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These chicken thighs achieve golden brown perfection before simmering in a savory sauce of chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and bacon. Carrots and asparagus complete this dish to give you that veggie boost we are always looking for at dinnertime.
Update: This recipe was originally published in 2019 and has been republished with all new photos.
Savory Skillet Chicken and Veggies is an easy healthy entree you’ll want to make again and again.
My inspiration for this recipe is a Coq Au Vin, a French dish of chicken (the entire chicken broken down) braised in wine with butter, mushrooms, onions, and occasionally carrots. My Savory Skillet Chicken & Veggies includes chicken thighs (not the entire chicken), zero alcohol, and no mushrooms or dairy. Sooooo yeah it may seem like a stretch. But this is how my mind works, folks. It’s scary in there.
The trick to any skillet chicken is to really brown both sides of the chicken before adding your other ingredients. Otherwise you end up with beige chicken. And yuck. We do not want that.
These chicken thighs achieve golden brown perfection before simmering in a savory sauce of chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and bacon. Carrots and asparagus complete this dish to give you that veggie boost we are always looking for at dinnertime.
To make this recipe you’ll need (full list of ingredients and instructions are in the recipe card below):
- Olive oil
- Bacon
- Minced garlic
- Chicken thighs (boneless and skinless)
- Chicken stock
- Balsamic vinegar
- Carrots
- Frozen pearl onions
- Asparagus
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh rosemary
- Arrowroot powder
- Salt and pepper
Chicken thighs vs breasts
Both thighs and breasts are good sources of protein, but for this recipe I prefer chicken thighs. Here are a few reasons why you should consider using thighs:
- They’re less expensive than breasts. The cost of groceries (especially chicken) has taken quite a hike in the last two years, hasn’t it? If you compare the price of thighs vs breasts you’ll see that choosing thighs for a few of your meals can save you a little money.
- Thighs are actually more flavorful than breasts since they contain more fat.
- Thighs are more forgiving to cook. It’s super easy to overcook and dry out breasts, but that extra fat in thighs means you’ll have a harder time messing them up.
Can you use bone-in chicken thighs?
Of course! Just know that bone-in thighs require more cooking time so make sure you’ve cooked your chicken through.
Can you use chicken breasts?
Absolutely! You can use breasts if that’s what you have on hand. I’m always a fan of making what you have work!
Can you omit the arrowroot flour?
You can omit the arrowroot flour, but you’ll have a thinner sauce. The arrowroot flour is what we’re using as a thickener.
How to serve
I recommend pairing this entree with my Light & Creamy Mashed Potatoes, cauliflower rice, or traditional rice to take full advantage of the delectable sauce.
More recipes like this:
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Sun-Dried Tomato Lemon ChickenÂ
Savory Skillet Chicken & Veggies
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
- 3 slices bacon, diced, (Wellshire Turkey Bacon is my personal favorite)
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
- 6 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- salt & pepper
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 cups carrots, cut into circles, approximately 6 large carrots
- 6 oz pearl onions, frozen, no need to thaw them
- 12 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup asparagus, cut into fourths, thin stalks will cook the fastest
- 1 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet. Add diced bacon and cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until bacon starts to get crispy. Add minced garlic to the pan and sauté for an additional 2 minutes until bacon is crispy and garlic is a golden brown. Remove the bacon and garlic to a plate and set aside.
- Lay the chicken thighs out on paper towels. Pat dry.
- Add another 1 tbsp olive oil to skillet. Place chicken thighs in the pan. Liberally salt and pepper the side facing up. Brown the chicken, flip, and brown the other side. Chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point but you do want to get each side beautifully browned before moving on to the next step.
- Add carrots, frozen onions, chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary to the skillet. Cover and simmer on medium to medium high heat for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes add your asparagus cut into fourths along with the bacon and garlic you set aside earlier. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
- To thicken the sauce remove the chicken from the pan. Turn off the stove. In a small container shake together 1 tbsp arrowroot flour with 1 tbsp water. Pour the flour mixture into the skillet and stir. Sauce will begin to thicken immediately. Add your chicken back to the skillet. Serve!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If it is made in a skillet…it’s a win. All in one meals are perfect for busy weeknights. Less cleaning up means more time for me.
Great timing, I am so ready for lean meats and veggies. I do like coq au vin for the flavor layering. Your recipe looks fantastic and I can’t wait to try this. Thank you!
This skillet is calling my name! I love that you added bacon to this dish as it adds such a nice flavour to a chicken dish. Also, I’m totally with your son, it was SO hard for me to get up early on Monday, I’d much rather my “Break” to keep on going lol.
Love! Love ! Love! One-pan meals especially when they include chicken. We eat so much chicken I’m always looking for inspiration on how to make it. I have quite a few one-pan recipes but not quite like this one. I like the veggies you use in the dish plus the seasoning. This recipe is a keeper.
What a healthy, fabulous dish! I’m loving all the color in that skillet. Perfect for the healthy January dinners we are having!
It’s amazing what recipe tangents one’s mind can go on starting from an inspiration! Your chicken is so brown and yummy looking (no beige here) and with plenty of veggies to make a balanced meal. I would totally make some mashed potatoes to go along with this. Yum.
I kind of wonder when the day will come that my boys will be eager to stay in bed and sleep, rather than eager to come tearing into my room to get me up. When that day comes, perhaps the holidays will end too fast – but in the meantime, the return to school was a pretty welcome one for me! Haha.
This is a lovely chicken recipe! I love recipes that tread the line between ‘easy weeknight dinner’ and ‘company’s coming impressive’ and I think this fits the bill. I like the modified take on Coq au Vin (though I’d certainly be tempted by the ‘au Vin’ part myself), and I love that you added asparagus. That’s a great flavour component to bring into the mix. Cheers!
Phew isn’t that first day back after a break the hardest?? But it does feel so good to get back into your regular routine. I LOVE that this dish is friendly to so many diets. It’ll be perfect to serve for a dinner party when everyone’s trying to cut back in some way.
This is such a great one-pan weeknight dinner! I love the addition of balsamic. It adds such a nice touch of sweetness to the savory. That in addition to the salty bacon and garlicky goodness, this can easily become a regular dinner in our home.
This is a classic, easy, weeknight meal with all the things I love. I love thigh meat…it’s always perfectly tender and never dries out. I’m also loving the asparagus addition! This whole dish fulfills some serious cravings and I love it! Thanks for sharing 🙂