Category Archives: chicken

Apricot Honey-Mustard Chicken

Posted on February 2, 2026 | Leave a comment

Apricot Preserves (13 ounce size jar) is fine or 12 oz. Honey and delicious Dijon Mustard from Maille

IMG_8831 (2) — straight out of the oven–why you will want to have sprayed baking dish with cooking spray

This is a simple, quick to assemble and delicious chicken recipe. We prefer chicken thighs because we think they are tastier. I am sure this would be delicious over chicken breasts as well. If making chicken breasts the cooking times could vary. This whole dish from start to finish was just under an hour!!!! Now that’s a recipe I can get behind. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The basting is important. So set your clock to go off every 10 minutes . Whole chicken dish should cook in 1/2 hour to 40 minutes so that’s 3- 4 basting times. I cooked for about 38 minutes. Use a spoon to baste.

8 chicken thighs will serve 4 people–I made 5 but wanted to check amounts of ingredients so I used full on amounts of sauce which worked out fine and made for easier basting and enough sauce for serving. This recipe will be perfect with 8 average size thighs.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

6-8 chicken thighs (check that they aren’t very small) average to large size thighs or 1 – 1/2 lbs thin chicken breasts

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper -*see variation on spices below

1 12oz. jar of Apricot Preserves or Jam ( 13 oz. is OK) some jars are 12 oz. and that’s fine as well

2 Tablespoons Honey or Hot Honey which I used on my chicken breasts

2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard ( heaping)

*for a variation on this recipe sprinkle paprika, salt, pepper, and curry powder first and then add other ingredients

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Rinse chicken thighs and pat dry. Transfer to a sprayed baking dish ( cooking spray) Season chicken generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides. Set aside.

Bring jam, honey, and mustard mixture to a low boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once it starts to boil reduce heat to medium-low or just low. Simmer until sauce thickens and gets reduced by about half, app. 15 minutes. Spoon apricot mixture over chicken thighs in baking dish, spread with spoon to coat evenly.

Bake chicken , basting with sauce from bottom of dish every 10 minutes. Cook until juices run clear when chicken is pricked with a fork. Anywhere from 30 – 40 minutes depending on the size of your chicken thighs. If your chicken doesn’t get that browned up you can always put it under the broiler to crisp up for a few minutes. Just keep an eye on it if you do this.

*for chicken breasts same temperature but only like 15 minutes and you’ll check chicken be careful because breasts dry out very quickly and I didn’t use broiler for chicken breasts — not necessary and if you use 2 lbs. you’ll probably need 2 baking dishes. I also made rice pilaf and my Lemon Parmesan Salad which is super crunch and fresh , it was a great combo of flavors.

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Tagged Chicken, chicken with apricot and mustard, dijon mustard and apricot chicken, dinner, food, recipe, recipes

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner-Mustard and Balsamic

Posted on January 18, 2026 | 1 comment

This is one of those dinners that I think of when I can’t think of anything else to make, it’s always delicious and perfect for dinner served along side rice/potatoes any veggie or salad you’d like. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, of course you can use any cut of chicken you’d like. All I needed was the chicken and the fresh rosemary. I had all the other ingredients on hand. You will need to marinate for about 1/2 hour and cooking time is about an hour, no need to marinate over night which is part of what I loved about this recipe. Balsamic Vinegar and Dijon Mustard and a few other easily obtainable ingredients make this a no fuss recipe. This recipe is for 8 boneless skinless thighs but feel free to double it up, I used about 10 thighs . It would be perfect on the grill as well. I used my oven and I have to say we both loved this recipe. It is sort of a Balsamic Chicken with a hint of mustard.

I will say that sometimes I don’t have rosemary and have all the other ingredients and it is just as tasty! So no worries if you don’t like Rosemary or if you just don’t have it in the house. I couldn’t find any fresh Rosemary yesterday so it had none! All Good!

The chicken would also be wonderful on day 2 as a leftover in a salad!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

8 boneless chicken thighs or 1 package of thighs about 1 – 1 1/2 lbs. you can double recipe but you probably don’t need to double olive oil — maybe 3/4 cup for double but double down on everything else if you’re doubling

1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard ( make it heaping)

1/4 cup of Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup of Olive Oil

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice ( I average lemon)

2 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

app. 1/4 tsp. of kosher salt, I just sprinkled lightly over the chicken and about 6 grinds on the pepper mill. If you’re doubling recipe you will obviously need more salt and pepper

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar, garlic, rosemary and lemon juice. Slowly add in the olive oil with the mixture while you whisk–to emulsify.

