Rosemary & Beer Braised Chicken Thighs
Braised Chicken Thighs are the perfect weekly staple. Not only do they braise beautifully but they are full of flavor and budget friendly!
I am constantly reinventing this dish with different veggies and varying braising liquids such as wine, beer, chicken & beef stock and also tomato sauce. I love how easy this dish is ~ throw it all into a large baking dish, cover with foil, set your timer for an hour & 15 minutes at 350 and walk away!
What you are left with is juicy, fall off the bone chicken ~ sure to please (& impress) your family!
Chicken thighs come packaged in various ways ~ bone-in, deboned, skin on or skinless. However, any variety of chicken thighs will do when it comes to braising. For this version, I used bone-in with the skin. I created a fragrant rub with fresh rosemary and used beer & beef stock as my braising liquid.
There’s nothing that excites me more than walking down my front steps, a bowl & shears in hand, to pick fresh rosemary. Rosemary is a hearty herb that thrives all year round! I don’t know what it is about rosemary that makes me so nostalgic. I find myself taking a sprig and rubbing its lovely oils on my wrist just as my mother would do when we were children. I deeply inhale its comforting smell and imagine myself on an Italian country side…my hair wrapped in a silk scarf as I walk in tune with a lite breeze that’s gently laced with the smell of fresh herbs ~ or something ridiculously peaceful like that!
Ok, now back to the recipe! You will need some baby spinach & cherry tomatoes (cut into half’s). Grab one onion and slice into half moons. Take a large baking dish and make a bed of onion, spinach & tomato. Lightly dress your bed of veggies with extra virgin olive oil, pepper & Italian seasoning. Set aside.
Time to sear!Heat a saute pan with canola or any low heating temp oil (do not use olive oil as it has a high heating temp and will burn your chicken). Brown both sides of your chicken (about a minute each side) and place on top of your bed of veggies.
Now for the good stuff! I used one bottle of lager, however any dark beer will work, and about a cup of beef stock (low sodium as we used plenty of sea salt in the rub). I then add a couple splashes of apple cider vinegar.
Oven at 350, cover with foil and set your timer for 1 hour & 15 minutes.
I then recommend you crack open another beer, pat yourself on the back and wait 🙂
After your timer signals your return, remove the foil and change the oven settings to broil (at 500). The purpose of this quick broil is to crisp up the chicken skin. Keep a close eye as this happens fairly quickly depending on your oven.
Carefully remove your dish from the oven and let stand a few minutes.
This dish will pair lovely with almost any side or on its own as shown below. I hope you enjoy!
Feel free to share photos of your finished product or post to social media! #beerbraisedchicken @3italiansisters
Boun Appetito,
Christina
- Large Package Chicken Thighs
- 1 Cup Beef Broth
- 1 Bottle Lager
- 2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Bag Baby Spinach
- 1 Cup sliced Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 Large Yellow Onion
- Italian Seasoning / Black Pepper
- Rub:
- 1 Tablespoon Coarse Sea Salt
- 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Ground Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Poultry Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 3 Sprigs Rosemary (leave two sprigs whole)
- Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
- About 1/3 cup flour
- First, prep your veggies. Wash your cherry tomatoes & baby spinach if needed. Take a large baking dish (metal or glass will do) and make a bed for your vegetables.
- Slice your cherry tomatoes in half and slice your onion into half moons. Place them atop your bed of spinach and lightly drizzle extra virgin olive oil and finish with black pepper & Italian Seasoning. Take two rosemary sprigs and place in baking dish. Set aside.
- Set your oven for 350 Degree.
- Prep your chicken by trimming excess skin and fat from thighs (wish it was that easy for us, huh!?). Lay your chicken thighs out on parchment paper to be ready for rub.
- The rub: take a small bowl and mix together the spices listed above. Then take one rosemary sprig and remove its leaves from the stem by taking two fingers and running them down the stem (from top to bottom). Roughly chop rosemary and add to your rub.
- “Rub” the mixture into the chicken thighs.
- Sprinkle or dredge your chicken pieces in flour. Heat a saute pan with canola oil. Once you pan and oil are fairly hot, sear your chicken thighs for about a minute each side until they are a light golden color.
- Place the seared chicken directly over your bed of veggies.
- Pour 1 bottle of beer, 1 cup of beef stock & a couple splashes of apple cider vinegar over the chicken thighs.
- Cover with tin foil and place in your preheated oven. Set your timer for 1 hour & 15 minutes.
- <span data-mce-bogus=”1″ class=”mceItemHidden”>When the timer goes off, remove the tin foil from the pan and reset your oven for Broil @ 450-500 Degrees. Broil your chicken just until the chicken skin crisps up. If you are using <span class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”using ” data-mce-bogus=”1″>skinless</span> chicken, skip this step.</span>
- <span data-mce-bogus=”1″ class=”mceItemHidden”>Carefully remove from oven and let stand for <span class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”for ” data-mce-bogus=”1″>5-</span> 10 minutes.</span>
- <span data-mce-bogus=”1″ class=”mceItemHidden”>Chicken should be juicy & tender. This dish would go great with Polenta (Creamy Polenta recipe coming soon) or rice but is also lovely on <span class=”hiddenGrammarError” pre=”on ” data-mce-bogus=”1″>its own</span>! Boun <span class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”Boun ” data-mce-bogus=”1″>Appetito</span>! ~ Christina</span>
