Braised Chicken With Lemon and Olives
- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 8chicken thighs, skin-on and bone-in, about 3½ pounds
- Salt and pepper
- ½teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 6garlic cloves, minced
- ½teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
- 1tablespoon roughly chopped rosemary
- 1tablespoon olive oil
- 2Meyer lemons, cut in wedges
- 1cup flavorful olives with pits, a mixture of black and green, about 1 pound
- 1cup chicken broth
- 3tablespoons chopped parsley
Preparation
- Step 1
Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Season well with salt and pepper and place in an earthenware baking dish in one layer, skin side up. Sprinkle with red pepper, garlic, fennel and rosemary and drizzle with olive oil. Rub seasoning into thighs on all sides. Tuck lemon wedges here and there. Let marinate for 15 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Step 2
Put baking dish in oven, uncovered, and roast until skin browns lightly, about 20 minutes. Scatter olives evenly over chicken and add broth. Cover tightly and bake for 1 hour, until meat is very tender when probed with a skewer.
- Step 3
Remove thighs and lemon wedges and arrange on a platter. Keep warm. Pour pan juices into a saucepan and quickly skim fat from surface. Over high heat, simmer rapidly until reduced by half. Spoon juices over chicken, sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I've made this at least five times over the past year. The only thing that I would change is that recipe calls for the chicken to be put in the over to be browned slightly. That didn't work for me. I brown the chicken in a skillet then put the spices on and cook it for just under an hour. The chicken looks nicer and has a little crunch on the skin.
Try this with oranges (peel and all) especially if Meyer lemons aren't easily available. Here in India we don't see them, so oranges (amp up spiciness to cut their sweetness). I also sear the chicken pieces (skin side only) instead of the initial baking to ensure a crispier skin.
This was amazing! The second time I made it I added artichoke hearts, which went wonderfully with the dish.
It is a myth that heating olive oil over high heat makes it toxic. Olive oil has a relatively high smoke point. Google it if you don't believe me, and stop trying to scare people.
The skin will never become crispy because it is baked covered tightly. If you want a similar dish with crispy skin try Sam Sifton's Roasted Chicken Provencal on this site - also uses bone-in thighs. Or use the cooking technique from that dish for this combination of ingredients - it bakes uncovered and produces lovely, crispy skin.
This recipe has become our go-to for Sunday family dinners. I make two substitutions: boneless thighs in stead of bone-in breasts and 1/2 cup of dry white wine in place of 1/2 cup of the broth.
If you don't have Meyer lemons, which are milder, cut the amount of lemon in half. Or taste the sauce when reducing and add a sweetener to balance out the acidity. Lemon exhausts the palate rapidly.
Prepared this recipe with boneless, skinless thighs. Did not have Meyer lemons so replaced with 1 regular lemon. Used kalamata olives. Initially baked for 20 minutes uncovered as directed then baked for 30 min covered and 30 minutes uncovered to brown the chicken. Delicious! Will definitely make this again.
Skin on, layer of sliced potatoes on the bottom, season and olive oil Convection bake 425 for 45 minutes No cover Add olives half way No broth Chicken crisps up
This dish is a take-off on the Moroccan dish," poulet aux olives." It is made with green olives and fermented lemons. You can imitate the fermented lemons by cutting a plain one in half and letting it cook with the chicken. Why not try the real thing? The author should have given credit to this famous Moroccan dish.
Re comment about using pitted olives: once pitted, the liquids or brine (if you buy pitted) penetrates the flesh, making it saltier and mushy. You lose the integrity of the olive flavor. I always use unpitted for this reason. This dish has distinct flavor with the sweetness of the Meyer lemon balanced by the tart/bitter quality of the olives. I loved it just as it was and so did my grandkids!
With no Meyer lemons available I chose to add a bit of sweetness to the dish by way of a large sweet potato cubed. The added sweetness as well as the infusion of the various flavors into the sweet potatoes made me wish I had used more of them. Delicious!
