This is my signature biryani recipe, as my mother has dubbed it. It’s healthy and has half of the calories of a normal take-away so that’s a bonus!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 boneless chicken breast halves with skin
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup sliced shallots
- ½ cup pitted and sliced green olives
- ½ cup brine-cured pitted olives, such as Kalamata, halved lengthwise and brine reserved
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into four pieces
Instructions
- Season skin-side of chicken with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Turn breasts over and season skinless side with salt, black pepper, cayenne, and herbes de Provence. Turn again so that the skin-side is facing up; rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place chicken skin-side down in hot oil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook chicken until skin is well-browned, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken and cook until just browned, about 2 minutes; transfer to a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir shallots in the hot skillet until just softening and golden brown, about 2 minutes. Stir olives into shallots and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Pour the chicken broth into the skillet; bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of the reserved olive brine, lemon zest, and cumin; increase heat to high and cook until sauce is reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and return chicken, skin-side up, to the skillet. Cover the skillet with a lid and cook until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove chicken to a plate and cover with aluminum foil.
- Stir parsley and butter into sauce, stirring continuously until butter is melted and sauce is shiny. Spoon sauce over chicken.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 642 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 7 g |
| Cholesterol | 207 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 69 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 901 mg |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 37 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I loved it! I always have leftover olives from cocktail hours so I had a lot of mixed olives so I used them and it was great! Also I only had chicken thighs that I had unfrozen and had cut them into cubes. It still worked and tasted great. Another thing…I preserved my own lemons and that was a great addition with the juice!!
This is the best chicken recipe I’ve ever made and I’ve made a lot. Amazing. Strongly recommend.
I have been looking for a chicken and olives recipe to compare with a dish we had many times at a long-closed Italian restaurant. This recipe turned out quite good although the herbs de Provence give it a decidedly French taste, especially also substituting Pinot Grigio for the chicken stock. We served it over egg noodles. I also found a recipe exactly the same as this one except substituting the usual suspect Italian herbs for the herbs de Provence. We will try that one next.
Loved it! Husby is from France and it’s officially in the rotation as one of his faves. I kept everything the same except I used chicken thighs instead. Served it on a bed of rice
I’ll never get bored of this flavor combination! It’s such a comforting dish. I serve it with rice so all the sauce gets soaked up! Delicious
Did not love it, but was ok. Followed recipe exactly and served over cous cous. Probably won’t make again. My husband said it smelled better than it tasted.
I think it was a very easy and tasty dinner. I made cous cous and served the chicken over it. Spouse said 4 times this is good.
Awesome recipe. Highly recommend.
Loved the flavors. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts. I sliced lemons and placed on the bottom of a baking dish I sprayed with olive oil. I placed the chicken on top. Added all the seasonings and olives to the chicken broth, I used Better than Bouillon. Poured over the chicken. Baked covered at 350 for 20 minutes, then uncovered for another 10 or so until breasts done.
Excellent! Quite a unique flavor and aroma. I highly recommend.
For once, I didn’t omit or add anything! It was awesome!
Fantastic recipe! Loved everything about it, especially the herbs de Provence, I felt they really gave it a unique flavor. I never realized how well that blend works with Mediterranean cuisine! The only change I made was to use thighs (skin on, bone in) instead of the breasts. Because of the bone, they weren’t quite done when the sauce was, so I nuked them separately for a couple of minutes, and they were perfect. Served over rice. Sooo good! My husband said that this is one of his top favorites of the recipes I’ve made from Allrecipes.
made per the recipe – another excellent, easy to make dinner winner from chef john
The adults in our house loved this, the kids not so much. We used boneless skinless chicken breasts and it turned out fabulously.
The olives were unfortunately too strong for my family’s palate.
I followed along and made Chef John’s Chicken and Olives! My fiancee loved it!
I am eating this while reviewing. I did not have all the ingredients at hand so made it with chicken thighs and no lemon and it is still delicious. I’ll make it next time with all the ingredients and I’m sure it will be even better.
Thought it might be too salty but it came out great! Got to learn how to debone split breasts to get the chicken parts, too. New skill level!
As huge olive fans this dish was perfect for us and the briney flavors offset a rich earthy savory bread pudding with mushrooms and roasted red peppers perfectly.
My husband and I both loved this dish. The only change I made was to add some xantham powder to make the sauce a little thicker (I’m keto so, dish needed to “stand” on its own) Will absolutely make again!
I have made this several times and it’s a family favorite. Currently I use 5-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs and add the herbes de Provence with the olives. I leave everything else the same. It’s just an amazing combination of flavors!