Place the chicken in a container or Pyrex (don’t use metal). I sprinkled about 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt over the chicken tops. Pour the marinade over the chicken and mix around so chicken gets a good covering on all sides. I left it out for 1/2 hour and let it marinate, you can refrigerate it.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Transfer the chicken to a sprayed ( cooking spray ) baking dish and empty any remaining sauce on top of it.

Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. It got a nice crust without drying out the chicken after one hour. If you’d like for maybe 2 minutes you can put under the broiler but watch it carefully so it doesn’t char too much, I do this sometimes if it doesn’t have a nice crust from baking it. Depending on your oven and the size of your chicken 1 hour should do it. If you’re working with breasts you’ll have to cut into chicken after 50 minutes to check for doneness depending on the size of your breasts. Haven’t tried it on the grill yet but I can’t imagine this would be anything but delicious, just don’t burn it up!!!!!

Once cooked I spooned a little cooked marinade over the chicken and rice! and served with burnt brussels this time out or any vegetable will do.

Yummy!

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Tagged balsamic and mustard chicken, Chicken, Dark Meat Chicken, dinner, food, recipe, recipes, winner winner chicken dinner

Halved Chicken in a pan — also known as spatchcocking the chicken

Posted on January 4, 2026 | Leave a comment

Once you try this method for either butterflied ( spatchcocked) or halved chicken you’ll probably never turn back unless you forget to as butcher to cut the chicken and remove backbone. I have posted the standard way under Good Old Roast Chicken. You’ll need to remove the backbone of the chicken , and I am not that great with butchering so left it to the butcher in Whole Foods or whoever you go to. Just ask the butcher to remove backbone ( I discarded it or save it for making stock) and cut chicken in 1/2 or you can leave it as one piece if you’d like, I find it easier to maneuver as 2 halves. True spatchcocking a chicken is a method of cooking whole chicken or turkey where you remove the entire spine so that you can butterfly the chicken and cook it faster. Simply put you will cook the chicken in about 1/2 the time as conventional methods with the maximum crispiness to the skin, and very moist chicken is achieved. I used my more shallow Le Creuset pan and chicken fit snugly in which is what you want. You don’t want it in too big a pan, just make sure your pan is flame proof , a 12 inch cast iron skillet is also perfect. This is really easy so don’t be intimidated by the title, I changed it a bit by cutting the chicken in 1/2 but used the times it posted and it was sheer perfection. Crispy and moist! Served with fresh cranberry sauce and roasted potatoes. You’ll have to turn your exhaust fans on for this one . By the way did I mention prep to table in an hour???

So why not try it? Look like a pro.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken cut in 1/2 and remove backbone ( app. 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lbs) or spatchcock which is butterflied –I do it both ways

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (app. 3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound)

sweet paprika

olive oil–1 to 2 Tbsp. of Olive Oil for the pan

*feel free to play around with seasonings of your choosing. Thyme , garlic and lemon are always perfect

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. I dried the chicken pieces with paper towels on both sides. The drying is very important for maximum crispiness. I put about 2 teaspoons of olive oil in Le Creuset pan. Lay the chicken breast side down on a seperate plate and with a brush pour a little bit of olive oil over the chicken and salt and pepper and paprika , then turn over to breast side and add a little oil and salt, pepper and paprika. I used clean hands and rubbed the chicken to make sure the spices and oil got all over . Be liberal with the salt, they say 3/4 teaspoon per pound and that is just a guideline, but it’s about right. I then put pan on the stovetop and heated up the olive oil in pan , you’ll want oil very hot so that chicken will sizzle when you put it in breast side up. You will now place pan in the oven with the chicken. The 2 halves of chicken fit snugly in the the pan.

