One of my favorite, simple, recipes I make about once a month for a quick and easy weeknight dinner! I have added additional notes below regarding cooking chicken in the skillet to ensure you get a golden brown sear. I also cook the chicken, covered for longer than the original recipe when using thicker chicken breasts.
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp grape seed oil
1/2 medium sweet or yellow onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced (or used dried garlic)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2-3 cups of chicken broth or stock
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 fresh rosemary stem (optional)
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 large sweet potato. cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups fresh, whole green beans
4-5 carrots, peeled
Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and lightly brown. While the onion is cooking, pound chicken with a mallet to ensure all chicken breasts are of even thickness. If one chicken is slightly thicker, start cooking this one 2-3 minutes before the others. Quick Tip: I often cut off the tender and cook separately to help evenly cook the meat. Add salt & pepper to taste and sprinkle dried garlic on each side of the breasts. Make sure the skillet is hot before adding to the pan.
Tip: If you have limited space in your dutch oven, you can cut the breasts in half before you begin searing.
Important Note: The chicken should only be flipped once, there are two ways I can tell when chicken breasts are ready to be flipped: First, the chicken will begin to cook through and you will see the white, cooked color begin to appear around the edges of the chicken on the uncooked side. Second, the chicken breasts will stick to the pan while the meat sears, creating the golden brown color. Once I begin to see the white along the edges I will “nudge” the meat to see if it still sticking to the pan. Once the meat moves easily in the pan, I prefer to use a spoon (thongs can tear the chicken) or a spatula to flip the meat. As a rule of thumb I generally cook each side 5-7 minutes depending on thickness.
Tip for Softer Vegetables: While I am searing the chicken, I bring water to a boil and pre-cook first the carrots and then also the green beans. The sweet potatoes I prefer to not overcook as they will begin to fall apart. This can shorten your overall cooking time and help ensure the chicken isn’t overcooked.
Remove chicken and set aside. If vegetables were pre-cooked, drain water, do not rinse. Increase the heat to high for the dutch oven and stir in broth (I start with 2 cups, but add more if needed), garlic, rosemary, thyme, potatoes, carrots and green beans. When using fresh rosemary and thyme, remove from the stems and mince/chop. Heat until the liquid begins to boil and cook 5-7 minutes. Tip: To fit the breasts back in the pan with the vegetables, I cut them in half. This will have the juices run out so if possible cut in half when you begin searing for best results. Last step: Add the chicken breasts back to the dutch oven, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender.
Serve immediately and add any additional seasonings. I have added additional Italian seasoning at the end if I used the rosemary and thyme sparingly. Enjoy!
Recipe inspired from Swanson Chicken Broth: http://swanson.campbellskitchen.com/recipe/golden-chicken-autumn-vegetables/