Heather says:
This recipe for roast chicken tastes like effort marinated in herbs and vinegar. Really, it’s a throw together and toss in the oven kind of dish. I won’t tell if you don’t, sometimes I like to pretend I’m working harder than I am. The chicken can be set to marinate the night before or the morning of the day you plan to serve the meal.
Balsamic Glazed Roast Chicken
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 2 TBSP Dijon mustard
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 3 – 4 lbs chicken pieces or
1 whole chicken cut up* - salt / fresh ground pepper
*reserve the back / neck for stock
In a small bowl, whisk together the first 8 ingredients. In a shallow, non-reactive container (ie glass or plastic, or even zippered plastic bag) pour all of the dressing over the chicken parts.
Cover and place the container in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for several hours or overnight. Turn the pieces once in a while to ensure they all have a reasonably even coating.
To cook:
Preheat the oven to 425F and make sure one of the racks is in the middle position.
Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake off any excess. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place the chicken skin side up in a as small a baking dish as possible. The point is to ensure the skin is nicely browned, but the chicken isn’t spread out so far that it will dry out before it reaches a safe temperature.
Roast for approximately 1 hour, but use a meat thermometer and remove the chicken from the oven as soon as it hits 165F. (You can take it out at 163F or so as it will rise as much as another 5 degrees, depending on the thickness of the pieces).
Optional Serving Suggestion:
If you have would like, you can make a simple pan sauce from the drippings. Pour the drippings into a fat separator, add 1/2 cup of chicken stock or broth to the baking dish and scrape up any bits from the bottom. Pour the stock & browned bits into a skillet, heat over medium high heat. Add the liquid, but not the fat from the pan juices, some lemon zest or juice, and a pinch of chopped (fresh) parsley. Bring to a boil and serve over the chicken.
Enjoy!
Other chicken recipes you may enjoy:
Yummy! That sounds like one I can do!
Question: What to do with the bottle of balsamic in my cupboard?
Answer: Make this chicken! 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe, I will definitely put this in rotation.
Totally drooling. Looks good and I may have to try it!
I'm so bummed out that I don't have any chicken ready to make like this tonight! It looks like just my kinda dish–easy and good. So I just took out a whole chicken to make tomorrow night. Thanks!
P.S. Totally off the topic, but I was at Target yesterday and they had lots of nice red dishes in honor of Valentine's Day. I thought of you and wanted to mention it. There were cooking pieces as well as dining pieces. Pretty.
Thanks for the tip! I'll see if I can catch any when they go on clearance.
Man that looks delicious! awesome pics too! bravo! 🙂
I know this may sound like a stupid question but…. would the recipe work well with chicken breasts? I can't deal with the dark meat and bones… and skin…
Sorry: not sure if it is a generational issue (Y) or just that I am so close to becoming a vegetarian, as I can not even deal with any fat on my meat.
New to your site, well-done!
No, it's not a generational issue, I'm in the years where X and Y bleed into one another. I know, I know, it's hard to trust anyone over 30, but I've barely adjusted to this side, so a little slack? 😉 The retro look around here is just kitsch.
Personal preference? That knows no age. There are plenty of picky baby boomers and toddlers out there. (I'm not picking on baby boomers, I don't think you're old)
To make this recipe work for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I would completely alter the cooking method. Bones and skin seal in moisture for the longer cook time of this recipe. Pound the chicken breasts with a rolling pin or mallet until they are of even thickness. Then, only marinate them for an hour or so. Cook the breasts 1 or 2 at a time in a skillet with olive oil over medium heat until just cooked through.
Enjoy!
I tried this last week using a whole chicken (marinated it in a big ziploc bag), and it was great! Thanks!
My recent post 7 Quick Takes: Volume 5
Could you add a little honey to the marinade? There is a (now-closed) restaurant here in Seattle that made an awesome honey-balsamic chicken…
Absolutely, I bet it would be delicious. I would cover the chicken the first half of cooking, as the sugars may cause it to get darker or even burn before it’s ready.
Is there a way this might work in a slow cooker ???
It will work, but the skin will be different, you'll have the usual soft tender skin that shows up in the slow cooker. It'll be tasty, just slightly different texture wise.