I cooked at 475 degrees for the first 20 minutes, chicken should start to crisp up, I then flipped it over to the other side for another 10 minutes. Then put it back in the oven for about 15 minutes breast side up till it was finished cooking. My total oven time was 45 minutes! Use tongs to handle chicken because you don’t want to pierce skin, you’ll lose too much liquid that way. I removed from oven , checked meat thermometer for the right temperature ( 165) in thigh, and removed from oven and let it sit for another 10 minutes. This was restaurant worthy chicken for certain. See photos, though they don’t do the crispiness justice. My oven was hot enough at 475 degrees, when you flip chicken over check the crispiness and make sure it’s not burning, so you may need to lower to about 450 or raise to 500 to get it to brown perfectly. My chicken didn’t stick at all due to drying out the chicken and preheating the pan. Total cooking time should be anywhere from 45 – 60 minutes.

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Tagged Chicken the Spactchcock Way, Roasting Chicken with Maximum Crispiness, Spatchcocking the Chicken

Pizza Chicken — a little lighter version

Posted on December 18, 2025 | Leave a comment

This is a fresh take on a heavier more classic Chicken Parmigiana. I mean don’t get me wrong sometimes there’s nothing better than the classic version but other times you just want to lighten it up. I had thin chicken breasts, tomatoes and I had bought a ball of fresh mozzarella. Didn’t want to fry up the cutlets and was sort of craving a parmigiana type of meal. This is what I did last night.

Improvise and use what you have in the house — any balsamic will work and more or less tomatoes will work , and if you don’t have fresh mozzarella use shredded or whatever you have in the house. This recipe is sort of loose and will work with different variations of ingredients. My kind of recipe. It’s a quick prep and a quick cook because of the thin chicken breasts.

Ingredients:

1 Package thin-sliced skinless, boneless chicken breasts app. 1 – 1 1/2 lbs.

1 8 oz. of grape tomatoes — you can half but I left mine whole and you can also add more tomatoes if you’d like– feel free to improvise here

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp. white balsamic or white wine vinegar or any balsamic vinegar will do

2 minced garlic cloves

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. kosher salt –divided — you may need a little more to season the chicken I just estimated

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

app. 10 oz. fresh mozzarella thinly sliced into rounds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large size rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl toss tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, 1 Tbsp. oregano, and 1 Tsp. Kosher Salt then pour them onto rimmed baking sheet.

Season the chicken on all sides with 1 tsp. or more of the kosher salt and 1 tsp. oregano. Place the chicken into the tomato mixture.

Roast until chicken is almost fully cooked through and tomatoes are starting to burst, 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and arrange mozzarella rounds over the chicken.

Return to oven and roast until cheese is melted and chicken is fully cooked through 2-5 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.

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Tagged chicken with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, pizza chicken

Italian Wedding Soup made with Chicken Meatballs

Posted on December 4, 2025 | 1 comment

It is most definitely soup season again. the chill in the air makes it the most perfect time of year to start making soup for dinner again. even if you live in a warmer climate this is a most wonderful meal. Paired with a salad and some crusty bread you have a very heartwarming meal.

Italian Wedding Soup with Chicken Balls

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes. It is a soup , which is also a full meal. It is hearty and pretty healthy. It is one of my staples from September through April. It freezes well and you can just take it out of the freezer the night before, and you’ll have a wonderful meal the next evening. When you defrost it you will probably want to add broth/water to it. add a little at a time till you get the consisitency you like. Enjoy:)

Ingredients: chicken meatballs

1 lb. ground chicken–I prefer chicken to turkey but you can use turkey as well!

1/2 lb chicken sausage, casings removed–if you can’t find chicken sausage use pork sausage it’s delicious!

3 slices whole wheat bread for bread crumbs ( I put into food proccesor with steel blade for crumbs) I remove crusts it should be app. 1 cup of bread crumbs or if you’re feeling lazy try Panko

2 teaspoons minced garlic ( 2 – 3 cloves)

1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano ( fresh is best) but whatever you have will do

1/4 cup grated Parmesan ( again nothing beats fresh) but whatever you have will do here as well

3 tablespoons milk

1 extra large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Soup Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small -medium yellow onion minced

1 cup diced carrots ( 3 )

1 cup diced celery (2 stalks)

10 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup dry white wine( use whatever you have open)

1 cup small pasta tubetini, ditalini, stars, elbows etc.

5 ounces fresh spinach, washed and trimmed

*fresh dill ( I love the flavor) add at your own discretion about 1/4 cup minced fresh dill.

