Weeknight dinners just got much easier (and quicker) thanks to Marin Mama Cooks who created this simple rosemary skillet chicken that’ll soon become your go-to dinner recipe. The marinade is simple to make and you can even whip it up in the morning before school. The chicken will cook in under 30 minutes but will taste like it’s been roasting in the oven for hours.
Ingredients:
2-3 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, thighs or drumsticks (Just get enough chicken for your family here. Jacquelyn usually buys her chicken in pieces rather than by the pound. She’s cooked up 3 smaller breasts one time, and also cooked up 4 thighs and a drumstick.)
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced, divided – You will mince 2 cloves for the marinade in the morning and the other 2 at night when making the sauce.
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 small shallot (about 2 tablespoons), finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
Method:
First let’s get the marinade together for the chicken. Wash and chop up the 2 tablespoons rosemary, mince your 2 garlic cloves and pour 2 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil into a small bowl. Add to the olive oil, the minced garlic and rosemary. Give it a stir.
Wash and pat dry your chicken and rub the marinade on both sides of the chicken. Cover the chicken or put it all into a ziploc bag, (that’s what I did) and refrigerate the chicken for 1-12 hours. This is a great and easy marinade to make ahead the morning, so when you get home, all you have to do is roast up the chicken.
When you’re home and ready to make dinner, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place a rack in the lower third of the oven.
Pat the skin side of the chicken dry, and season with salt and pepper.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in large ovenproof skillet over medium high heat. I used my 12″ cast iron skillet. Add the chicken, skin side down to the preheated skillet, and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken over and transfer the skillet to the oven.
Roast the chicken until and instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh or breast, registers 165 degrees, about 20-25 minutes. The time varies depending on how large your chicken breasts or thighs are. When I cook up thighs it takes about 20 minutes and breasts typically take about 20-25 minutes.
Transfer the cooked chicken to a plate.
Meanwhile, while your chicken is cooking, prep the ingredients for the sauce. Chop up your shallot, mince your 2 garlic cloves, wash and chop up your thyme, cut up your 2 tablespoons of butter and measure out your chicken broth.
Take the same skillet that you cooked the chicken in and set it over medium heat. Add to the skillet, the chopped shallot, thyme, and the garlic.
Stir occasionally until the shallot and garlic are softened, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and cook, scraping up the browned bits, until the broth is reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
Stir in the 2 tablespoons butter until melted.
Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a serving bowl.
Serve up the chicken and top each piece with the sauce. The sauce is seriously amazing and tastes like gravy. It’s the perfect sauce to dip a popover in.
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Recipe and photo courtesy of Jacquelyn of Marin Mama Cooks. Visit her website for more tasty kid-friendly recipes.
