A simple and tasty chicken dish, with all flavours of Christmas. Crispy chicken thighs smothered in a cranberry "gravy" with bursts of fresh cranberries and thyme. Cranberry Chicken is a meal that will impress over the festive season, with very little effort.
Minimal ingredients go into making this cranberry chicken recipe, but it produces maximum flavour. Ready in just 30 minutes, this chicken and cranberry recipe is perfect for when you want something impressive on the table, but you don't want to make anything too complicated.
Chicken with cranberry is the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavours, and it will liven up a boring chicken dinner. Nothing quite screams Christmas like cranberries, and this is a great way to use up leftovers if you have them.
Looking for other ways to feed a crowd this Christmas? Why not try our easy Christmas Chicken, impressive Grazing Platter, delicious Honey Roast Duck or our fun Christmas Tree Pizza?
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Ingredients and Substitutions
A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Chicken - We used skin on and bone in chicken thighs for this recipe for cranberry chicken, as we find that it has the most flavour. The chicken stays really juicy and the skin gets nice and crispy. You could swap for skinless though if you prefer and even use chicken breasts to keep this cranberry chicken leaner.
- Cranberry sauce - This is the base of the cranberry "gravy". Quality it key here, and you want to use the best quality cranberry sauce you can find. Don't worry about chunky vs smooth, as it is all going to get blended up anyway.
- Balsamic vinegar - This not only adds lots of flavour to the cranberry "gravy", but the sweetness of the balsamic really balances of the tartness of the cranberries. Again, quality is key here as you can really taste the difference between a cheap balsamic and a more expensive one. The cheap ones tend to be really runny too.
- Maple syrup - This also adds some sweetness to the chicken with cranberry sauce. Use pure maple syrup, rather than the fake kind.
- Stock - This is what makes the gravy part. We went with a good quality chicken stock, but you could always make your own chicken stock.
- Garlic - This adds lots of flavour, without adding lots of calories.
- Thyme - Fresh thyme is the way to go and not only does it add lots of flavour, but it makes the finished dish look beautiful.
- Fresh cranberries - You can never have too many cranberries, right? This is cranberry chicken after all. As well as the cranberry sauce, we added fresh cranberries not only for presentation, but for little bursts of flavour.
Variations
We love an opportunity to add some vegetables to a dish, and you have a couple of options with this recipe for cranberry chicken. Once you have crisped up the chicken and added it to the oven dish, you could fry up some shallots, mushrooms and spinach and put it under the chicken in the dish.
Only add quick cooking vegetables to this, rather than root vegetables, as they won't be cooked through otherwise.
This recipe also works really well in the slow cooker. We would still recommend crisping the chicken up in a frying pan first, but then you can add everything to the slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours. Slow cooker cranberry chicken is a great option when you are busy at Christmas.
How To Make Cranberry Chicken - Step By Step
Prep: Preheat your oven to 190°C/170°C(fan)/375°F/Gas 5.
- Step 1: Heat the oil in a large frying and add the chicken, skin side down and cook for 2 minutes. Turn the chicken thighs over and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Step 2: Put the cranberry sauce, balsamic, maple syrup, garlic, stock and salt and pepper into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Step 3: Pour half the sauce in to an ovenproof dish.
- Step 4: Add the chicken to the dish.
- Step 5: Top with the rest of the sauce, the fresh cranberries and thyme.
- Step 6: Put into the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
You have lots of options when it comes to how to serve Cranberry Chicken. We served it with our BEST Ever Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Slow Cooker Green Beans. However, here are some other options for delicious side dishes that go perfectly with this chicken:
- Garlic Spring Greens
- Roasted Tenderstem Broccoli
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Baked Carrot Fries
- Vegetable Mash
Extra Tips
- You can use a chunky cranberry sauce with whole cranberries, or smooth one. It doesn't really matter because it is all going to be blended anyway.
- Add some extra flavour with some grated orange zest added at the same time as the cranberry sauce.
- We used chicken stock for this dish, however you could use vegetable stock instead. If you are making this for younger kids, then use a reduced salt stock.
- You could swap the thyme for fresh rosemary instead.
- Test the cranberry sauce before you add it to the dish. If it is still a little too tart for you, you could add some more maple syrup and blend it up again.
- You could skip the first steps of frying the chicken and just do it all in the oven. You wouldn't get as crispy skin and cooking times would vary.
Frequently Asked Questions
This dish cooks in the oven for around 25 minutes, but the exact cooking time will depend on your oven. It will be cooked when the juices run clear, but that is a bit hard to tell with the cranberry sauce. The best way to ensure that it is cooked through is to use a meat thermometer. Chicken is cooked when it has an internal temperature of 75°C/167°F.
Yes, you can use any cranberry sauce you like, as this recipe really is quite forgiving.
No, if you can't find any fresh cranberries (if you are making this out of season), then you can leave them out. They are just thrown in to the dish before cooking to add a little extra burst of flavour.
You can keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 2 days.
Leftovers are amazing in a sandwich or salad. If you are making a sandwich with it, then take all the meat off the bone and then load it in between your favourite bread, with some slices of brie, a handful of rocket lettuce (arugula) and some more cranberry sauce. When if comes to salad, then a bed of spinach and watercress works well and then load it up with the chicken taken off the bone, some crumbled goats cheese and some fresh cranberries and a sprinkle of pine nuts.
More Cranberry Recipes
If you’ve tried this cranberry chicken recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
Recipe
Cranberry Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 (2 lb) Chicken thighs - (about 150g/5oz each)
- 180 g (0.66 cups) Cranberry sauce
- 150 g (1.5 cups) fresh cranberries
- 2 Garlic clove
- 10 g (0.25 cups) Fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
- 80 ml (0.33 cups) Balsamic vinegar
- 100 ml (0.5 cups) Chicken stock
- 2 tablespoon Maple syrup
- 1 pinch Sea salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190°C/170°C(fan)/375°F/Gas 5.
- Heat 2 tablespoon Olive oil in a large frying and add 6 Chicken thighs, skin side down and cook for 2 minutes. Turn the chicken thighs over and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Put 180 g Cranberry sauce, 80 ml Balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoon Maple syrup, 2 Garlic clove, 100 ml Chicken stock and 1 pinch Sea salt and ground black pepper into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour half the sauce into an ovenproof dish.
- Add the chicken to the dish.
- Top with the rest of the sauce, 150 g fresh cranberries and 10 g Fresh thyme.
- Put into the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Recipe Tips
- You can use a chunky cranberry sauce with whole cranberries, or smooth one. It doesn't really matter because it is all going to be blended anyway.
- Add some extra flavour with some grated orange zest added at the same time as the cranberry sauce.
- We used chicken stock for this dish, however you could use vegetable stock instead. If you are making this for younger kids, then use a reduced salt stock.
- You could swap the thyme for fresh rosemary instead.
- Test the cranberry sauce before you add it to the dish. If it is still a little too tart for you, you could add some more maple syrup and blend it up again.
- Use a meat thermometer to ensure that your chicken is cooked fully throughout.
- You could skip the first steps of frying the chicken and just do it all in the oven. You wouldn't get as crispy skin and cooking times would vary.
Nutritional Information
The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.
Emily Dennick says
Would this work in a slow cooker?
Dannii says
Yes, it would but you would need to reduce the amount of liquid used as it doesn't cook off in the slow cooker.
Tammy says
Absolutely divine
I used juicy infused dried cranberries instead of fresh… delishcious