Cranberry Rosemary Chicken – a delicious dinner idea with a seasonal taste. Cranberries and rosemary make for a festive and flavourful sauce. This chicken dinner is great for weeknights but also elegant enough for dinner parties too.
This recipe uses a product that was gifted to me from Bones & Marrow Broth Co. for free, for the purposes of developing a recipe. However, all opinions expressed here are my own.
After a run of nice weather (considering its winter in Winnipeg after al), we finally are experiencing normal freezing temperatures for this time of year. Needless to say, it’s the time of year where all I want are cozy and warming meals! Stews, soups, and roasted meats are the types of meals we’ve been enjoying a whole lot lately, and I am not mad about it. There is just something so comforting about them.
Recently, the wonderful people behind Bones & Marrow Broth Co. provided me with some containers of their bone broths to make some seasonal recipes with. They are a local company from here in Winnipeg, whose products I have been using and enjoying for a few years now. Did you know that bone broth has many nutritional benefits, including for your gut health, joint and muscle recovery, and it’s good for your hair, skin and nails as well. After learning about the nutritional properties and benefits that bone broth has, I’ve really made an effort to incorporate it into my diet more often.
Over the last couple years I have discovered that there are many ways you can use delicious bone broth. It’s so perfect for soups and stews, but it really can be used in place in many different recipes where you might otherwise use stock or bouillon. I also often use it in place of wine while cooking…I like to save my wine for drinking instead of eating ;). I’ve found that bone broth is wonderful for making sauces, such as in this recipe. It adds so much good flavour while also being good for you!
In this particular recipe, I used the “Bare Blend Poultry Broth” which is a wonderful bled of chicken and turkey, 5 different veggies and clove. It was fantastic for this cranberry rosemary chicken!
If you live here in Manitoba, there are many locations you can find Bones & Marrow products, or you can purchase directly from them. Head to their website for more information. If you live somewhere else, there is likely a great local company that you can purchase from if you do a little research! I love supporting locally made products, and I am so excited to get to do so with a product I truly love.
How to make Cranberry Rosemary Chicken
This chicken dinner requires a bit of prep time to allow the chicken to marinate and will also require a cast iron or other oven-proof skillet.
First you will start by adding all the marinade ingredients to a blender: cranberries (fresh or frozen), olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, whole grain mustard and bone broth. Blend all that up, and then pour over your chicken thighs. Put the chicken into the fridge, and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.
Once you are ready to cook, you will preheat your oven to 375°F. Then, heat the olive oil in your cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Next up we want to brown the chicken, so you will remove it from the marinade and pay dry, seasoning with salt to taste. Don’t discard that marinade, just set is aside as we will be using it for the sauce!
Place the chicken thighs skin side down in the skillet and lightly brown. You don’t want to brown too much as it will continue to brown in the oven, but we want to start the process here. Flip it over and brown the other side as well.
Remove the skillet from the heat, and remove the chicken from the pan. Pour in the marinade, and give it a stir, gently scraping any browned bits up. Place the chicken back into the pan, and you will add the cranberries and rosemary sprigs around the chicken.
Now we bake it for 35-40 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through. Your delicious chicken dinner is now ready to eat! Be sure to spoon up some of that cranberry rosemary pan sauce to serve with it!
What can I serve with Cranberry Rosemary Chicken?
There are so many sides you can serve with this chicken! If you want to keep it simple, I suggest serving it with a side of rice and steamed broccoli or other steamed vegetables.
If you want something a little fancier, serve the chicken with a rice pilaf or herb roasted potatoes. A side salad would also be quite nice with this, such as this Beet, Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Salad with Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette.
I hope you enjoy this cranberry roasted chicken as much as we did! It’s so great for this time of year, and would be wonderful served for a Christmas or other holiday meal.
If you make this cranberry rosemary chicken please let me know! You can leave a comment below, rate it, post on the Zest & Simmer Facebook page or share photos on Instagram with the hashtag #zestandsimmer. I am always thrilled to hear from you!
Cranberry Rosemary Chicken
Equipment
- Blender
- Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 1/2 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary
- 2/3 cup bone broth
For the chicken:
- 4 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt , to taste
- 1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Combine all marinade ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth.
- Pour marinade over chicken (in a large bowl or ziplock bag), ensuring chicken is completely covered. Place in fridge and allow to marinade for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Heat olive oil in a large, cast iron skillet or other oven safe skillet, over medium high heat.
- Remove chicken from marinade, setting marinade aside for now (do NOT discard!). Pat the chicken dry, season with salt to taste.
- Place chicken skin side down in the heated skillet, to lightly brown for about 3-4 minutes. Don't allow the skin to get too dark as it will continue to brown in the oven. Turn over and lightly brown the other side.
- Remove the skillet from heat, and remove the chicken and set aside. Pour in the marinade and stir, gently scraping off any browned bits from the pan. Place chicken back into the pan, and add the cranberries and rosemary sprigs around it.
- Place chicken in the preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked through. Serve chicken with a large spoonful or two of the cranberry rosemary pan sauce.
