Cranberry Glazed Chicken {Living Outside the Stacks}

I should not be allowed to grocery shop when I’m hungry. It never ends well. Or, at least, it almost never ends well. Case in point: I bought a bag of fresh cranberries with the intentions of making Orange Cranberry Bread. Only I forgot to buy the orange juice and the oranges. So the cranberries sat and sat and sat until they finally got to the “use them or lose them” stage in my fridge. I decided to use them. For chicken.

I mean, cranberries and turkey go together like… something, I don’t know, my creativity fizzled after last night’s dinner…

Anyway, I was pretty impressed with the final outcome so I’m sharing the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs chicken pieces {I used legs and thighs}
  • 2 cups whole cranberries {rinsed}
  • 1/2 white onion {thinly sliced}
  • 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
  • 1 tbs brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup Dr. Pepper {use this to thin the glaze if it gets too thick}
  • salt
  • pepper
  • butter
  • vegetable oil

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ยบ.
  2. Rinse and dry your chicken pieces. I pulled the skinned off. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
  3. Coat the bottom of your skillet with vegetable oil. Melt 2 tbs of butter on medium~high heat. Add onion slices and cook until carmelized. Once they’re finished, put them in the saucepan you intend to use for the glaze.
  4. Add the chicken to the pan that you used to carmelize the onions and brown on both sides. I covered my pan with a lid so that the heat would be retained. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to collect all the bits and pieces.
  5. While the chicken is cooking, add the cranberries, brown sugar, barbecue sauce, and 1/4 cup of Dr. Pepper to the saucepan with the carmelized onions. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until the cranberries have popped. If the sauce gets too thick, add more of the Dr. Pepper. Stir frequently.
  6. Transfer the chicken to a glass dish. Cover with the cranberry glaze, making sure each piece is completely covered.
  7. Bake for 45 minutes.

Serving suggestion: brussel sprouts and rice. Yum!

Let me know if you like it!

Daenel T