Frustrated about food, overwhelmed about feeding your family healthy meals, always feel like getting take out instead of cooking? And then are you feeling guilty that this is how you feel day after day? Ok then. I’m about to give you some simple cooking instructions that will change your life: “Just dump some sauce on some chicken.”
Where there is chicken and there is sauce, there is dinner. I know. Profound. No matter if you have boneless chicken, chicken legs, or a whole chicken. Grab you some chicken, grab you some sauce, and “Just dump some sauce on some chicken!”
Just dump some sauce on some chicken…
What kind of sauce, you ask? It matters not. I have been known to use salad dressing out of my fridge, or Teriyaki sauce, or Bbq sauce, or salsa, or anything in a jar or bottle that looks like it might possibly taste good on chicken. Sometimes I mix two or more sauces, which is possibly weird but always tasty. And as an added bonus, this helps me clear out random half-empty bottles hanging out at the back of my fridge.
This is about to become your stress-free go-to meal phrase.
Say it with me: “Just dump some sauce on some chicken!”
- Not sure what to make tonight? “Just dump some sauce on some chicken!”
- Tempted to go out to eat…again? “Just dump some sauce on some chicken!”
- Hate cooking and use that as an excuse to eat poorly? No more. “Just dump some sauce on some chicken!”
Find you some chicken. Get out some sauce. Pour it right on and let it cook while you do something else you enjoy. THIS HAS TO BE THE EASIEST MEAL EVER.
I so badly want everyone to understand this. Making real, good food for our family does not have to be difficult. When all you have to do is open a package of chicken and pour on some sauce – wouldn’t you agree with me that cooking good food really can be easy?
Also? Chicken cooked in sauce tastes incredibly good.
Let me walk you through this step by step
The Crock Pot Chicken/Sauce Meal:
- Get a package of boneless chicken, chicken legs, or a whole chicken out of the fridge or freezer.
- Put the chicken into a crock pot.
- Get out whatever sauce you have available. Barbecue. Italian Dressing. Sweet and Sour. Teriyaki. A mixture of this and that because you are collecting all the mostly empty bottles of sauce out of the fridge.
- Dump the sauce onto the chicken. (There’s no exact amount. “Just dump some sauce on some chicken!”)
- Put the lid on the crock pot.
- Cook the chicken on “low” for 6-8 hours. (A whole chicken may require 10 hours on low.)
- Eat the chicken.
The Oven Baked Chicken/Sauce Meal:
Shorter on time? Do this instead:
- Get a package of boneless chicken, chicken legs, or a whole chicken out of the fridge. (Thawed meat is best for this method.)
- Put the chicken into a 9×13 inch pan.
- Get out whatever sauce you have available.
- Dump the sauce onto the chicken. (There’s no exact amount. “Just dump some sauce on some chicken!”)
- Slide the pan into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes for boneless chicken, 50 minutes for chicken legs, or 1 1/2 hours.
- Eat the chicken.
What should you serve with your chicken?
Well that depends on how much time you have, what you have on hand, and what your energy level is.
If you have time to work ahead, I’d suggest making this incredible Stick of Butter Rice. Or these Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes.
Beyond that, I encourage you to pick a fruit and a veggie or three. Perhaps:
- A tossed salad
- A steamed vegetable (such as green beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower)
- A roasted vegetable
- Buttered corn
- Honey’d carrots
- Baked beans
But if you don’t want to or have time to prepare or cook anything to go with your chicken, serve it with something like:
- Sliced apples
- Oranges
- Canned pineapple
- Baby carrots
- Fresh berries
And if you need something more to round out your meal, you could grab something like this out of your fridge:
- Cottage cheese
- Sliced cheese
- Bread and butter
- Pickles
- Olives
There now. You needed a meal for your family. You didn’t have time to cook. You needed a quick solution.
I love this post. We’ve been eating so many drumsticks lately. I have like “6 ways to prepare a drumstick” and this post gives me some ideas I hadn’t thought of. I tend to grab a pack out of the freezer when I can’t think of anything else for dinner, season them or throw aome BBQ sauce on and pop them in the oven. Frozen veggies and rice are our go-to sides.
Sounds like a perfect meal! Yum!
Very comforting and practical advice for stressed out young moms. Thank you. :) Amy
You speak my language. Sometimes I get paralyzed, and this is good to remember!
I thought of you today while pouring sesame Ginger dressing on some chicken thighs to have in fried rice! Such a simple meal and so tasty. Anyway, thanks for the encouragement!
Woke up Sunday morning with no plan in place. Thought of this post! Haha! Bag of frozen chicken breasts plus bottle of Italian dressing in the slow cooker, put in there by the 12 year old while I did my hair- score! Thanks for the reminder!!! I forget this so easily!
This is SO needed by all of us real food cooking mamas who take our jobs seriously, but can also become seriously stressed out by the relentlessness of it all! Blessings to you and your hungry men.
So glad it is helpful, Nicole!
-Bethany (HH Team)