Chicken’s popularity is generally credited to its flexibility and how easy it is to adapt for home cooks, but it may also reflect the protein’s dietary qualities. Lower in saturated fats than most other meats (especially with the skin off), chicken is a good source of quality protein, vitamin B, iron and selenium.

Raw chicken should be cooled immediately and it will keep for no more than two days in the fridge. Stored in the freezer below 0°C, chicken breasts can remain frozen and useable up to nine months while a whole chicken can last a year. Always remember to wash your hands after handling raw chicken, as well as any utensils or countertops that may come in contact with it.

Chicken breasts are among the most popular cut because they are low in fat and easy to prepare. Optimise this white meat part of the bird by ensuring that you choose a smaller size, 170g to 200g each. Larger breasts should be cut horizontally to ensure more even cooking.

If you do choose to marinate the meat, you can do so for however long you like, remembering that the longer it sits in the marinade, the stronger the flavour will become. But beware: acidic marinades will toughen the chicken over time.

Roasting is also a popular way to prepare the meat. Whole roast chicken is well-loved for a reason: it’s perfect in summer with a fresh green salad, or in colder months with hearty roasted potatoes, carrots and peas.

It’s often said that chicken is cooked when its juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink. However, a top tip from HelloFresh cooks is to focus on the temperature of the meat. This is the safest and most reliable indicator of whether the chicken is cooked. As long as all parts of the chicken have reached a minimum internal temperature of 165°C, the meat is safe to eat.

In 2018, HelloFresh shipped over 22 million orders of chicken worldwide—that’s more than any other meat.