There is a lot of demand for one-pot dinners and I have a great option for you to try. This dish is super easy to make and the flavor is out of this world! It isn't called one pot chicken with carrots and fennel for nothing. As the title notes, this is all cooked in one pot. Couldn't be any easier, right? Oh, and be sure to check out my video on how to trim the fat from chicken thighs too.
One-pot Chicken Delivers an Awesome Broth
Chicken, hands down, is my favorite protein. I cook with it almost every day and there are a lot of easy ways to prepare it. One of the best parts about this recipe is the brothy juice. We make it naturally. With the onions, fennel, lemon, dried plums & carrots on the bottom layer, a little bit of the chicken fat, fresh thyme and water - it packs a luxurious punch.
About fennel. I realize it's scary to try new things and fennel looks weird. If you google it, it says it has a mild licorice flavor. I want to emphasize the word mild. As someone who is not a fan of licorice at all I am the perfect candidate to be anti-fennel. However, I think it is fabulous! It provides a mild flavor that you can't quite put your finger on. I wouldn't say you immediately taste licorice when you eat this. No. it's subtle. Trust me. And if you are freaked out by fennel, it's okay. You can use celery instead and this will taste just as delicious!
One-pot Chicken with Carrots and Fennel: Excellent Sunday Night Dinner Option
In the fall and winter, this dish is such a comforting Sunday night dinner option. And the bonus here is that it reheats really well for leftover lunches. One of my all-time favorite combos is chicken and basmati rice. Make it any way you want - I'm there. I absolutely love white rice, in particular basmati. Whenever I make this one pot chicken with carrots and fennel, I always serve it with basmati. It's also best to serve this one in a pasta bowl since we've got that delicious brothy juice to keep in mind.
To let you know: bone-in chicken breast won't really work for this. Dark meat chicken, especially chicken thighs, is very forgiving in high heat cooking. It almost can't be overcooked, whereas chicken breast dries out very easily. Finally, two tips for you: make sure your carrots are submerged in the water you add. Next, since we're searing the chicken first, it does get crispy. If you want to keep that skin crispy make sure the water you add doesn't cover the chicken. It's best to use a large pot for this that can comfortably fit six chicken thighs.
If you're looking for other chicken recipes, be sure to check out my cardamom chicken with coconut raisin rice and my rosemary lemon garlic chicken thighs. And if you like stuffing chicken with things you should definitely check out my Stuffed Chicken Breast Series.
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One Pot Chicken with Carrots and Fennel
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
There's a lot of demand for one-pot dinners and I've got a fantastic recipe for you! The chicken is fall-apart tender and the broth is a gourmet. Get your aprons on!
NOTE: You need a large, oven-safe pot for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
- 3 med to large carrots, sliced
- 1 fennel bulb (or celery if you don't like fennel)
- 1 large red onion
- 12-15 dried plums (pitted prunes)
- 4-5 lemon slices
- 10-12 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 3 cups of water
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Basmati rice
- 2 cups of basmati rice (follow package instructions)
- 1 tablespoon of butter (or olive oil)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Trim the fat from the chicken thighs. I always take off the large flaps of fat hanging off the thighs. Put on a plate or sheet pan and salt and pepper both sides.
- Peel and chop your carrots - about ½” thick here. Cutting diagonally makes for a nice presentation.
- Slice a lemon - should be 4-5 slices. If you have a lemon chunk that doesn’t make a slice, squeeze the juice into the pot later.
- Peel a med-to-large red onion and cut into thick round slices.
- Pull out 10-12 springs of fresh thyme (we’ll be adding this to the broth)
- Cut off fennel bulb, remove core and dice into small pieces, like you would do with an onion. You can set aside the green parts to garnish your dish if you’d like.
- You need a large, oven safe pot for this recipe. Put olive oil in the pot. On medium heat, place the chicken thighs – skin side down – in the pot. Cook for 10 minutes so that some of the fat is rendered off and the skin is brown and crispy. Do not touch the chicken for 10 minutes. Just let it cook. Then turn the chicken and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. Remove the chicken from the pot and put on a plate or small sheet pan.
- Keep heat on medium and place your onion and lemon in the bottom of the pot. Cook for a few minutes until starting to brown – then turn over and cook 2 more minutes.
- Remove the lemons and set aside for a moment while you add the fennel to the pot and spread it around.
- Add the dried plums and scatter on the bottom of the pan. Recipe calls for around 12-15 but you can use a few more if you like. They become fall-apart tender while cooking and they are soooo yum.
- Put the lemon slices back in. If you have that piece of lemon wedge leftover from slicing the lemon, you can squeeze the juice into the pot. If not – no biggie.
- Add carrots to pot and spread them out evenly.
- A note about salt. Normally, I’m a season-as-you-go person… For example, I might have salted the onions or added a bit of salt when I added the fennel. However, I found the original salt I used to salt the chicken was enough for this recipe. But you can add ½ teaspoon here if you would like.
- Put chicken thighs back in pot on top of carrots. Add any pan/plate juices that accumulated on the plate to the pot.
- Pour water in pot. Should be enough water that it covers the veggies, but NOT the chicken. If you want to keep that chicken skin crispy, don’t cover the chicken with water. Water will be touching the bottom of the chicken which is okay.
- Put your pot into a preheated oven at 425 degrees and cook for 30-35 minutes (uncovered). Check pot halfway through cooking. If the water is evaporating too much, add another ½ cup or so of water. Check the internal temp of chicken – it’s ready when it hits 165 degrees inside.
- Cook your basmati rice right when you put your chicken in the oven and they will both be ready at approximately the same time. As always, make sure you wash the rice thoroughly. For 2-cups of basmati, I recommend adding 1 tablespoon of butter and a ½ teaspoon of salt to the rice.
- Let the chicken cool for 5-10 minutes after removing from oven. Serve over basmati rice. You can leave the pot at the stove and make your own bowls or serve on a platter. Enjoy!
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