What to Make Next if You Love Hunter’s Chicken
When it comes to pub grub, you’ll find us ordering the Hunter’s Chicken every single time. There are few things more delicious than juicy chicken, smothered in BBQ sauce, wrapped in bacon and topped with melted cheese.
If you’ve found your way to this article, chances are you already know (and love!) our lower-calorie take on Hunter’s Chicken. It’s one of those recipes you can have on repeat and never get bored of! We’re so obsessed with it, we even put this Air Fryer Hunter’s Chicken recipe inside Pinch of Nom: Air Fryer.
For anyone who agrees you can never have enough of the smoky, cheesy flavours, we’ve got good news! Over the years we’ve created loads of other easy, slimming-friendly recipes inspired by Hunter’s Chicken, so you can enjoy the taste over and over again.
What to make if you love pub grub style hunter’s chicken
How about swapping chicken breast for gorgeous homemade chicken and bacon meatballs? These Hunter’s Chicken Meatballs don’t stray too far from the classic recipe, and that includes turning up the heat with a splash of fiery hot sauce.
This really takes the flavour up a notch, and it works like a dream with the mellow Cheddar cheese you’ll melt all over the top.
Just like your usual Hunter’s Chicken, these are incredible when they’re spooned over a mountain of mashed potatoes, but you haven’t lived until you’ve tried them with spaghetti!
We should probably warn you in advance…the smell of these Hunter’s Sausages bubbling away in the oven is impossible to resist.
As if the smoky, sweet and ever-so-slightly spicy BBQ sauce wasn’t tempting enough, we’ve wrapped lean pork sausages in bacon, to switch things up from the usual chicken.
Don’t panic – everything still gets topped off with that all-important layer of grated cheese! The finished dish simply goes back into the oven until it’s gloriously gooey and golden.
When you need comfort food, what could be better than two cosy faves bundled into one? That’s right, our Hunter’s Chicken Pie is exactly as hearty and delicious as it sounds.
You’ll often find that Hunter’s Chicken is served with mash, so we thought it’d make a lot of sense to put it all together (and how right we were!).
The potato topping is a thing of beauty here – we’ve folded crispy bacon and loads of Cheddar into the fluffy mixture, and added an extra sprinkle of cheese for good measure.
You can see how beautiful it gets in the oven! Trust us…you won’t be able to resist digging in right away.
You’ll need to flick to page 182 of your copy of Pinch of Nom: Comfort Food to find the full recipe for this one.
Grab some basmati rice from the cupboard and simmer it on the hob while you rustle up this Creamy Hunter’s Chicken. It starts off the same as the recipe you know and love, with chicken breasts wrapped up in bacon medallions.
To set it apart, we’ve added chopped peppers into the smoky sauce, and mellowed out the subtle spiciness with a good old dollop of cream cheese. It melts into the other ingredients, until you’re left with a BBQ-flavoured, creamy sauce that tastes too good to be true.
Turn to pages 184-185 of Pinch of Nom: Express to get started – it’s in the Quick Prep chapter!
What to make if you love cheesy chicken
Okay we admit it…one of the reasons we love Hunter’s Chicken so much is because of that stunning melted cheese topping. A gooey golden layer of cheese gets our vote every time, which is why so many of our recipes deliver the goods!
Cheese and chicken together is always a winner, so it’s no surprise this Margherita Chicken is such a popular recipe on our website (you all love it so much, we had to include it in our Comfort Food cookbook too!).
It’s a simple-yet-effective, pizza-inspired combination of rich tomato sauce and melty mozzarella, with tender, succulent chicken as a base. Swapping the cheese for a reduced-fat version makes all the difference here – you can enjoy a mouthwateringly cheesy portion for only 241 calories.
Speaking of mozzarella and tomato, we can’t talk about cheesy chicken without shouting out the fresh flavours of our Caprese Baked Chicken recipe. To get maximum flavour in every bite, you’ll slice the chicken hasselback-style, before stuffing sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and basil into each little pocket.
Our surprising finishing touch is a sneaky little honey and balsamic glaze that gets brushed over 10 minutes before the chicken is done cooking – it’s a game changer!
If you love Hunter’s Chicken, but you also love a crispy crunch, how about giving our Cheesy Topped Chicken a try? It’s lovely and simple, which makes it a really versatile addition to your weekly meal plan.
We’ve hidden a creamy, indulgent-tasting mixture of cream cheese and Parmesan underneath a layer of wholemeal breadcrumbs. They’ll crisp up in the oven, for a really satisfying crunch at dinnertime.
Psst…if you think you’ll miss the smoky barbecue flavours, you can always add a spoonful of BBQ Sauce on the side!
What to make if you love BBQ chicken
Smoky and sweet, a good BBQ flavour is the key to a satisfying serving of Hunter’s Chicken, as well as so many other tasty dishes. Next time the forecast is looking a little grey and chilly, pencil in this Smoky BBQ Chicken Pie for dinner.
Properly comforting, the mash-topped pie is built around a homely filing of shredded chicken and cannellini beans in a tomatoey, barbecue-inspired sauce.
Even with a good sprinkling of cheese on the top, the whole thing works out at just 390 calories per portion.
These BBQ Chicken Nuggets are bite-size bundles of smoky flavour! The chicken chunks are marinated in the barbecue sauce, before being completely covered in breadcrumbs that’ll crisp up as they cook in the oven (or in the air fryer!).
The longer you leave the sauce to work its magic, the smokier the nuggets will be – although half an hour will do the trick if you’re too hungry to wait.
As an alternative Sunday dinner, this BBQ Roast Chicken is hard to beat. You won’t need to wait for the sun to shine – all the flavour comes from a blend of spices, sauces and seasonings, rather than hours on an outdoor grill.
The BBQ marinade goes on the inside and the outside of the chicken skin, making sure it soaks all the way into the juicy meat as it roasts. Carve it up, serve it with this Hasselback Potato and Bacon Bake and enjoy all those Hunter’s Chicken inspired flavours!
If you’re wondering what else to make that’s similar to your other favourite recipes, don’t miss these other handy roundups:
- What to Make Next if You Love Creamy Garlic Chicken
- What to Make Next if You Love Sausage Traybake
- What to Make Next if You Love Campfire Stew
- What to Make Next if You Love Tuscan Chicken Macaroni
- What to Make Next if You Love Viking Toast
- What to Make Next if You Love Beef Stroganoff
- What to Make Next if You Love Air Fryer Sticky Chicken Nuggets
Which Hunter’s Chicken recipe has left you feeling inspired?
We hope you’ll love all of these tasty ideas just as much as our original Hunter’s Chicken dish. Don’t forget to share photos in our Facebook group of what you make next! We have almost 1 million lovely community members waiting to support you on your slimming journey.
You can always take a quick look in our Gallery if you’re on the hunt for even more inspiration. You’ll want to sign up to a free website account to upload and share your photos (we’ve got a step-by-step guide you can follow that makes it even easier).
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