Weeknight Chicken Creole
Recipes developed and tested by the ChefnFood editorial team, with chef-informed notes for real home kitchens.
Chicken simmered with tomatoes, peppers, and celery in a lightly spiced Creole-style sauce. One skillet, thirty minutes, and it tastes like it took longer.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with their juice
- 1 cup chili sauce
- 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 medium celery stalks, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- Cooked rice or pasta, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the chicken strips in a single layer and cook 3–5 minutes, turning once, until browned and cooked to 165°F.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the tomatoes with their juice, chili sauce, bell pepper, celery, onion, garlic, basil, parsley, and cayenne.
- Bring to a boil, then drop the heat to low, cover, and simmer 10–15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has pulled together.
- Taste and adjust the cayenne — the heat should sit in the background, not the front.
- Serve over hot cooked rice or pasta.
Chef’s Take
The chili sauce is doing quiet double duty here: it brings vinegar, sugar, and body all at once, which is why a thirty-minute sauce tastes like it simmered all afternoon. Don't swap it for ketchup — ketchup brings the sugar without the vinegar and the sauce goes flat.
Pro tip: cut the chicken into even strips and pull the pan off the heat the moment they hit temperature in step 1. They finish in the simmer, and the two-stage cook is what keeps breast meat from drying out.
Substitutions
- Chicken thighs: work well and are more forgiving; add 2 minutes to the first cook.
- No chili sauce: 1 cup tomato sauce plus 1 tbsp each vinegar and brown sugar gets you close.
- Fresh herbs: use 1 tbsp each chopped fresh basil and parsley, stirred in at the end instead.
- Heat level: double the cayenne for a real kick, or drop it entirely for kids.
Storage and reheating
Refrigerate up to 4 days. The flavor improves overnight, which makes this a strong meal-prep candidate. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of water. Freezes well up to 3 months — freeze the sauce and chicken without the rice.
Serving suggestions
Steamed white rice is the classic. Buttered egg noodles or whole wheat pasta both hold up too. A few dashes of hot sauce at the table for the people who want more.
Adapted from the USDA MyPlate Kitchen collection.
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