Chicken Thighs In Apple Rosemary Cream Sauce

I’ve always felt pork goes great with apples, so why not chicken. This time I decided to make some chicken thighs in apple rosemary cream sauce for an “almost spring” lunch. Of course, the sauce has many more ingredients than those two things, but I can’t list everything in the name or it will be too long.

First, you have to get some chicken thighs. I like bone in – skin on because I think they cook better and have better flavor. But it is totally up to you. In fact, you can even use this recipe with legs or breasts and it will still be good. I’m just particularly a fan of the thighs.

Unlike my Baked Chicken Cream Sauce, this recipe is done entirely in one pan. After preparing everything you won’t really need to dirty many dishes as you cook since everything is cooked and finished in the saucepan. So to start with just take your chicken thighs, pat them dry with paper towels, and liberally salt and pepper them.

I put the chicken onto a pan with a good amount of olive oil and medium-high heat. I think doing skin side down first is the smart method, but some people say it does not matter. I just think crisping up the skin first is a good way to make chicken thighs.

After 4-5 minutes you can flip the chicken thighs to the other side. Cook on this side for another 5 minutes, then remove the thighs to a separate plate.

Keep the heat on the same level and toss in the chopped shallot and sliced onion along with dried chili flakes. We want to saute these until translucent, and then I add the apple, rosemary, and smashed garlic.

Apples release a lot of water and sweetness not unlike the onion, so we want to lower the heat after a minute to slowly cook the apples. Once everything seems to be coming together I add some mushroom powder and then a cup of heavy cream.

Once the sauce starts to thicken up I toss in some fresh basil and give everything a good stir. Then I reintroduce the chicken thighs to the apple rosemary cream sauce and spoon the sauce over the meat. Here I grate some fresh Parmigiano Reggiano over the dish for an even richer flavor.

Chicken Thighs in Apple Rosemary Cream Sauce

This recipe for chicken thighs in apple rosemary cream sauce is a perfect weeknight meal. Delicious cream sauce is flavored with tons of great ingredients

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Main Dish

Cuisine American, European

Servings 2 people

Calories

Equipment

• Pan

Ingredients

  

• 4 Chicken Thighs
• 1 Yellow Onion small-medium; halved and thinly sliced
• 2 Shallots small; chopped
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 2 tsp Black Pepper freshly cracked
• 2 sprigs Rosemary
• 6 cloves Garlic smashed
• 1 Apple Honeycrisp or Fuji are good choices; cored and thinly sliced
• 2 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1 bunch Basil fresh
• Chili Flakes to taste
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Mushroom Powder
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano freshly grated

Instructions

 

• Dry your chicken thighs with a few paper towels on each side. Then liberally salt and pepper them. In a skillet on med-high heat add some olive oil and let get hot.
• Put the chicken thighs skin side down right into the pan. Don't touch them for 4-5 minutes. This will give them a crispy skin. Flip once and cook for another 4-5 minutes on the other side.
• Remove the chicken thighs and put on a plate to rest. Put the chopped shallot and sliced onion into the pan along with some red chili flakes if you like. You can add more oil if needed, but there should be enough oil plus rendered chicken fat in the pan to cook everything else.
• When the onions begin to darken and go translucent toss in the apple and smashed garlic and give everything a good mix. Squirt in the lemon juice. Strip the rosemary from the stem and drop that in too. Let everything get to a nice saute then add the mushroom powder. Stir
• When everything is melding together add the cup of heavy cream and lower the heat to minimum. Stir everything up, add the basil leaves and let simmer. Taste for seasonings and adjust.
• Once the sauce begins to thicken (about 2-3 minutes) add the chicken thighs back in and scoop the sauce over everything. Turn off the heat and let the chicken sit in the sauce for 5 minutes.
• Grate over some parmigiano reggiano and serve.

Notes

It could also be a good idea to serve this dish over some pasta, as the cream sauce is really quite good and there’s more than enough for the chicken plus noodles.

Keyword Chicken Thighs, chicken thighs in apple rosemary cream sauce, Cream Sauce

Chicken Thighs In Apple Rosemary Cream Sauce