She shares her clever one-pot take on marry me chicken, plus two other easy meals the whole family will love.
As a busy working parent, nutritionist and cookbook writer, Sarah Pound knows the challenge of getting delicious, healthy meals on the table. That’s why chicken is often her culinary superhero.
Inexpensive, versatile and familiar, it’s the star ingredient in many of the recipes in her latest cookbook, Family Meals, a follow-up to Wholesome by Sarah.
“Chicken thighs are my favourite cut,” she says. “They’re affordable, but a lot more forgiving than breast. So, you can dice them and throw them into a one-pot wonder, and you can cook them on their own in the oven, air fryer, or frying pan.”
While Pound loves cooking from scratch, she knows that life often gets in the way. That’s when she turns to convenient shortcuts such as good-quality pre-crumbed chicken or even a “bachelor’s handbag” (a ready-to-eat roast chicken). “It’s all about finding a balance that works for your family,” she says.
Here are three of her favourite chicken dishes from Family Meals, including her clever one-pot take on the viral dish, marry me chicken.
Not someone who usually jumps on food fads, Pound was initially sceptical about the bold claims made about the dish. “But I tried and went, ‘Oh, wow. This is just delicious’,” she says.
Her version includes risoni pasta and vegetables, as well as the mandatory cream and sun-dried tomatoes. “It’s a little bit naughty, but it’s easy enough for a weeknight meal.”
Roslyn Grundy, Good Food recipe editor
The famous one-pot marry me chicken
This recipe went viral in 2024, when every content creator gave it a go because it was all over the internet. Well, is the dish as good as it seemed? Turns out, it’s better. But it comes with a warning: it’s so moreish, be careful not to eat the whole lot yourself – I almost did the first time I tried it.
INGREDIENTS
- 600g boneless chicken thighs, skin on
- 1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 75g (½ cup) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
- 1 large zucchini, diced
- 200g (1 cup) risoni (orzo) pasta
- 500ml (2 cups) chicken stock
- 180ml (¾ cup) thickened cream
- 50g (½ cup) freshly grated parmesan
- 90g (2 cups) baby spinach
- zest and juice of ½ lemon
- 1 handful of flat-leaf parsley or basil leaves, finely chopped
METHOD
- Prep the chicken. Season the chicken with the paprika, dried oregano and salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and sear for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Flip and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Add the butter and the remaining olive oil to the same pan and reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes until it is starting to soften. Add the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes with a drizzle of their oil and cook for another minute until fragrant. Stir in the zucchini and cook for 2 minutes, then add the risoni and stir through for 1-2 minutes. Pour in the stock and cream, stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
- Add the parmesan, spinach and lemon zest and juice to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes until the spinach wilts and the sauce thickens. Nestle the chicken in the sauce, cover with the lid and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 6-8 minutes until the risoni is tender and the chicken is cooked through. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Scatter on the parsley or basil and serve hot.
Serves 4
TIPS
You can also use chicken breast fillets for this. If you’re pressed for time, you can chop up your chicken and add it to the pan with the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown, then add the zucchini.
Chicken schnitzel with tomato, rocket and basil
If you asked me on any given day what I feel like eating for dinner, the answer would nearly always be chicken schnitzel. This meal is easy, delicious and fresh all in one, and I just adore it. Hot tip: if you really can’t be bothered to crumb the chicken, you can buy pre-crumbed chicken from your butcher.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 chicken breast fillets, cut in half horizontally to make 4 steaks
- salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- 125g (1 cup) cornflour or plain flour
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- 60g (1 cup) panko or home-made breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
- 100g (1 cup) freshly parmesan
- 3-4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 large handfuls of rocket
- ½ red onion, very finely sliced, soaked in boiling water for 2 minutes
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, diced
- 250g cherry tomatoes, quartered
Basil and yoghurt dressing
- 1 handful of basil leaves
- juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- 1 tsp pure maple syrup
METHOD
- Prepare the chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set up a breading station with three shallow bowls: add the flour to one, the whisked egg to another and combine the breadcrumbs, garlic powder, dried herbs and half the parmesan in the third bowl.
- Crumb the chicken. Dredge each chicken portion in the flour, dip in the egg, then coat them with the breadcrumb mixture. Gently press the breadcrumbs onto the chicken to help them adhere.
- Cook the schnitzels. Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large, heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in batches and cook without moving for 1–2 minutes to crisp the outside crust, then turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 4-5 minutes until the underside is golden brown. Flip, increase the heat to medium-high and cook for 1-2 minutes, then reduce the heat to low and cook until the chicken schnitzels are golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.
Serves 4
One-pan chicken and leek pie
This recipe is perfect for those busy days when we crave something comforting but can’t summon up the energy to make a traditional pie from scratch. To save time and dishes, simply make the filling in one pan, cover it with store-bought puff pastry and pop the pie in the oven. Done!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large leek, white part only, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 375ml (1½ cups) chicken stock
- 80ml (⅓ cup) dry white wine
- 3 carrots, cut into rounds
- 180g (2 cups) sliced button mushrooms
- 2 store-bought roast chickens, flesh shredded
- 4-5 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
- 115g (¾ cup) frozen peas
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
- Start with a flavour base. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large, ovenproof frying pan over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the leek, and saute for 2 minutes until slightly softened. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add the flour and cook, stirring to combine it with the leek, for 2–3 minutes until the flour cooks out. Add 180ml (¾ cup) of chicken stock and the white wine and stir to deglaze. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to low.
- Add the carrot and mushrooms to the pan. Stir through and gently simmer for 6–8 minutes. Add the chicken, thyme, peas and the remaining chicken stock. Stir and season well with pepper. Remove from the heat.
- Assemble your pie. Place the puff pastry over the chicken and vegetables, press down lightly to remove any air, then tuck the pastry around the filling to enclose it and pinch around the edge to seal. Trim any excess pastry. Brush the top with the egg wash and sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Bake for 35 minutes until the pastry is golden and puffed. Rest for 5 minutes, then serve.
Serves 4-6
TIP
Increase the vegie content by adding 70g (½ cup) of finely chopped celery with the leek and/or 150g (1 cup) of frozen corn with the peas.
This is an edited extract from Family Food by Sarah Pound, published by Plum, RRP $44.99, photography by Mark Roper.
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Sarah Pound is a nutritionist, author of the cookbook ‘Wholesome by Sarah’, and a recipe columnist for Good Food.