Directions:

preheat the oven to 350 degrees put parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

for the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage,bread crumbs, garlic, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, salt and pepper all in a bowl and mix well with a fork. I use a teaspoon, and make 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls and drop onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet. you should have about 30 to 40 small balls. bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. set them aside. (I made about 30 balls, they were a little larger this time out)

For the Soup:

heat the olive oil over medium – low heat in a large heavy bottomed soup pot ( Le Creuset type pot) Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, about 10 minutes, don’t brown. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil, at this point I let soup cook a while to soften the vegetables, app. 1 hour. ( a low simmer) if you’re in a hurry you can probably do the whole soup in 1/2 hour , veggies will be soft enough to eat. if some of the liquid evaporates you can always add a little more broth.

chicken balls out of the ovenItalian Wedding Soup cooking

Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook another 6 – 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Sometimes I just cook the pasta up in a separate little pot and pour the soup over the pasta when I plate it up, this helps with the freezing just the soup and meatballs and the pasta stays al dente. Add the meatballs and simmer for another minute or so. taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for another minute or so, the spinach will just wilt. Ladle into soup bowls and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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Posted in chicken, pasta, soup

Tagged Chicken, chickenmeatballs, dinner, food, healthy and hearty soup, italian wedding soup, italianweddingsoup, recipe, recipes, soup, soupsfordinner

Easy Chicken Soup with Orzo and Lemon

Posted on November 30, 2025 | 1 comment

I literally started this soup at 5 p.m. and app. one hour later I was eating it. Now that’s always a good thing in my book. Usually I slow cook my broth etc. and it takes hours ( Homemade Chicken Soup ) but this time there was no time, I wasn’t feeling great and wanted that homemade flavor without all the work . You can certainly cook your own chicken if it works out for you time wise. This would also be perfect with leftover chicken. I bought a rotisserie chicken and this is what I did. For those of you who saw it on Instagram and Facebook–this one’s for you. One more little thing, the fresh dill is the secret ingredient and gives it that wonderful layer of flavor, don’t skip it. I also squeezed fresh lemon into each bowl of soup , this added yet another wonderful layer of flavor to this soup. This is also a fairly low-calorie soup because whole soup is made with only 1/2 cup of orzo and it was plenty. I used these vegetables this time but feel free to add parsnips, mushrooms, kale or any other veggies you like.

Ingredients:

1 Rotisserie Chicken, skin removed and shredded .

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 leek, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise, then sliced crosswise about 1/2″ thick

2 stalks celery, sliced into 1/2″ thick slices (app.)

2 large carrots cut into 1/2″ rounds. I found beautiful organic baby carrots and used them, it’s about 2 large carrots but feel free to use a little more or less.

1/2 cup of orzo

6 – 8 cups chicken broth, if you have homemade broth/stock good for you and use it. If not the box ones are awesome. Low-Sodium is good here if you’re concerned about the salt.

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

app. 1/4 cup of chopped fresh dill

*Lemon halves for serving

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the leek, celery and carrots. Cook veggies, stirring often, until vegetables are soft, 10-15 minutes. I threw a little salt and pepper in to vegetables during this period, you can taste for salt and pepper again.

Add 6 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Then lower to a simmer for about 20 minutes, just till carrots are soft.

After about 20 minutes, I added 1/2 cup of orzo and cooked for 8- 10 minutes. Taste for Salt and Pepper. I added another 2 cups of broth after the orzo cooked. If you need more broth prior to this you can easily add before the orzo as well.

I then added the shredded chicken and dill and I also added a bit more of the chicken stock at this point since broth cooked down a bit. You can always add a little water if you’ve run out of broth. I heated soup a bit more and served with lemon halves, squeezing a bit of lemon into each bowl of chicken soup before serving.

this was last night’s soup and I obviously didn’t have fresh Dill in the house which I missed but wanted to make this soup and had all other ingredients — sometimes this happens and it was totally delicious and no one missed the Dill but me.

