Dinner

We love chicken.  We use it at least 3-4 times a week, but I also love easy recipes and prepping foods in advance.  One of my favorite ways to cook chicken is to use this Easy Crockpot Roasted Chicken recipe.  Not only is it quick to toss into the Crockpot, it is super tasty and versatile.  You can eat it as is, shred and season for tacos, enchiladas, casseroles, chicken pot pie – just about any chicken dish!  While I use a basic set of herbs for this roasted chicken, you can adjust and add any of your favorite seasoning blends.

EASY CROCKPOT ROASTED CHICKEN

We love using this chicken in a lot of our most popular recipes here!  It is great for tossing into salads, serving with mashed potatoes and vegetables or any dish you would want shredded chicken for.  This is also the perfect way to cook 2-3 whole chickens for monthly freezer meal prep.  These chickens whole are often much cheaper than buying individual parts of the bird.  If you live near a The Fresh Market, you can often find them for as low as $1.49 per pound in antibiotic and hormone free varieties too!  We love stocking up when they are on sale.  I will put 2 chickens in the Crockpot and then shred one for immediate use while I shred the other for future meals and freeze.

Check out our other favorite Chicken & Crockpot recipes!

Weight Watchers Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Soup

Weight Watchers Roasted Poblano Chicken Enchiladas

Crockpot Weight Watchers Sloppy Joes

Crockpot Pinto Beans

 

 

 

If your family is like ours those last minute Chinese Take Out Nights are favorites for memories but hated for the inches added to your waistline.  This Weight Watchers Sesame Chicken Recipe is one of our new favorites.  As a lower calorie option, it satisfies the cravings without making you feel guilty!  This has been updated for the latest Weight Watchers plans and points are listed below the recipe.

>> Check out more weight watchers freestyle recipes and weight watchers breakfast recipes here!

Weight Watchers Sesame Chicken

We love making our favorite take-out foods at home to save calories.  Sesame chicken is notoriously high in calories and sugar.  It is also notoriously delicious.  By not deep frying this Weight Watchers Sesame Chicken, we cut a ton of calories and Weight Watchers points.  A simple added sauce makes it a delicious choice, that still satisfies your need for flavor without killing your diet.

Makes 6 servings

6 PointsPlus

5 SmartPoints on the Beyond the Scale Plan

2 SmartPoints on the FreeStyle Plan and Flex Plan

This hearty meal doesn’t strip away all oils or flavors but reduces the overall fat content by using sesame oil for cooking and flavor as well as by leaving out the often traditional batter-dipped and fried technique found in restaurants.  By browning the chicken in the oil prior to creating sauce you get the customary “crunch” with deep flavor you are looking for without the added calories.  Serve this with a low-fat egg drop or hot and sour soup for a complete meal that is lower in fat, calories, and points all while satisfying that craving for your favorite Chinese takeout meal.

Make our Weight Watchers Sesame Chicken recipe as a great substitute for your favorite local take out.  It’s an easy meal that satisfies your cravings and keeps you on track with low points!

More Chicken Recipes

Baked Chicken Fajitas

Hawaiian Chicken Kebabs

Easy Chicken Tikka Masala

Grilled Lime Tequila Chicken Breasts

Weight Watchers Chicken Marsala

Sometimes you are lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time, and that was us a few weeks ago when we went on a family date night to a local favorite Mexican restaurant.  No sooner had we been seated than the owner walked to our table with a huge platter of food Chicken Verde. What resulted was me coming home and recreating a slightly healthier version in this Weight Watchers Crock Pot Chicken Verde.  Not only is it healthy and packed full of bright flavors, it is so simple you can just toss it together and forget about it all day while it simmers away in your favorite crock pot or slow cooker.  What’s not to love about that?  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Crockpot Weight Watchers Chicken Verde

The recipe in its original form is not terribly bad for you, but we did cut out a few extra calories by removing the skin from the chicken and the stick of butter in the sauce that the chef said was a must according to his mom.  While it might provide a hint of richness, we honestly did not miss it at all in this lighter version and don’t think you will either.

Ingredients for Crockpot Chicken Verde

1 Pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
6 Tomatillos peeled and quartered
2 Jalapenos Seeded
1/2 White Onion quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 Cup Fat-Free Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1/2-1 teaspoon Cumin (use less if you prefer a milder taste)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Directions for Crockpot Chicken Verde

• • In blender purée all ingredients except for chicken until a slightly chunky.
  • Place chicken in bottom of crock pot and pour purée over top
  • Cook on low heat for 6 hours
  • Shred chicken and serve with extra sauce over top

Makes 6 servings

4 PointsPlus per serving

3 SmartPoints on Beyond the Scale

Zero SmartPoints on FreeStyle Plan or Flex Plan

While this weight watchers chicken verde is great as a stand alone dish with some fresh steamed veggies or steamed rice, it is also an excellent base for a basic chicken taco.  Just toast up some corn tortillas and top with your favorite taco toppings like lettuce, tomato, guacamole or low fat cheeses.

Add a small side salad and some beans or rice and you can have a great well rounded meal for under 8 Points that will satisfy that craving for Mexican without breaking your calorie “budget”.

