I'm going to get bold for a minute. This chicken dish is one of the most delicious things I ever made. Not kidding. I mean, you know I love my leeks so it's not too surprising that something with leeks would become a new favorite of mine. But this dijon chicken with apples, leeks and fennel is out.of.bounds amazing. And I only borrow Guy Fieri phrases when it's absolutely necessary. Which it is in this case. Oh, and when you do your prep for this one, check out my post about how to trim the fat from chicken thighs too.
Dijon Marinated Chicken with Apples, Leeks and Fennel: Comfort Food 101
If I could make a bed out of leeks I would. Clothing? Yes, I would make clothing out of leeks too. Leek rings on my fingers and a leek necklace? Yup. Give me leeks or give me death is what I always say. So I kinda like leeks a lot... like, a lot a lot. I love when you cook them in a pan or bake them in the oven - they produce this wonderfully creamy, aromatic silky liquid and the leeks swim in it, and bubble a little, and it tastes velvety and luscious. Man, we need to start using leeks more in life. And if you are reading this, squinting and saying anything resembling, "What the hell, they're just onions..." I'm going to have to ask that you re-evaluate where you are in life right now, okay? Also, please leave my website immediately.
For those of you who remain, you may now call me Heda... Commander of Leekkru. Please, please be laughing right now - it's all in good fun. And apologies, I'm re-watching a brilliant show called The 100 right now and it's... affecting me.
Back to food: leeks are awesome and dijon marinated chicken with fresh herbs, a little brown sugar, some fennel and apple will rock you right out of your food rut. The chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender and these flavors were born to party together in a big pan.
Cook it All in One Pan for an Easy Gourmet Meal
There is nothing that sucks about cooking a whole dinner in one pan. Yes, you have to chop a few things, but I imagine you already know this if you are on the internet looking for recipes. Chicken thighs are my thang as you must know if you are a regular reader of my website. Dark meat rules my world of chicken and while I do enjoy a great stuffed chicken breast, my heart belongs to chicken thighs.
It's worth noting that, yes, I also love myself a thin chicken cutlet ala chicken parmesan, chicken piccata or chicken marsala. But chicken thighs trump all for me. I know some of you are concerned about all the fat on thighs. However, if you allow yourself about 20-30 seconds per chicken thigh, you can cut most of the fat off.
I love when I can make dinner in one pan and I especially love this dish because it is such an easy gourmet meal. Perfect for Sunday night dinner or if you're having friends over for your weekly game or movie night. I usually serve this with basmati rice, but you could easily do something with roasted potatoes too.
Easy Steps for Dijon Chicken with Apples, Leeks and Fennel
Are Chicken Thighs Your Thang Too? I Gotcha Covered:
- Cardamom Chicken Thighs with Coconut Raisin Rice
- One Pot Chicken with Carrots & Fennel
- Ina Garten's Chicken Marbella
- Crispy Chicken Thighs w/Honey, Butter Garlic Sauce
- Rosemary Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs
- Rosermary Balsamic Grilled Chicken Thighs
- Grilled Chimichurri Chicken Thighs
- Grilled Sririacha-Lime Chicken
Dijon Chicken with Apples, Leeks and Fennel
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 portions 1x
Description
You are going to love my one-pan Dijon chicken with apples, leeks and fennel. This is gourmet comfort food 101.
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 1 teaspoon finely diced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon finely diced fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons garlic, finely diced (about 3 large cloves)
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
For the chicken thighs:
- 6 Chicken thighs (fat trimmed)
- 1 teaspoon salt (½ teaspoon for each side of chicken)
- ½ teaspoon pepper (¼ teaspoon for each side of chicken)
For the bottom of the pan:
- 3 large leeks, cut in rings (¼” or so) (see note#1)
- 1 large fennel bulb, thin sliced
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 apples, peeled and sliced - I used Gala (about ¼” in thickness)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3-4 small rosemary sprigs
- 3-4 small thyme sprigs
Optional garnish:
- Fennel fronds
- Rosemary sprigs
- Thyme sprigs
- Chopped parsley
Basmati Rice, optional: (cook per package instructions)
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¾ teaspoon salt
NOTE: You will need a large oven-safe pan for this recipe.
PREP AND COOK TIMES DO NOT INCLUDE MARINATING TIME.
Instructions
- Make the marinade first. Chop the rosemary, thyme, and garlic and put in a small bowl. Add Dijon mustard, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and pepper. Whisk together until well blended.
- Trim the fat from the chicken thighs. Cut any obvious flaps of fat hanging off the chicken. I usually cut extra fat from the underside as well. Put chicken in a large mixing bowl. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Pour Dijon marinade in bowl and mix with chicken to make sure all pieces are coated.
- Transfer chicken to a slider bag. Scrape any marinade left in bowl into the bag with the chicken. Squeeze air out of bag, massage chicken one final time for even marinade distribution. I lay the chicken pieces out flat. Marinate for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator and up to overnight. I usually do overnight.
- Once the chicken is marinated and ready, cut the fraggle-top ends from the leeks. Cut the leeks into rings about ¼” thick or so and put them in a large bowl with some water. We’re using the white and light green part. You can discard the dark green part.
- After all the leeks are sliced, push them down in the water bowl and separate the rings. They won’t all separate and that’s okay. Leeks can be very dirty so they need to be cleaned thoroughly. Once rinsed, drain the water and make sure the leeks have no residual dirt. Put sliced leeks in a large oven-safe pan.
- The fennel. We’re using the white bulb so cut off the green and discard. You can save the leafy part (called fennel fronds) for garnish if you like. I used a mandolin to slice my fennel (either ¼” or ⅛” setting is fine). If you don’t have a mandolin that’s fine too. Just slice thin with a knife. Should total about one heaping cup of sliced fennel.
- Add fennel to the pan with the leeks. Then add olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat the leeks and fennel.
- Peel the apples and slice into ¼” wedges. I peeled 3 apples in the video, but only ended up using two. It was more than enough. Feel free to use three if you want it more appley.
- Place a few rosemary sprigs and thyme sprigs in with the leeks and fennel. Sprig size should be about 1 ½” to 2” in length.
- Place the apple slices on top of the leeks, fennel and herbs. Then sprinkle brown sugar on top of apples.
- Add the chicken on top of the apples. Five chicken thighs around the edges and one in the center. Press down gently on the chicken to nestle the thighs into the mixture. Wipe off any garlic from the skin of the chicken and push it down into the pan with the leeks. If garlic is on the skin it might burn during the cooking process.
- Cook in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for one hour or until internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees.
- If you have parsley on hand, you can chop some of this for garnish as well. See optional garnish in ingredient list.
- To serve: you can plate it individually with rice on bottom, apple & leeks mixture on top of rice and chicken on top of that. You can serve family style with apple & leek mixture on bottom of plate or small platter – chicken on top. Garnish with extra rosemary, thyme, fennel fronds, parsley if you have on hand. My video shows both presentations.
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