Garlic Chicken With Giardiniera Sauce
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1cup soft herb leaves, coarsely chopped (see Tip)
- ¾cup mild or hot giardiniera, coarsely chopped if necessary
- 3tablespoons giardiniera brine
- ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- 2garlic cloves, finely grated
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- Black pepper
- 1½ to 2pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, patted dry
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium bowl, stir together the herbs, giardiniera and giardiniera brine. (It might look dry but it gets saucier as it sits.) In a large bowl, stir together the olive oil, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. If you’re using chicken breasts, pound to an even ½-inch thickness with a heavy skillet or meat pounder. Add the chicken to the garlic oil and toss until well coated.
- Step 2
Heat a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high. Working in batches to avoid crowding, add the chicken to the skillet and cook until golden brown underneath, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook until cooked through, 2 to 5 minutes. (Clean the skillet between batches if burnt bits collect in the skillet.) Transfer to a plate browned-side up, spoon some of the sauce over the chicken, then let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Taste the sauce. If it’s too assertive, add a teaspoon or two of olive oil. If it’s too mild, add salt. Serve the chicken with more sauce passed at the table.
Tip
- If using parsley, cilantro or dill, thinly slice the stems as well; they’re edible, concentrated bursts of the herbs. Tear any large basil leaves, and slice chives into 1-inch or so lengths.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
sigokb
Recipe calls for giardinaira "brine", but here in Chicagoland, it all comes in oil. So I use olive or pickle brine and the oil form the giardinaira for the olive oil. Turns out great. One day I'll learn how to spell 'giardinaira'.
Martha
I use jarred muffuletta relish which contains giardineira plus capers and olives. The vegetables are already finely chopped and pickled. The result is even better than giardineira alone.
K. Schrimmer
As a chef/restaurateur in a previous life I had a similar dish to this on my menu. It would be improved by marrying the flavors from the cooked chicken with the sauce. To do this I would a tablespoon of minced shallot and teaspoon of garlic in a bit of residual oil in pan after sauteeing chicken (or wipe out pan and add a tablespoon of fresh oil/butter). Then add a cup of unsalted chicken stock, reduce by half and then add in the giardinara mixture and season to taste.
I always use an insta-read thermometer
Bess....but....she says "If you’re using chicken breasts, pound to an even ½-inch thickness...". Ten minutes is probably fine, but always check cooked temp with your probe.
Bess Leavitt
10 minutes total to cook chicken thighs ? Something is off here.
Stephen
A bit tangential to the recipe, but still important…. What is usually used for “real” muffulettas is a distinctly different, albeit related, relish from what is generally thought of as giardiniera. My family in New Orleans used to call what is on muffulettas olive salad, emphasizing the much much heavier use of olives than in the giardiniera that is used for example on Italian beef. It’s generally more finely chopped as well.
Tom
Absolutely loved this. It’s so simple, but it goes so hard. I used hot giardinera because my boyfriend was in Manhattan for business, and he doesn’t love spice quite like me! The sauce is so easy, and i think it would go great on basically any meat. I have some cod filets in the freezer - im going to use the sauce on those tomorrow. I’ll be making this all summer! Similar to another commenter I seared the chicken then deglazed with white wine and added the liquid to the giard sauce. Delish!
Alison S
First time I cooked as written - 4 stars. Second time, I took commenters suggestions. After cooking and removing the chicken, I added a touch of EVOO and 1 minced shallot to the pan, followed by 1 cup of chicken stock, scraping any brown bits. Let it reduce for a minute, then add the giardinera mixture to pan plus 2 tablespoons of capers. Cook for a minute then add chicken back to pan until heated through and sauce is a good consistency. 5 stars.
Rachel
I used less oil for the chicken (thighs) and instead added some to the giardiniera mixture, used it as a salad dressing. It went well with mixed greens.
Kim
Good enough to eat once, but not good enough to cook again.
Kay
I thought this was very tasty but came out a little too greasy what with my using thighs (with less oil than called for) and oil-packed Giard. Next time, I’m not sure how I would fix this. Maybe by using chicken “tenderloins” which are small, easy to pan fry, and less rich. Or I will pat the g. dry. Used spicy g., some oil from that mixture, red wine vinegar instead of brine, and parsley… the sauce was punchy but next time will add some chopped capers to the sauce.
Rachael
Made this tonight and followed a previous suggestion to add some shallot and garlic after, reduce some stock, and then add the stuff for the sauce. I know we enjoyed it this way and would not have enjoyed it without. So thankful for that tip!
Shannon
There seems to be a step missing here. They can’t be suggesting that you pour raw sauce over cooked chicken and leave it to rest. Or serve the rest of the raw sauce with chicken. I am totally gonna cook this sauce between tossing the raw chicken in it and pouring it over the cooked.
Marisa
Giardiniera isn't a sauce-it's a raw, pickled relish. It would ruin the crisp texture of the raw vegetables if it were cooked.
Tina
Use muffuletta mix instead of giardinera. Very tasty and simple dish to make with a lot of flavor!
Erin
I really liked this, but my muffalata was Chicago-style (packed in oil), so I followed sigokb’s suggestion (dill pickle brine for sauce, muffalata oil for chicken). Minced garlic for chicken cutlets & added just 2 pinches salt (vs 1t). Didn’t have a soft herb, so I used baby spinach. While chicken was resting in warm oven, reduced 1 c of chix broth by 2/3, tossed “salad”into it in skillet on low & removed before wilted. Could be too olive-y for some
Sharon Delugach
The sauce is delicious and I like the idea of coating the chicken in garlic and oil, but the method of cooking thighs is terrible! It took a long time and was a smokey, grease-spattering mess. It took so long to cook through that by the time the thighs were done the outside was really dry and stringy. Why not just cook the chicken in the oven? (not a rhetorical question)
Monique
Thought this was just okay. Followed the suggestion of K. Schrimmer and made a sauce with shallot, garlic and broth. Used parsley, chives and cilantro. Even added olive tapenade to the giardinaira.
Pete
Outstanding. Used dill, parsley and cilantro for the herbs. Served with orzo mixed with butter and a lot of freshly grated Parmesan. Plus blanched broccoli with butter, salt and pepper. The chicken and giardiniera plus the cheesy orzo alone was a knockout. Future considerations: - A summer meal, with the chicken grilled and garden herbs (though Dan suspects basil might not quite be the right fit) - Experiment with hot (rather than mild/regular) giardiniera - Serve as a bowl (sans broccoli)
Colleen
So easy and delicious , the colourful sauce makes a lovely presentation.
Tom H
“10 minutes total to cook chicken thighs ? Something is off here.“ Not if flattened to 1/2 inch as instructed.
Arlene
What is giardiniera?
Where's the Giardiniera?
Giardiniera is jarred mixed pickled veggies. In your local market, look for it around near olives, pickles, marinated artichokes, roasted peppers, etc. I typically serve it on my antipasto tray. Peace.
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
