Weeknight Chicken Marbella Recipe (2024)

Basic cooking tip for chicken thighs learned from Jaques Pepin:Place thighs skin side down after seasoning in a cold non-stick skillet. Heat on high until sizzling then reduce heat as needed until desired level of brown is reached... skin will brown more quickly and no added oil is ever required.

Have made Silver Palate recipe for years. Don’t brown chicken, don’t marinate overnight. Substute honey for brown sugar and only use pitted Kalamat olives. Cook in oven, single layer, 350 for 35 minutes.

I made this one night with Balsamic vinegar and dates, since that's what I had on hand. Their sweetness obviated the need for any added sugar. Now it's the only way I make this dish.

Again, I get such a kick out of people commenting on recipes by offering their amendments: Yeah, we love the autumn rib roast with garlic but this time substituted cauliflower for the meat and pine nuts for the garlic. Fabulous. Thank you for the great recipe. Lol. Love it.

Someone ate my stash of prunes. Discovered it only as I started Chicken Marbella so, in a pinch, used dried Montmorency (tart) cherries. Different, but delicious -- got rave reviews from guests and family!

I've always preferred to make Marbella using boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I use a sweeter wine like Marsala for the marinade, and Balsamic instead of red wine vinegar. One of the best easy dinners, always appreciated by guests.

The Silver Palate recipe has been one of my “for a huge crowd” dishes for years, but I toss two thirds of the prunes/olives/capers in the food processor and give them a quick, rough chop. Add the rest whole for looks. Makes the sauce saucier and really blends the flavors. I never use the whole amount of sugar.

Lee...avoid rubbery skin by pan searing to brown and render the fat then turn skin side up with liquids added surrounding but not on top of the chicken. I tend to finish dishes like this in the oven, sometimes using some minutes of convection heat.

I've made this recipe for my family and friends from the Silver Palate Cookbook for years! I agree with browning the chicken before layering in the other ingredients. I've also substituted 1) a mix of pitted green and kalamata olives and 2) cut, dried apricots, dates, or mixed fruit. Whatever I may have had on hand. I do let all the ingredients simmer for a bit and rest before serving, which in these more health-attuned days, is plated with quinoa, couscous, or steamed garlicky greens!

The original recipe is so so easy. I just throw all the ingredients with the chicken, leave it overnight and then cook. Scales up for a crowd so so easily to feed 10, 20 or 40!! A staple in my kitchen!!

Have used Silver Palate version for years. Don’t marinate and use only pitted Kalamata olives and substitute honey for brown sugar. Don’t brown chicken and cook in oven, single layer at 350 for 35 - 45 minutes

Question you cooks. How do you prevent the chicken skin from getting all rubbery when it's covered (which means it kind of steams while it turns "deep golden brown")? This is a general issue for chicken dishes that brown the pieces and then cover.

Made mostly as written, but added dried apricots with the prunes and subbed white wine vinegar for red. Used an extra T of brown sugar, but won’t do that next time. Tucked thick orange half moons around the chicken for the final simmer, which added bright color. Oh, and I used skinless, boneless thighs. Delicious! Thanks for resurrecting this classic!

Chicken Marbella is my go-to recipe, and super forgiving. I rarely have time to marinate for more than an hour, if that. Always substitute boneless breasts, raisins for prunes, and I frequently throw in sliced artichoke hearts and oil-packed sun dried tomatoes. And halve the recipe, using one big tray of chicken breasts.

I have made this recipe many times and love it but have never made it in advance and frozen it. Can this be done?

I’ve often used dried apricots instead of prunes. Equally delicious.

When I was just out of college in the late 80's early 90's, Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate was my go-to dinner party special meal. It was always a hit! I'm nostalgic for it, and sad because my family won't eat olives or prunes...so I haven't made it in probably 25 years. But I just might make this just for myself. Leftovers were always even better than the original! I always served it with couscous.

This is my go-to for large-group buffets and I stopped marinating some time ago. I do a quick fine chop of the garlic, prunes, olives, and capers which keeps them being from left in the bottom of the dish and makes a great sauce when blended with the white wine.

This is a great recipe, as amended. I'm not a big fan of the Silver Palate Cookbook and their recipes. I do like the Chicken Marbella recipe, but the recipe in the cookbook calls for four whole chickens, so I had to do the math. This version is excellent, and manageable.

I do not like thighs. So does anyone have suggestions about adjustments needed for boneless chicken breasts?

Don’t believe the throw it in a roasting dish and bake for 35 minutes folks - I’m at close to an hour and it’s no where near cooked and the sauce still tastes of wine - I’m going to have to pull out the chicken and then deglaze the pan. Should have followed the recipe not the comments…

A few tips:Salt the chicken thighs before cooking. Even an hour before is good. Start them skin side down in a cold pan with no oil. They will yield enough fat by themselves to brown nicely.After you flip them, add the other ingredients and bake uncovered in a 350° oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Cooked temperature should be 170. This way you get crispier skin.

This was great — with a few modifications:1. DO NOT COVER THE SKILLET! Tried that, and instead of browning, the chicken thigs were boiled in their own juices (I removed them from the pan, boiled off the juices, and then cooked them without the lid and they browned nicely).2. Forget white wine – it's virtually tasteless in a recipe like this. I used Marsala, which added a lot of flavor. Sherry would work well, too. 3. Do not skimp on the garlic!

Omit sugar; use Kalamata olives; start thighs skin side down in cold pan until browned then lower heat; use rice vinegar or balsamic and Marsala wine; chop ⅔ of olives and prunes or dried tart cherries; can use boneless thighs

Yes you can freeze! I recently made with chicken thighs cooked and then froze. Only change was slightly softer prunes. Warmed up well. Still had rave reviews. I put it in ziploc to freeze then back into same dish to reheat and serve at room temp.

I feel like Ina’s Chicken Marbella has been the standard-bearer for years and deserves a mention but either way, Rick’s recipe is amazing, no alterations needed.

This recipe is the original but for thighs and minus the marinating. The great thing about that original recipe (which we've been making with boneless pieces + more wine + capers + olives for about 25 years) is that it makes SO MUCH, and because everyone loves it the leftovers are welcomed as much as the first pass. So this little bit seems sort of silly, but maybe useful to introduce it to a new generation of cooks. Oh & dried cranberries sub well for prunes.

Made it tonight using Mission fig balsamic vinegar as out of red wine vinegar. Reduced salt, but still a big hit.

I generally followed the recipe as written (except that I did the Jaques Pepin's technique for browning chicken, posted by Bill) - so flavorful and simple, yet very elegant in its presentation. This one will be on a dinner party menu before too long. maybe with a simple Boston lettuce salad, roasted potatoes, and a plum sorbet for dessert.

I'd like to be able to search the comments for particular words