This is one of those no-fail recipes that everyone needs in their cooking repertoire. One of the great things about this recipe (besides the taste) is that you can half, double or triple all of the ingredients based on your number of dinner guests. This dish is very forgiving – feel free to adjust the ingredients to your taste – you can’t go wrong! A few items to note:
- use cuts of chicken with skin on
- you can vary the cuts depending on your preference
- the garlic not only adds flavor, but it tastes great on its own after braising
- recipe below serves 2
Ingredients:
- 2 bone-in chicken thighs with skin (6 ounces each)
- 2 chicken breasts with skin (6 ounces each)
- all-purpose flour for dusting
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin 0live oil
- 3 large peeled garlic cloves
- 3/4 cup Sauvignon Blanc
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 3 1-inch strips of lemon zest
- 4 thyme springs
- 2 teaspoons capers, drained
- 2 bay leaves
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dust with flour. In a large ovenproof skillet, melt the butter in the oil. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook over high heat, turning once, until browned (12 to 14 minutes). Transfer the chicken to a large plate and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat.
Add the garlic to the skillet and cook over low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and boil over high heat until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the stock, lemon zest, thyme, capers and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the pan, skin side up. Transfer the skillet to the oven, cover and braise for 30-35 minutes, until the meat is tender.
Remove chicken, then return the skillet to the stove and boil until the sauce is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Discard the thyme, bay leaf and lemon zest before serving.
I like to serve this with a side of fingerling potatoes and haricots verts (french green beans).
Adapted from Food & Wine recipe “Zesty Braised Chicken”
This dish looks perfect. I would love to make this dish very soon. What a lovely, comforting photo.
Thank you! Enjoy and let me know how it turns out.
Beautiful photo. I can’t wait to try this out. I’m very happy to have found your blog!
This looks fantastic. It caught my eye because I just posted a braised chicken recipe that was so good. Now I’m looking for more ideas. Thanks for this recipe.
What a great-looking recipe! Simple dishes are often the best.
Yum, that looks delicious! I love that lemon+caper combo.
Fantastic! I’ve made it a number of times, saw your pic on tastespotting and came over to see! Love the chicken lemon combo, it’s such a great recipe! Great picture and post!
Love lemon chicken and your version is stunning! I love it, it looks luscious and flavorful. I am marking this recipe down!
Thanks Jamie! Let me know how it turns out!
Looks GREAT! I was looking for a good chicken dish for tonight – this will be perfect. Thanks.
Braised Chicken with Lemon and Capers « What I Feed My Husband // Jan 22, 2010 at 7:35 pm
[...] you do with chicken turns out good. Braised Chicken with Lemon and Capers from The Urban Spork has a nice mild flavor and took about 45 minutes to make. Side dishes were [...]
I am mad about simple, easy , clever dishes like this one: perfect for family suppers. Thank you for sharing it: I will definitely add it to my repertoire.
I made this tonight for dinner. It was just gorgeous and so simple. Very tasty indeed. I served it with buttered fuscilli pasta and fresh crusty bread.
I’m a college student and have spent the majority of the past year eating out and/or eating those microwaveable dinners. Truth be told, I’ve been getting pretty sick of it all, so I’ve been slowly learning to cook for myself. This was my first “real” dish.
Let me just say, I did have to tweak a couple of ingredients (and some things I just accidentally did plain wrong) but overall… PRETTY EXCELLENT. I hope to revisit this recipe again and get everything right and see how much better it is. But for now, I just want to say thanks so much for the excellent instructions. :]
Thank you very much for taking the time to post your experience with this recipe. Best of luck in your cooking adventures!
Fantastic dish! I made this last night and it was wonderful. I omitted the capers and added a sprinkle of flour to thicken the sauce at the end. I also took your advice on the fingerlings and green beans. I think next time I will set the oven to broil and uncover for the last five minues to crisp up the skin a bit. The boyfriend was very pleased.
Thanks for the great recipe.
I made this recipe today for dinner… FABULOUS!! I tailored it to my tastes and according to what I had on hand. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and the flavor was still amazing. I also added fresh rosemary and fresh oregano. I didn’t have foil so I reduced the sauce and then added the chicken for the last two minutes, covered. For a side, I made saffron carrots from The Wednesday Chef. A great meal in under an hour with only 2 dirty dishes!
I made this tonight and it was a hit with my husband and nine year old daughter! At the end I took the lid off and broiled it for a few minutes to keep the skins crispy. I served it with Brown jasmine rice and red lentil beans and steamed broccoli. The wine, lemon and the capers gave it a beautiful light flavor. Also at the end I wisked in a bit of flour to the sauce to thicken it. This recipe is a keeper!
SOOOOO GOOD! This turned out wonderful! Very easy to make and full of flavor! Even the kids ate it. If you like sauce, I’d add a bit more wine. Thanks for a great new addition to my repetoire! I’ll be coming back frequently!
I’ll probably make this simmering covered on the stovetop. No reason to heat up the oven. Just need to check on it and make sure the liquid doesn’t boil off.
Made this recipe over the holidays and it was delicious. Tripled the recipe and simply put the chicken in a big roaster to finish in the oven. Company was fighting over the garlic cloves and the thighs which were falling off the bone.
Thank you for easy to follow directions. I may not have attempted this without the detailed instructions. Will make it again. LOVE LOVE…
Made this for dinner tonight; it was absolutely delicious!!!
Just made this dish for the first time, and let me just say thank you! What a delicious recipe. Perfect for cooks who are just beginning, too. Not too complicated. Yummy!
Has anyone tried with other wine like riesling?
This was divine! I only had boneless/skinless chicken breast on hand. So I was a little worried that it might come out dry; however, it was still amazing.
I am cooking this dish now. It smells delicious! I used Pinot Grigio and added fresh sage and rosemary. I am serving it over quinoa.
Thanks for the recipe!
Made it this week. It was delicious, used breasts and thighs, served with brown rice. Will addition to my list of favorites.. Easy!