Boneless chicken breasts are your best bet for quick-cooking poultry. They can be a little pricey compared to buying the whole bird (especially if you buy even more expensive cuts, such as breast pieces trimmed into strips or nuggets), but the time savings are well worth it. Without bones and skin it will only take you a few extra seconds to trim the breasts into even faster-cooking strips and cubes.

A whole chicken cut into pieces will cook in less than half an hour in the oven, but if you have a little extra time, a whole roasted chicken is a surprisingly easy alternative, because you don't have to cut it up or handle it excessively. You can sprinkle a few seasonings on the outside, cook it at quite a high heat for speed, and have a moist and delicious roast bird ready in an hour. You may even end up with some leftovers for sandwiches or chicken salad. Roasting vegetables in the pan with chicken sounds like a good idea, but it will actually slow your cooking time and saturate the vegetables with grease. If you don't have any extra time, and may be watching the calories, instead, set baking potatoes on an upper oven rack while the chicken cooks and cook some broccoli or carrots on top of the stove.

Rotisserie chickens, either from one of several national chains or from the deli section of your supermarket, are a blessing to cooks on the run. The intense heat and slow cooking of the rotisserie process makes the chicken deliciously browned on the outside, and they are usually very moist on the inside. Buy a large one and serve it carved, as if it was a regular roast chicken you just pulled out of the oven, or get a smaller one and strip off the meat to incorporate into salads, sandwiches, and casseroles.