Italian cuisine’s signature dish, pollo alla birra (beer chicken), is excellent for lunch or dinner. Deep, nuanced flavors are produced when chicken, beer, rosemary, and a few other basic ingredients are combined. A thick and creamy sauce is produced with the use of cornstarch. For a complete supper, serve with mashed potatoes and a small salad.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 2 |
Ingredients
- 2 skinless chicken leg quarters
- 2 tablespoons dried rosemary, divided
- 1 large clove garlic, crushed
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 cup beer
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, halved and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Instructions
- Combine chicken, 1 tablespoon rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; pour beer over top. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove chicken from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle cornstarch over chicken to coat it completely. Reserve marinade.
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Add onion. Remove garlic from marinade and add to the Dutch oven with a bit of marinade to keep everything from burning. Sauté until onion is tender and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Pour remaining marinade into the pot and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon rosemary. Lower the heat and simmer until sauce has reduced and thickened and chicken is no longer pink inside, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 654 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 167 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 50 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 250 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 36 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This was an easy-to-follow recipe, but I felt it was rather bland as we like spice (hot as well as just flavorful). I added some red pepper flakes, oregano and fresh basil. I also left out the second portion of rosemary as my husband isn’t a huge fan. Served with rice and roasted asparagus.
Tasteless
I made this with skinless chicken breasts that I halved and it worked out fine. When I read through the recipe I thought it called for a lot of Rosemary, and I was right! In making this again, I would half the amount — maybe not in the marinate, but certainly in the reserved portion (and maybe not even add it then).
This was very tasty! I’ll make this again and again. Times maybe aren’t accurate, but I did enjoy this.
I used a dark beer which might have made the difference, but I don’t think I liked it enough to try it with a lighter beer.
Delicious, with a unique taste. I’ll definitely make this recipe again.