Peppery Chicken Breasts

HeatherFeather's Note:

Easy to throw together, yet full of flavor. Please note that this recipe calls for chicken with bones - if you really prefer to use boneless, then I would assume that all of the cooking times would be halved. I have always used bone-in chicken for this recipe. If you like it less spicy, go ahead and reduce the amount of black pepper.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 4 split bone-in skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper (measured)
• ¼ teaspoon celery seed
• 1 bay leaf
• nonstick cooking spray , as needed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Use poultry shears to cut each breast in half (poultry shears will easily cut through the bones).
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, spray with nonstick cooking spray, and brown chicken pieces briefly (not to cook all the way through).
4. Place browned chicken pieces into a 9x13" casserole sprayed with nonstick spray.
5. Combine water, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, pepper, and celery seed with a whisk until blended.
6. Pour sauce over chicken, add bay leaf to the pan, and bake uncovered at 350 F for 30 minutes.
7. Baste chicken with some of the pan drippings and continue cooking until the chicken is fully cooked, approximately another 30 minutes (time will vary based on the weight of your chicken pieces) Once chicken is fully cooked, remove to a platter and if desired, pour any remaining pan drippings/liquid into a gravy dish to use as a dipping sauce.
8. Or pour any remaining sauce into a saucepan and heat until reduced (you can thicken this by adding a little flour that has been whisked with a small amount of water first and whisking this mixture into the heateed drippings and cooking until thickened).
9. *If you prefer, you may substitute bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks in place of the breasts. Just be sure to end up with 8 small pieces of chicken with bones.

Reviews

[Geema]

My DH and I enjoyed this peppery chicken dish. I had to laugh as I was grinding the pepper, never realizing how much effort it would take to make a measly teaspoon. It was an easy dish to make and the chicken turned out moist, not tough. I used broth to replace the water, since I had some opened in the fridge. Good recipe, HeatherFeather.

[Chef #48136]

An easy to make family dinner. I used the full amount of pepper and did not find it overly spicy. The recipe turned out fine though nothing extraordinary.

[Shena]

We thought this was delicious! Great flavor and chicken was moist. Very easy to make. Thanks for the great recipe!