The other night I made this delicious Chicken Marbella recipe and I knew I HAD to post about it. It is now one of both Mr. G.Q’s and my favorite dinners due to the wonderful medley of flavors. It’s also a fave of mine because it can be assembled the night before and then just baked off the next day. I LOVE make-ahead dishes. Whenever I plan a dinner party, I look for as many dishes as possible to prepare one or more days in advance so as to reduce the stress of entertaining.
Chicken Marbella Recipe
The recipe comes from the wonderful Barefoot Contessa and she mentions in her cookbook, Cook Like a Pro, that back in the 1980s, everyone served this dish at dinner parties. Ina, however has updated the recipe and as always, she doesn’t disappoint. So this is the recipe for Ina Garten’s Chicken Marbella.
The dish is such fun to make because the ingredient list cleans out your pantry and refrigerator of all those half bottles of things like capers, green olives, dried oregano, etc. And since the recipe calls for just one cup of dry white wine, if I don’t have some open, I just use those little wine bottles that you can buy in a four-pack.
Works like a charm! The recipe also has red wine vinegar and dried prunes (of which Mr. G.Q. was initially very skeptical). But wow, the flavors really blend well and when the dish is in the oven, the whole house smells divine! The recipe calls for two cut-up chickens cut into 8 pieces. I instead just use 8-10 thighs depending on their size as my team prefers dark meat. Here’s the link.
Here’s a photo of a portion (compliments of my photographer son, AJ Kane).
Besides the delicious chicken dish, I served Caesar salad and a yummy loaf of multi-grain French bread that I warmed, buttered in the oven. What a great meal. Let me know what’s your favorite chicken recipe below in the comments and if you will try this Chicken Marbella recipe. It REALLY MEANS A LOT to me when you take the time to comment.
Try this as a delicious recipe for dinner over the holidays. Here’s another idea, Delicious Recipes for Dinner over the Holidays.
Have a wonderful week!
XO
Dr. Julie
P.S. Here are a few more fun posts for you to enjoy:
Christmas Decorations for Bedrooms,
Chicago Christmas Decorations in the Home,
How to Decorate a Christmas Tree – Very Sparkly!
Hi Julie, this Marbella recipe sounds great. We are vegetarians, so I would just substitute lentils and garbanzos for the chicken, and serve with wild rice.
Elianne, what a great idea. How much of each would you substitute? Would you use dried lentils and which color? Canned garbanzos?
Thanks and Happy Holidays to you!
XO,
Julie
I’ve never heard of chicken marbella, will try!