More Weight Watchers Recipes:

Weight Watchers Soup: Mexican Chicken Soup

Weight Watchers Chicken Enchilada Bake

Weight Watchers Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Soup

Weight Watchers Roasted Poblano Chicken Enchiladas

Weight Watchers Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole

It has been said that we are a bit overboard in our love of rice.  In fact, when the Wee Child was younger he declared to someone who asked that all his Daddy liked to eat was rice.  This happened a few days after we had been cleaning out the fridge prior to a vacation, and yes, my Beau made a good effort to have rice with every meal for a couple of days.  While I don’t know that you could actually say rice is our favorite food, it is common in our house and a popular side.  We prefer a nice brown rice or this Easy Wild Rice Pilaf over other versions.  While we do limit our carb intake typically, we aren’t afraid to include some rice once a week.  This recipe resulted in our desire to have something more substantial than the usual white rice we found served most places.

EASY WILD RICE PILAF

To us, the key to rice is seasoning.  While plain steamed white rice has it’s place in the world, a truly well seasoned brown or wild rice is a great addition to any meal.  By adding a few of our favorite spices, a bit of broth and some wine to this as it cooks, we created a delicious side dish that is great with our Easy Roasted Broccoli or Broiled Dill & Caper Salmon.  We recently had it with some BBQ seasoned pork tenderloin and broccoli as shown.

Ingredients:

3 Cups Organic Wild Rice Blend
1 Cup White Wine
2 Cups Organic Low Fat Low Sodium Chicken Broth (we make our own)
1/4 Cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1 Cup Water
1 Clove Garlic, Minced
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Cumin
1/4 Teaspoon Sage
1 Tablespoon Organic Unsalted Butter

 

Directions:

We prefer to use our rice cooker instead of the stovetop method.  Not only do we have fewer problems with sticking and burning, but it is almost always spot on accurate in timing.  We simply punch the cook button and when it is done it pops over to the warm setting.  This typically takes around 25 minutes for the recipe listed above.  While there are a multitude of rice cookers out there, we have really grown fond of our Black & Decker Rice Cooker (yes, that is an affiliate link, but mostly it is a personal recommendation).  There are others of much higher cost and quality out there, but for the average home chef, it is more than acceptable and under $20 it can’t be beat!

Rinse rice well and drain.  Add all ingredients to rice cooker and cook as directed, OR: Add all ingredients to large stockpot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Then cover with lid and reduce to low for an additional 10 minutes.  Remove lid, stir and check for doneness.  May cook for additional 5 minute intervals as needed.

When done fluff with fork and enjoy!

Makes 12 servings

6 SmartPoints per serving on Weight Watchers FreeStyle, Flex, Your Way, Beyond the Scale, and PointsPlus Plans

Get creative with this easy wild rice pilaf.  Vegetarian?  Use vegetable broth or water & wine only.  Like a little veggie in your rice?  Add a cup of frozen peas, carrots, or some diced onion for a bit more flavor and texture.  Want to go a little more Mexican or South American?  Add more cumin, 1 cup of salsa, and some lime or cilantro.  Rice is so versatile and one of our favorite additions to any meal.

Be sure to check out these other great recipes!

Healthy Ham & Pea Pasta Salad

Penne Pasta with Parmesan Garlic and Red Peppers

Hawaiian Chicken Kebab Recipe

Not Your Mama’s Tuna Noodle Casserole

It is no secret that we seriously love Indian cuisine, and this Easy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe is a favorite in our house.  Since we have played with this recipe a lot over the last few years, we finally found what we feel is the best creamy sauce.  Most chicken tikka recipes don’t include garbanzo beans, but we love the addition and it works well to stretch our budget a bit farther.

Easy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links.

Chicken Tikka Masala is a popular dish in Indian cuisine.  One of the best things about it, is that it can be versatile.  Since we like garbanzo beans a lot, we almost always add them and diced tomatoes to our tikka masala recipe.  It helps stretch my budget, and it also make is a full meal.

I start by cutting my chicken into 1-2″ chunks.  We use chicken breasts, but chicken thighs work great in this if you prefer dark meat.  Before I add to my large stockpot to cook, I like to preseason them.  In the recipe below, you’ll see I recommend mixing all seasonings together and dividing them.  This is why. I like the flavor in the sauce, but also the individual pieces of chicken to be well seasoned.

I cook my chicken on medium heat in coconut oil.  Some prefer to use olive oil, but since I add coconut milk to this recipe anyway, the coconut oil seems to work well for me.

I use a large stockpot for this recipe because it helps when I add liquids.  I prefer having plenty of space to easily stir things around.  As you can see, it does create a nice sauce so you need that space.

You can buy saffron rice packages to cook, make your favorite brown or white rice, or use the easy saffron rice recipe I shared a few years ago.  It’s our standard go-to rice for any Indian dishes I make.  I do highly recommend investing in a rice cooker if you plan to cook rice often.  I love ours and it takes so much of the work out of dinner prep.  We always include some Naan.  I’ve made homemade on multiple occasions, but the store bought variety is equally delicious.

We make this easy chicken tikka masala recipe mild since the Wee Child doesn’t like super hot items.  If you prefer a bit spicier meal, you can easily amp up the heat a bit.  This recipe is by far one of our family favorites.  If you like to create easy freezer meals, this can be easily prepped with all ingredients cooked so all you have to do is dump into your Crockpot to reheat, or it can be dumped into a freezer bag raw for easy dump chicken meal.  Either way you’ll love it!

Check out some of our other favorite chicken recipes! 

Weight Watchers Sesame Chicken

Pretzel Crusted Chicken Nuggets

Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki

Rustic Chicken Cacciatore

Weight Watchers Roasted Poblano Chicken Enchiladas