea soup, rich and velvety and topped with smokey bits of crisp bacon. Simple ingredient list, complex flavor. Flavored simply with bacon, onion, chicken broth and a smidge of thyme, you’ll be surprised at the sheer amount of flavor from […]
The post Split Pea Soup first appeared on Love and Olive Oil.
There are few things more comforting than a bowl of this thick and hearty split pea soup, rich and velvety and topped with smokey bits of crisp bacon.
Simple ingredient list, complex flavor. Flavored simply with bacon, onion, chicken broth and a smidge of thyme, you’ll be surprised at the sheer amount of flavor from such a limited ingredient list.
Split pea soup is one of those recipes that gets a bad wrap. Or no wrap, actually, since it’s regularly overlooked and downright omitted from the soup lexicon in lieu of more ubiquitous options like chicken noodle and tomato the like. I mean, when was the last time you actually saw pea soup on a restaurant menu (when you weren’t driving through Buellton, California, that is)? Pea soup is more often used as a less-than-appetizing descriptor of thick, murky fog than actual soup.
I fully admit that split pea soup was so far outside my mind it was never something I even thought of until I found myself with a random bag of split peas, an impulse buy if you will (Get it? impulse? because peas are pulses? I’m so punny).
In reality, split pea soup is actually quite wonderful. There’s a reason this recipe has stood the test of time (and in fact, split pea soup or something quite like it, can be dated back to medieval Europe).
Let’s talk soup! It is one of my favorite things to make during the cold months. I love a good one pot meal that is hearty, comforting, and nourishing. This homemade Split Pea Soup is filled with tender vegetables, robust herbs and spices, and it…
Let’s talk soup! It is one of my favorite things to make during the cold months. I love a good one pot meal that is hearty, comforting, and nourishing. This homemade Split Pea Soup is filled with tender vegetables, robust herbs and spices, and it’s flavored with savory ham. This is one of Josh’s all-time…
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Warm up with a bowl of Chicken Fajita Soup loaded with your favorite toppings. All of your favorite fajita flavors are combined in an easy and comforting soup that’s perfect for weeknights or easy entertaining. Some chilly days just demand a bowl…
Warm up with a bowl of Chicken Fajita Soup loaded with your favorite toppings. All of your favorite fajita flavors are combined in an easy and comforting soup that’s perfect for weeknights or easy entertaining. Some chilly days just demand a bowl of soup! Luckily, one of my family’s favorite soup recipes is also one…
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When you need pure comfort in a casserole dish, Potatoes Au Gratin deliver. These thinly sliced potatoes baked in a creamy, cheesy sauce hit all the comfort food buttons. And the leftovers are awesome, so you can feed on that casserole heaven all week!
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When you need pure comfort in a casserole dish, Potatoes Au Gratin deliver. These thinly sliced potatoes baked in a creamy, cheesy sauce hit all the comfort food buttons. And the leftovers are awesome, so you can feed on that casserole heaven all week! 🙌
Potatoes au gratin are basically scalloped potatoes with cheese (haha, that made me think of “royale with cheese”). So if you like scalloped potatoes and you like cheese, you’ll LOVE potatoes au gratin!
If you’ve never had scalloped potatoes, you can think of potatoes au gratin like this: thinly sliced potatoes layered with cheese and a creamy white sauce, then baked until bubbly and delicious. It’s pretty incredible.
In general, you want to stick to smooth melting cheeses for potatoes au gratin and avoid hard aged cheeses that don’t melt as easily (like Parmesan, although that would make a nice topper mixed with breadcrumbs!). I had some cheddar cheese on hand today, that I used, but Gruyere is another popular choice for potatoes au gratin.
This is such a rich comforting dish that it pairs well with any roasted or baked comfort food. I would pair it with something like Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Cheddar Cheeseburger Meatloaf, or Herb Butter Chicken Thighs. And of course you’ll probably need some sort of vegetable to balance out all that richness, so add a simple side of steamed green beans for good measure. ;)
Most people like a waxier variety for potatoes au gratin, like Yukon gold or red potatoes, but I’m the opposite. I like russet potatoes because they are starchier, which helps keep the sauce nice and thick, and I enjoy how soft they get when baked in the creamy sauce. If you prefer a more firm slice, go with Yukon gold or red potatoes.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Peel and slice three pounds of potatoes into ⅛-inch thick rounds. If you’re not confident in your knife skills, you can use a mandoline or food processor with a slicer attachment to create the thin, even slices.
Finely dice one yellow onion. Sauté the onion with 4 Tbsp butter in a sauce pot until the onions are tender (about 5 minutes).
Add 4 Tbsp flour to the pot with the sautéed onions and continue to cook and stir over medium heat for about two more minutes.
Whisk 2 cups milk into the pot with the onions and flour. Whisk well until all the flour is dissolved. Allow the milk to come up to a gentle simmer, at which point it will thicken.
Whisk in 1 cup chicken broth and allow it to come back up to a simmer.
Season the white sauce with ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper, and ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg.
Layer half of the sliced potatoes in a 4 quart casserole dish. top with half of the white sauce and 4oz. shredded cheddar.
Repeat all three layers one more time: sliced potatoes, white sauce, and shredded cheese. Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes in the preheated 350ºF oven.
Remove the foil after 45 minutes and bake without foil for an additional 30 minutes. Let the potatoes stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
I garnished with a little parsley for color, but parsley is not needed to flavor this dish.
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