Great recipe. I shortened the uncovered time at the start and, after emptying the liquid, put it back in to broil for 5 min at the end to more nicely brown the skin. I also used slices of fennel rather than fennel seed and it worked well.
Can I make with chicken breasts? My wife only eats white meat... I know :(
Any adjustments required?
You're mistaken about olive oil, it doesn't become bitter unless you take it past it's smoke point of 405F. This dish asks for a bake temperature of 375F; this isn't hot enough to "burn" the olive oil.
Such a great recipe! I followed other recommendations and pan seared before adding all the ingredients and putting in the oven. It cooked in the oven for almost 2 hours - the skin was crispy and the meat was perfectly tender. I also added potato wedges prior to baking in the oven. So good!
I browned/crisped the skin in the pan and then continued with the recipe, shortening my baking time, before giving it a few minutes under the broiler. Meat was tender and flavorful and skin was nice a crisp. I also used pitted olives, and served over caramelized onions.
Love this recipe. I added nectarine wedges to the pan for the last few minutes, which gave the dish some added sweetness that contrasts nicely with the lemon.
Made w/bone in thighs and breast 1/2’s. After the hour in the oven, i took out the chicken pieces and broiled them while the broth was cooking down.(without the citrus).
This has been a go-to recipe of ours for years. Bearing in mind that I am a lazy cook: I made it last night, and realized that I had not been covering the chicken, just baking it, and the juices reduce without having to remove the chicken. It's a very forgiving recipe, as the dark thigh meat is flavorful and fat, and stays moist. I use very good but pitted olives, so no one has to figure out how to spit out an olive pit, mid sentence.
I’ve made this recipe multiple times. I never add chicken broth. Bone-in tights make a nice sauce by adding only water. I don’t like olives, so capers are my go to. You can make it a single pan dish if you use a braiser.
We have made a version of this recipe dozens of times, and it is our favorite dish to serve to company or take to a friend in need. Instead of fennel seeds, we use two or three quartered fennel bulbs. We use pitted Kalamata olives and don’t reduce the liquid, because it’s still great over brown rice with lots of flavorful broth.
Great lemony briny flavor. Definitely season well and brown the skin beforehand. I cooked covered for 30 min then left uncovered for an additional 20 at 425F. Great over white rice or pasta.
Too bland for me. Still looking for ways to use bounty of Meyer lemons.
Really enjoyed this recipe. Broiled the top as other suggested. Might brown the thighs first next time but just delicious.
Wonderful. The only change I made was to turn the broiler on at the end of the oven time to brown the skin.
I agree with the others that the chicken needs to be browned prior to placing in the oven. 1. In a large skillet, I browned chicken with a tablespoon of olive oil. 2. Removed all but a tablespoon of fat and sautéed the garlic for one minute. 3. Used a mix of 1/2 cup chicken stock, 1/2 cup white wine, the juice of one Meyer lemon, a splash of lemon champagne vinegar, and a teaspoon of honey 4. Placed the chicken in the sauce, added the lemon, olives, and spices. Covered and baked 45 minutes.
I substituted capers for the black olives, cumin fit the fennel, and half a regular lemon for the Meyer lemon. Absolutely delicious!
Thanks to everyone who commented before me. Toasted the fennel seeds and seared the chicken skin for a nice crust as per other reviewer comments. Made the entire spice mix for the 4 thighs I had. I’m glad I did. Flavorful. I thought my old garlic would be too bitter to mince/grate. Instead, I peeled the cloves and tossed them in whole to soften and mellow. Only had pitted large black Greek olives and small green castelvetrano olives. Threw them in the pot the last 20 minutes of cooking.
Super easy and delicious. With a fennel-hater in the house, I subbed cardamom seeds. Marinate for 4+hrs if poss. Oil is optional if your chicken is fatty. I seared it 4 mins a side - no touching - for more flavour. Agree - covering prevents skin crisping up but we don't eat it, but during cooking it keeps the meat from drying out and is essential. Served with wild rice blend, blistered tomatoes & feta. We will make again.
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