In my opinion, you can’t have enough chicken dinner recipes. Chicken is easy to cook, they’re one of the least expensive proteins available at the grocery store, and you can use chicken with so many different flavor profiles. The only problem with chicken is that it easily dries out, which is especially true with lean chicken breasts. We came up with a super-secret technique when we were developing our One-Pot Rosemary Chicken Dinner, and we can’t wait to share it with you! It’s such a simple thing, but it keeps your chicken tender and juicy as it cooks.
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There are so many other things to love about this recipe, too. It’s all made in one skillet, so clean-up is an absolute breeze. You don’t have to worry about a bunch of pots and pans dirtying up your kitchen, weighing down your mind as you cook! It also has a minimal ingredients list, so you won’t have to break the bank at the grocery store or spend hours chopping ingredients. And, it’s a complete meal, containing protein, starches, and vegetables – all in one dish. Perfect!
Our Secret to Making Juicy Chicken
Okay, we’re going to let you in on our secret for making this One-Pot Rosemary Chicken Dinner taste juicy and tender. Are you ready for it? Buy bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. You won’t have to eat the skin – we have you remove it before serving – but the combination of skin and bone really helps keep things juicy. Let’s explain why.
First of all, but bone acts like a heating rod inside the chicken. As the chicken cooks in the oven, that bone slowly warms up, It cooks the chicken from the inside and the outside, as opposed to boneless breasts which just cook from the ambient heat of the oven. That keeps the meat juicier because it controls the rate at which the chicken cooks. Kind of cool, right?
Then, there’s the skin. Underneath the skin is a thin layer of fat, which bastes the chicken breast as it cooks. It doesn’t add too much excess fat to the chicken itself – as we said, you’re going to remove that skin before you eat it anyway – but it does infuse a ton of extra flavor into the chicken. The skin also works as a protective layer, preventing the tops of the chicken from drying out as they cook.
The Beauty of the One-Pot Meal
In addition to our super-secret chicken cooking technique (which, you now know all about), this meal was designed it keep things quick and easy for you. It takes less than 30 minutes to make this meal (including all the prep time) and it does so in one single skillet. Since you won’t have to clean up multiple pots and pans, you can spend that extra time catching up with your family instead of slaving away over the dishes in the kitchen.
And, since the chicken is roasted over a bed of potatoes and vegetables, it’s a complete meal. You’ll get starches from the sweet potatoes, vitamins and minerals from the broccoli, and protein from the chicken. Sounds just about perfect to me!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large sweet potato, diced
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, smashed
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 (skin-on, bone-in) chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each, skin is removed before serving)
- 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- In a large cast-iron skillet (or other oven-safe skillet), heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes and cook until they’re browned, about 8 minutes.
- Add the rosemary and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add the apple cider vinegar, chicken breasts, broccoli, salt, and pepper and turn to coat.
- Position the chicken breasts so they’re skin-side up and transfer the pan to the oven.
- Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Discard the skin before serving.
We have a ton of one-pan meals, along with slow cooker and Instant Pot recipes, to make it easier to get dinner on the table. Browse our collection on Facebook or Pinterest.
