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This Spicy Chicken Recipe is the easiest weeknight meal! It only takes 30 minutes to make this dish – it’s a one pot meal. It’s quick and so flavorful with all the spices – your taste buds will love this recipe.
BEST Spicy Chicken Recipes
Dinners can be one of the hardest meals of the day to consistently come up with good ideas the whole family will not get tired of. This spicy dinner has so many flavors and you can serve it how you want – with rice or pasta or plain for a lower carb meal.
I love making one-pot meals because only having to clean one pan makes dinner taste so much better. For the chicken, we usually have boneless skinless chicken breasts in the freezer but if I’m at the store I’ll often grab a package of chicken breast tenders. I like the taste of them better, probably because they’re smaller and cook faster and more evenly. If you have a busy schedule or need something tasty, this recipe is perfect!
Ingredients in Easy Spicy Chicken
- Chicken Breast Tenders: Or boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into even pieces. You can also use chicken thighs if you prefer them.
- Seasonings: Garlic powder, Onion powder, Italian seasoning, Chipotle Chili Powder, Smoked Paprika. The chili powder is what gives the recipe it’s spicy flavor!
- Vegetables: Corn, Red bell pepper, Zucchini, Jalapeño, Red or yellow onion
How to make Spicy Chicken Dinner
- Mix salt, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika and chili powder in a small bowl. Sprinkle over both sides of the chicken.
- Cook chicken in a large skillet over medium heat about 5 minutes per side or until the chicken is almost cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate.
- Add the onion, bell pepper and jalapeño to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften. Add zucchini and garlic. Season vegetables with about 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook until zucchini starts too brown.
- Add corn to the pan and stir all the vegetables together. Return the chicken to the pan and nestle it in the vegetables. Cover and finish cooking until the chicken is done (internal temperature of 165°F).
- Remove from heat and squeeze the juice of one lime over the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Expert Tips
- If you use whole chicken breasts, be sure to cut them into bite size or smaller pieces of similar sizes so they cook more evenly.
- Depending on the vegetables you use, be sure to add the softer ones last so they don’t over cook.
- Reduce the chili powder and remove all seeds and ribs of the jalapeño for a less spicy dish (or add those seeds for an even spicier meal).
- Serve hot with noodles or rice, a side salad, or alone.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
FAQs
Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
You can omit all the seasonings and use cajun seasoning if you want. Or add some red pepper flakes. Garnish with sriracha for a hot chicken experience. You can also add tomatoes if you want!
Spicy Chicken Dinner with corn and zucchini Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 1 pound chicken breast tenders or boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
Vegetables:
- 1 small red onion diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 jalapeno seeds and ribs removed and diced
- 1 medium or 2 small zucchini cut small
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups frozen corn
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Lime
Instructions
- If you’re using full chicken breasts, slice them into smaller uniform size pieces (about 4 per breast depending on size).
- Mix salt, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika and chili powder in a small bowl. Sprinkle over both sides of the chicken.
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan. Add the chicken in a single layer. Cook about 5 minutes per side or until the chicken is almost cooked through (cooking time depends on thickness of chicken).
- Remove chicken to a plate. Add remaining oil to the skillet and turn heat to medium.
- Add the onion, bell pepper and jalapeño to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add zucchini and garlic. Season vegetables with about 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook until zucchini starts too brown.
- Add corn to the pan and stir all the vegetables together. Return the chicken to the pan and nestle it in the vegetables. Cover and finish cooking until the chicken is done (internal temperature of 165°F), corn is hot and zucchini is cooked to your liking (less time if you like it al dente, more if you like it softer).
- Remove from heat and squeeze the juice of one lime over the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve hot. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
This was delicious! Not nearly as spicy as I was expecting, so next time I would do that differently. Went perfectly with our Spanish rice. Thank you for this great recipe!
So delicious!! I made it for my toddler too, so I omitted spicy ingredients and added summer squash, it turned out so good—she ate everything! Can’t wait to make the spicy version next!
So my New Year’s Resolution is to try new foods and eat more vegetables and I was soooo excited reading this recipe! It was simple and amazing 🙂
MMMMMM I can’t stop dreaming about it! Looking at these photos is taking me back…It was the perfect blend! I am putting this on next week’s menu!
This looks so good! What a nice dinner ideas for today.
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