The Best Chicken Recipe of 2023 Is "Perfectly Fried"

It was a close race, but one recipe stands above the rest.

5 chicken parmesan breasts served with fresh basil on a bright blue platter.
Photo:

Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

Best Recipes 2023: Allrecipes asked our readers and a panel of judges to help us find the best recipe in five different categories: bacon, chicken, potatoes, cheese, and chocolate. See the full list of winners here, and read more about the best chicken recipe below.

We have over 5,000 chicken recipes on Allrecipes—so it's safe to say our community loves its poultry. To find the best chicken recipe of the year, our editors looked at our library and chose 10 recipes that were beloved by our readers and/or were popular on the internet right now. Then, our readers voted on their favorite recipe, and the top two went to a cook-off in Birmingham where our judges—Carrie Boyd, Elizabeth Heiskell, and Dakari Akorede—chose a champion.

Best Recipes 2023 panelist tasting both contenders in the Chicken category

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Meet the Two Contenders

  • Chicken Parmesan: This recipe was published by Chef John on June 6, 2012. It has over 3,200 reviews with a 4.7-star rating. It's also our top chicken recipe of the past 12 months. Test kitchen pro Nicole Hopper told our judges that this recipe is "very straightforward" but that it's a less-saucy version than some might be used to. Hopper said this was great because it helped avoid that dreaded soggy-bottom chicken. She also notes that the recipe uses three kinds of cheese: mozzarella, provolone, and Parmesan.

  • Juicy Roast Chicken: ROBINROCKINGBIRD published this recipe on May 4, 2005. It has over 3,100 reviews with a 4.7-star rating, and it was our third most popular chicken recipe of the past 12 months. Our test kitchen pro, Tricia Stuedeman, says this recipe lives up to its name—it's ultra juicy. The chicken also roasts at one temperature the entire time, making it pretty fuss-free.
Tricia in the Allrecipes Test Kitchen preparing a Juicy Roast Chicken.

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What the Judges Had to Say

  • Chicken Parmesan: Akorede loved this recipe immediately. "It's a great dish, perfectly fried chicken with the added sweetness of the sauce and cheese," he said. Boyd thought the jarred sauce was "a bit underwhelming" but that she "loved the crispy texture" overall. Heiskell thought the chicken breast "was a little too dry."

  • Juicy Roast Chicken: The judges were impressed by how juicy this chicken was. "It's easy to hide behind a dry wing or thigh, but you can't do that with the breast," explained Heiskell. "The seasoning on the outside definitely got all the way through, she continued. Akorede thought the recipe called for too much onion powder, but he was impressed by the crispiness of the skin. Boyd sayid that the chicken was definitely juicy, "but basic."
Carrie Boyd and Elizabeth Hieskell discussing the merits of both Chicken dishes as they decide who will win the Chicken category.

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And the Winner Is...

As the judges were deliberating, Heiskell had some concerns about whether or not the panko-Parmesan was doing all of the heavy lifting for the Chicken Parmesan. Was it really a fair matchup? Because of this, she decided to cast her vote for the Juicy Roasted Chicken, but the other two judges—Boyd and Akorede—went for the Chicken Parmesan, making it our winning recipe for 2023.

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