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Poached Chicken Breasts With Parsley-Onion Salad
![Poached Chicken Breasts With Parsley-Onion Salad](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/01/16/dining/16appe4/16appe4-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1quart chicken stock, plus more as needed (or use salted water)
- 2½pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (3 to 4 split breasts)
- 1bay leaf
- 4garlic cloves
- 2pints cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½cup pitted green olives, sliced
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- ½teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- ¼teaspoon black pepper, plus more as needed
- 1rosemary sprig
- 1lemon
- 1cup chopped parsley leaves
- Pinch of red-pepper flakes
- ½small red onion, sliced
Preparation
- Step 1
Place racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven, and heat oven to 275 degrees. In the microwave or in a small pot on the stove, heat chicken stock until it comes to a simmer.
- Step 2
Pull skin off chicken, keeping the skin in large pieces, and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Step 3
Place chicken breasts in a small baking dish, cover with hot chicken stock and add bay leaf.
- Step 4
Thinly slice 3 of the garlic cloves. In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, toss together garlic slices, tomatoes, olives, 3 tablespoons oil, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Top with the rosemary sprig.
- Step 5
Place pan with chicken skin on top rack and chicken and tomatoes on bottom rack. Toss the tomatoes occasionally. Bake everything until chicken skin is golden, the chicken breast is cooked through (a thermometer inserted in the center should read 155 degrees), and tomatoes are starting to shrivel. This will take 60 to 65 minutes for chicken skin and tomatoes; 70 to 80 minutes for the chicken. Transfer chicken skin to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt to taste, reserving the rendered chicken fat. Transfer chicken breasts to a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes before slicing meat off the bones. (Save stock for another use; it can be frozen for up to 3 months.)
- Step 6
Grate ½ teaspoon zest from the lemon, then cut lemon into wedges. Finely grate remaining garlic clove into a medium bowl. Add a squeeze of lemon juice from one of the wedges, and a pinch of salt. Pour some of the reserved chicken fat over garlic, then toss with parsley, lemon zest, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and red-pepper flakes. Break up chicken skin into bite-sized pieces and toss into parsley mixture along with the red onion. Serve immediately with the tomato-olive mixture and chicken, drizzling with olive oil, if you like.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Trying to clarify, do you add the chicken and stock plus bay leaf in the dish with the tomatoes or cook the tomatoes and chicken in separate dishes? Essentially having three pans in the oven. That’s not made clear at all, common sense suggests they are combined but figured I would ask
155 degrees? I thought 165 was the temp for chicken.
Soak thinly sliced onion in cold water for an hour. Drain, discard soaking water, and proceed.
Could you do this sous vide? Put some stock & bay leaf in a ziplock with the chicken and cook at 155?
I made this last night, simple and delicious.
Sherry, yes, 165F is the temperature chicken becomes instantly safe to eat. According to Serious Eats safety is a matter of time at temperature. So 165F is guaranteed but may mean dry meat. Kenji Lopez-Alt says: “if your chicken reaches 150°F and stays at that temperature for just three minutes, it's as safe to eat as chicken cooked to 165°F” (https://www.seriouseats.com/2012/06/hot-to-grill-boneless-skinless-chicken-breast.html). His article links to another with further times at tempertures
Can you use chicken thighs instead?
although there have been times here where the photo hasn't matched the recipe, this is not one of those times. the chicken skin is removed from the chicken and cooked separately, then broken into pieces to combine with the herb/onion mixture and sprinkle over the dish. the chicken breast is kept whole and then sliced to serve. unless the photo has been updated in the last two hours, both are reflected there :)
I’m saving to try sous vide method. If you try , post your results.
Granted I’m in Denver and cooking times are longer but that chicken has been in the oven for two hours and is only 110 degrees. Another hour?
Loved this recipe. So different using crispy chicken fat in the salad mix. The green olives roasted with the garlic and tomatoes were so flavorful and the poached chicken so moist.
The tomatoes are cooked in a separate pan. They turn out jammy and delicious and are where the real flavor of this dish lie. The chicken is very plain, which is expected, but taken in a bite with tomatoes and olives is great. Will make again.
