Monday Meals: Cranberry Chicken

If Friday is a pie-day, then Mondays need to be for meal planning. This is a recipe I’m rather fond of and a little proud of – I made it up myself! It’s the first recipe I’ve created, and it’s pretty yummy, if I say so myself.

I love cranberries. I think I have 4 bags of craisins in the pantry right now (I stock up on BOGO deals), and also I buy them fresh when they’re in season and freeze them to use all throughout the year. I don’t know what it is about them, but we were trying to get rid of some, and I thought, “Why not combine them with chicken?”

Here are all the yummy ingredients I used! Not pictured is this chicken rub, which we use and like a lot. You could substitute salt and pepper and the like, but we really enjoy the taste of these combined seasonings.

Here are the raw chickens, all floured up and cooking in olive oil. I just sprinkled the flour and chicken rub on one side, then turned them over and did likewise.

While the chicken is cooking, gather up the other ingredients. I like to chop the cranberries in half at this time too. To contrast with the tartness of the cranberries, I added brown sugar and nutmeg, and then some sliced almonds to give it an extra little crunch.

Once the chicken is cooked all the way through (it took about 10 minutes on medium heat for me), add some water and brown sugar and bring it to a boil (should be pretty fast). Then add in the remaining ingredients – pretty simple!

I went a little overboard on the cranberries. I was only making it for my sister and me, but I chopped a full cup of cranberries. The recipe below has adjusted for this miscalculation, and this is about how many cranberries you would use for 4 pieces of chicken / 4 servings.

After about 5-10 minutes a flavorful cranberry sauce had thickened up around the chicken. (I can’t say precisely because part of the time it was on high heat, and then we brought it back down to medium.)

Well, here’s the recipe. When I originally wrote it down, I didn’t record precise measurements or times. After making this a few more times, I finally made it a little easier to share and follow! 

Kirsten’s Cranberry Chicken 

(serves 4)

olive oil for pan 

4 boneless chicken breasts

3 tbsp. flour

2 tsp. chicken rub (or spice/seasoning of choice)

1 cup water

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup chopped cranberries (fresh or frozen)

¾ cup sliced almonds

1. Coat chicken with flour and spice(s). Brown in olive oil over medium heat until cooked (about 10 minutes).
2. Add water and brown sugar; bring to boil.
3. Add nutmeg, cranberries, and almonds and cook on medium heat for 5-10 more minutes, until sauce thickens and cranberries and almonds are heated through.

We had it with bowtie pasta and broccoli and carrots. YUM!!! I’d love to hear what you think of the recipe – comment if you try it or find any adjustments necessary. (I know a whole teaspoon of nutmeg might be overpowering for some people – I just like extra flavorful food!)

Next Monday’s meal: Swiss steak! Stay tuned!