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Tagged Chicken Soup with Lemon and Orzo, Chicken Soup with Orzo, Homemade Chicken Soup made easy

Chicken Cacciatore

Posted on November 1, 2025 | 1 comment

My daughter Jennifer turned me on to this delicious and I do mean delicious recipe. Original recipe from Giada de Laurentis . I took a few liberties with it and it turned out just perfectly. I usually use 4 thighs and 2 breasts with skin on and bone in, if you’re not comfortable with the skin I would take out skin but leave the bone in. I am certain that there is enough sauce for at least 1 more thigh and 1 more breast , there was more than enough sauce. I served over brown rice and it was just perfect or wide noodles would be delicious. I used my Le Creuset pot and it was a one pot meal. Thanks to Jenn for pointing it out to me, this one is a keeper.

Ingredients:

4 – 6 chicken thighs with skin on and bone in– I actually used 8 smallish thighs last night and no breasts this is your call

2 -3 chicken breasts skin on and bone in — if breasts are large cut in 1/2 or have butcher do it

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 box ( 8 oz.) of Mushrooms, I used sliced Cremini ( Baby Bella)

3 tablespoons of Olive Oil

all-purpose flour for dredging

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3/4 cup white wine

1 28 oz. can of diced Tomatoes with juice

3/4 cup chicken broth

1 1/2 teaspoons of dry oregano

*1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper — totally optional but added a nice little kick

*3 Tablespoons drained capers — added a wonderful layer of briny flavor also your call if you don’t like capers

*fresh basil for serving

Directions:

First thing I do is dry all the chicken pieces on paper towels, this will help hold the salt and pepper and make a crackly crust. Sprinkle dried chicken pieces with Salt and Pepper generously. Dredge the chicken pieces in flour to coat lightly. In a large heavy pot ( I used my Le Creuset) heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the chicken pieces to the pot and saute till just golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. If all the chicken doesn’t fit , do it in 2 batches, I did thighs and then I did breasts. Transfer the chicken to a plate with tongs and set aside. I have found that it is best if I empty oil out after the chicken and wipe out the pot. I add another 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and then add the bell pepper, onion and garlic to the same pan and saute over medium heat until the onion is translucent and pepper is soft, about 8 minutes. Then add in mushrooms season with salt and pepper and cook for another five minutes. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, broth, and oregano and taste for salt and pepper. Then return the chicken to the pot and turn chicken pieces to coat in the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Continue to simmer over low-medium heat until the chicken is just cooked through, at least 30 minutes, I cooked for 40, and chicken was perfect.

Using tongs, transfer the chicken to plates. If you’d like you can boil the sauce without the chicken till it thickens, my sauce was perfectly thick. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.

The last time I made this I prepared in the morning and took it out at about 4 p.m. in the afternoon — brought it to a low simmer on the stove top for an hour or so and it was totally delicious and heated through. A low simmer should be perfect and the lid of pot was open a bit for steam to get out and I stirred it every once in a while. Making the night before is also perfect! The longer the flavors marinate the better.

I served over rice but you can serve over pasta as well. Fettucine would be most perfect here.

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Tagged Chicken Cacciatore, Chicken in Le Creuset Pot

Italian Wedding Soup made with Chicken Meatballs

Posted on October 30, 2025 | 1 comment

It is most definitely soup season again. the chill in the air makes it the most perfect time of year to start making soup for dinner again. even if you live in a warmer climate this is a most wonderful meal. Paired with a salad and some crusty bread you have a very heartwarming meal.

Italian Wedding Soup with Chicken Balls

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes. It is a soup , which is also a full meal. It is hearty and pretty healthy. It is one of my staples from September through April. It freezes well and you can just take it out of the freezer the night before, and you’ll have a wonderful meal the next evening. When you defrost it you will probably want to add broth/water to it. add a little at a time till you get the consisitency you like. Enjoy:) and these meatballs are delicious on their own with pasta/sauce or just on their own.

Ingredients: chicken meatballs

1 lb. ground chicken–I prefer chicken to turkey but you can use turkey as well!

1/2 lb chicken sausage, casings removed–if you can’t find chicken sausage use pork sausage it’s delicious!

3 slices whole wheat bread for bread crumbs ( I put into food proccesor with steel blade for crumbs) I remove crusts it should be app. 1 cup of bread crumbs or if you’re feeling lazy try Panko or regular plain bread crumbs

2 teaspoons minced garlic ( 2 – 3 cloves)

1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano ( fresh is best) but whatever you have will do