Alternatives to Pressure Cooking Chicken

The boneless, skinless chicken breast is the answer to a busy mom’s dinner challenges. Not only is it a healthy protein to serve your family, it also cooks more quickly than a bone-in breast, thigh or drumstick. It can be browned in a skillet in about 20 minutes, and it’s the perfect canvas for the rest of your meal. A browned chicken breast placed on top of cooked spaghetti and topped with pasta sauce and shredded Parmesan is a quick version of chicken parmigiana. Alternatively, you can slice a pocket into a browned chicken breast and stuff it with a bread crumbs combined with ranch seasoning mix and top with finely chopped mushrooms or a simple mushroom gravy.

Another secret to quickly cooking chicken is to slice boneless chicken meat into strips and flash fry it in either a wok or skillet as a stir fry. Once the oil is hot, it takes less than 10 minutes to cook chicken thoroughly, particularly important for children who should not eat undercooked poultry. Not only is stir fry a quick way to cook chicken, it’s also a way to encourage your children to try (or retry) good vegetables such as broccoli, baby corn cobs, red bell pepper and bamboo shoots. It takes only a couple of minutes to whip up a sauce, or just use a store-bought sauce to bind together the ingredients.

Ground chicken cooks much more quickly than a whole breast or leg, just as hamburger cooks more quickly than a steak. Form patties of chicken as you would a burger and quickly brown them in a hot skillet. Top with your favorite condiments and sliced vegetables. Mix ground chicken with your favorite taco seasoning to make chicken tacos. From start to finish, you should spend no more than about 30 minutes to have a Mexican meal.

The grill cooks with a high degree of heat, and the intensity cooks meat and poultry more quickly than most kitchen appliances. Your favorite wings that take 30 to 40 minutes in the oven take only about 8 to 12 minutes per side on the grill. Create that restaurant taste by brushing on a wing sauce. Serve with a side of celery sticks and your favorite creamy dressing. Chicken breasts marinated in a soy-ginger sauce cook in about 20 minutes on the grill and are enjoyed with a side of brown rice and steamed cauliflower and broccoli or roasted Brussels sprouts.