Glögg Chicken – Easy One Pan Meal

The name for this delicious dish stems from the cardamom that gives it a wonderful aroma and fabulous taste.

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This one is always a hit in our house. It is easy and delicious, which qualifies it for the regular meal rotation. The name came from the first time I made it. My son commented that it smelled like the Glögg my husband makes every Christmas (a nod to his Swedish roots). He was right, the unmistakable aroma of cardamom fills the house as the chicken simmers away. Mmmmm. But the real key “secret” ingredients here are the wine, and beef (yes, beef) “Better Than Boullion,” which give the broth and chicken a rich, savory flavor.* Hand to God, I’d eat the sauce on its own as a soup…ok, I have. Don’t judge.

Anyway…

Start with some bone in, skin on chicken. I prefer to use thighs with this one, but any sort, or a mix will work. What will not work is anything boneless/skinless. I know, I know, I’m all about healthy cooking and the skin isn’t super healthy. But you just won’t get the richness and flavor in the sauce without it. We don’t eat the skin, but allowing it to cook in the pan is crucial to the flavor.

You’ll see in the pictures below that I threw in a couple of bone-in breasts on this batch too. It was a busy week and I needed the cooked breast meat to make the kids some ranch chicken salad for their lunches the next day. Two delicious birds, one stone. I’ll post the (incredibly, stupidly easy) recipe for the ranch chicken salad soon and update with a link.

Generously season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large pan with a tight fitting lid (that comes in later), add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Add chicken, skin side down cook until skin is golden, about 5ish minutes. Flip over and brown the other side as well. As you can see, it’s a crowded pan when I’m cooking for the whole fam. Just snuggle them in where they fit.

Remove chicken from the pan. I use a sheet pan covered in foil to set the chicken on, then use it later to cook a side dish. More on that to come. Pro-tip, when you start removing the chicken from the pan, the oil tends to start popping and splattering more. Once I take a few pieces out, I have the onions* there and ready to dump in the empty space. For whatever reason, this keeps the oil splatter down.

Not so pro-tip, don’t cut your dinner prep so close that you finish a run and realize that if you don’t get dinner on before you shower, the family will be eating at bedtime. And whatever you do, don’t proceed to brown the chicken without at least throwing an apron over your bare skin. Your sensitive stomach skin will thank you. Sometimes I’m not so smart. Fortunately I keep burn cream on hand.

Once all the chicken is out of the pan, cook up the onions until they are lightly browned and soft. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up all the delicious browned bits and cooking for about 2 minutes. Add in the spices* and Better Than Boullion, stir to incorporate.

Add in tomatoes and cook another 2 minutes.

Nestle chicken back into the pan, skin side up along with any drippings, gently spooning some of the sauce over each piece. Set the pan aside to use to make your side dish.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 hour, or until chicken reaches an internal temp of 160 degrees. Turning the chicken and spooning more sauce on top about halfway through.

Serve over rice or orzo, or my favorite way, in a dinner plate sized bowl all on its own. All the better to spoon up the amazing sauce.

Notes

*I know it seems odd to use beef bouillon in a chicken dish, but I was out of the chicken flavor when I first made this so I used the beef and it created such a wonderful taste there was no going back. This is what I use.

*I absolutely hate dicing onions, so I buy the pre-cut ones from the grocery store. The most economical choice? Maybe not. The more enjoyable choice? Absolutely.

*In prepping to cook, I always put the spices that are added to the dish at the same time in easy to grab ramekins, that way they are ready to dump in when I need them and I’m not racing around trying to figure out where the heck I put the cardamom (or if I even have any).