This was the most bland disappointing chicken dish. the chicken was dry not moist, the chicken skin after almost 2 1/2 hrs was still not very crisp. The best thing was the parsley salad.
I'm a Jack Sprat person, so skipped the steps with the chicken skin entirely. The poached breasts are very tender and moist. In the photo of the dish, the tomato-onion mixture appears uncooked--and I thought that would make a more refreshing dish, so have done it that way ever since. I combine the tomatoes, olives and garlic and let it marinate with the parsley, lemon, red onion while the chicken cooks. Serve the tomato/olive salad al fresco with the sliced chicken. Delish!
Terrific recipe produces silky chicken and flavor-amped tomatoes. Use broth to make risotto, and arugula instead of parsley in the salad. A keeper!
Thanks to Melissa's suggestion to add toasted pine nuts if not using roasted chicken skins. I did just that and it gives extra crunch. I recommend adding much more chopped flat-leaf parsley than just one cup.
55-65 if boneless breasts
This can be cooked at a much higher temp with no ill consequences. Just excellent flavor.
The chicken breast had a wonderful texture, but even my homemade chicken bone broth didn't render the mass-produced breast I used particularly flavorful (I rarely eat breast, much, much preferring dark meat). I thought everything else about this dish was brilliant: LOVE the skin crisps, the parsley salad, the tomato-garlic-olive sauce, all of which I can imagine being useful accompaniments for other mildly-flavored proteins (codfish? pork tenderloin?).
Hubby was not fond of the parsley, which does have a distinct flavor. He suggested arugula. He also does not like the baked chicken skin (more for me! woot!).
I followed the directions exactly and everything was delicious. I also made the tomatillo and jalapeño sauce that was recommended for a similar poached chicken recipe. Also really, really good and easy. I put both the tomato and tomatillo sauces in serving bowls with the poached chicken in the middle so we could pick what we wanted - it all disappeared! So tasty.
I really loved the method and outcome for the chicken. It did come out velvety, juicy and flavorful; I did cook until 155f and then waited maybe 30 minutes before I removed and sliced. The only problem I had was with the 'salad.' The parsley and onion seem too sparce for a 'salad' and the dressing too intense. How could I layer/present to make more like a winter salad? Not sure how the tomatoes olives figures into that and at what temperature is everything served- warm, hot, room, cold?
I have now made this twice and I agree with Ruth. I love the poached chicken breasts and plan on using this method again. But I’m not sure how the tomato olive mixture and /or the parsley onion salad go together with the chicken. I changed the dressing and used a Sherry vinaigrette and added sliced fennel and some spring mix to the salad, which made it a little better. But I served for a luncheon with no comments and I don’t think it displayed well.
I have made this twice, once exactly as written, once with a couple of small tweaks. The warm parsley tomato salad is fabulous, and would go very well with poached fish as well. I recommend cooking the red onion with the rest of the salad, and serving the skin as "chips" on the side. If you mix them in to the salad they will lose their crispiness almost immediately. Getting the chicken done just right is far easier in the sous vidé machine, if you have one.
This recipe produced wonderfully poached chicken, definitely worth extra oven time. I loved the use of the chicken skin, definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. It also looks good for those on low carb/keto diets.
The tomatoes are cooked in a separate pan. They turn out jammy and delicious and are where the real flavor of this dish lie. The chicken is very plain, which is expected, but taken in a bite with tomatoes and olives is great. Will make again.
Baked 2 bone-in breasts in 8x8 inch baking dish, in homemade chicken stock to exactly 155 degrees; breasts turned out perfectly: succulent and velvety as advertised. The chicken skin was amazing! The tomato-olive mixture was so good, I would double it next time. The velvety breast meat, crunchy parsley salad, and tomato-olive mixture were terrific together. Definitely "a keeper" recipe.
Thank you. Since we are getting older, hubby and I usually share one chicken breast. I think I shall try with one breast, and halve the amount of tomato-olive mixture. Also, plan something to use the richer chicken stock for the next day like soup or braised chicken.
Loved this recipe. So different using crispy chicken fat in the salad mix. The green olives roasted with the garlic and tomatoes were so flavorful and the poached chicken so moist.
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