Succulently tender and juicy chicken thighs with perfectly crispy skin, easily made with a sweet and tart pomegranate sauce that’s finger lickin’ good!
I’m so excited to be sharing one of my all time favorite Holiday-festive chicken dishes! I received so many eager requests for the recipe after posting this pic below on Instagram, that it’s one of the dishes that originally planted the I-need-a-blog-seed.
Why this Recipe Works
- The sweetness of the honey balances the tartness of the pomegranate juice.
- The vinegar and honey give the dish a built in sweet and sour sauce the pairs perfectly.
- Marinating the chicken assures it will be tender, juicy, and full of flavor.
- Using chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts results in juicier, more flavorful chicken.
- Cooking the chicken in the marinade with the skin exposed keep it crispy while tenderizing the meat underneath.
- The dish is all cooked in 1 single pan, making for minimal clean up.
Let me share my little Holiday cooking secret with ya: wanna Holiday up any dish and have it look festive? Just add pomegranate seeds!
Works on both sweet and savory dishes. Wanna Holiday up your cheese board? Sprinkle some pomegranate seeds over it. Wanna Holiday up your cheesecake? Add some decorative pomegranate seeds. How about a salad? Yep yep…pomegranate seeds will do the trick. A little red juicy crunch added to your dish and it’s Holiday-ed up!
Note: pomegranate seeds are actually called arils.
How to make this Pomegranate Honey Skillet Chicken
- Plan in advance to season your chicken and let it sit in the marinade at least 30 min (and up to overnight) before roasting in the oven.
- Easily whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.
- Meditate while you de-seed the pomegranate.
- Crank the oven to 450 F for the last 12 min of cooking time so the sauce reduces and the skin gets extra crispy.
Cook’s Tips:
- If pomegranates are out of season, simply skip sprinkling with pomegranate arils post oven.
- Use a thermometer to ensure that your chicken comes out perfectly moist with crispy skin each and every time.
- If ya own a cast iron skillet, this would be a great time to use it.
Minimal ingredients andeffort make this dish perfect for entertaining or easy, weeknight meals!
Have ya tried this recipe? I’d love to hear about it and see it too! Please leave a comment below and take a pic and tag it on Instagram with #wavesinthekitchen. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more colorfully delicious food and all sorts of awesome adventures!
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Pomegranate Skillet Chicken
- Prep Time: 12
- Cook Time: 60 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
- Yield: 8
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (or breasts if you prefer)
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- ½ cup pomegranate molasses
- 1/3 cup pomegranate juice
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tbsp balsamic
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 4 garlic cloves finely grated
- handful of pomegranate seeds
- handful of parsley
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400.
- Pat chicken dry with a paper towel, season with salt and let sit while you make the marinade (up to 30 min is ideal).
- Whisk together olive oil, pomegranate molasses, pomegranate juice, honey, balsamic, lemon and garlic. Pour marinade over chicken, either in a bowl, glass Tupperware, or resealable plastic bag. Spread the marinade around so all the chicken is evenly coated and let sit at least 30min and up to over night in the fridge.
- To cook, place chicken skin side up in a roasting dish, then pour the marinade over the meat. The marinade should generously cover the bottom of the pan.
- Cook for about 25 minutes if using breasts and about 45 min if using thighs, until the chicken is tender at the bone and a meat or instant read thermometer reaches 165 when inserted. If using both light and dark meat, remove the breasts while the thighs keep cooking then return the breasts to the pan in the oven once the thighs are done.
- Crank the oven to 450 and let the sauce reduce and the skin get dark brown and crispy, about 12 min longer. Brush the chicken with the marinade from the pan every 3-4 minutes to glaze them.
- Serve warm and garnish with pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley.
- Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.
Can’t wait to make this delicious chicken 👍👍👍😘
Thank ya so much! I’d happily make it for you too :). 💜😘
Hi,
There’s no garlic in the ingredients, but in step 3, garlic is mentioned. Can you please update the recipe?
Thanks
Hi! The garlic is there under the lemon and above the pomegranate seeds :). 😘
Oops just re-read the recipe. Ignore my previous comment
Thanks
Oops! Just replied and will ignore now :). But most importantly… I’m super duper stoked you’re making this!!! How’d it come out? 💜
Hi Daniela,
This recipe was the bomb! I’m going to repeat the marinade and try cooking the chicken on the stovetop.
I used a mix of dark and white meat, but I didn’t have a cast iron skillet (just used a normal baking pan),
so the breast turned out a bit too dry, but the thighs were so juicy and flavorful!
Thanks for an awesome recipe!
★★★★★
Absolute pleasure and so super stoked to hear that! The white meat will cook faster than the dark so perhaps try taking the white meat out of the pan before the dark next time. Would love to hear how it goes on the stovetop and thanks so much for the feedback :)!!!