Lemony Skillet Chicken and Brioche
Published Dec. 5, 2023
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1½pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, patted dry
- Salt and black pepper
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1tablespoon olive oil
- 2tablespoons chopped shallot
- ¼cup lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
- 1tablespoon white miso
- 4(1½-inch-thick) slices brioche or challah (see Tip)
- ¼cup coarsely chopped dill or parsley
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
470 calories; 25 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 38 grams protein; 589 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and the olive oil over high in a large skillet. Once hot, sear the thighs in batches to avoid crowding, flatter sides down, until golden, about 4 minutes, then turn and sear the other sides briefly, just to cook the surface, about 1 minute. Transfer to a plate and turn the heat down to low.
- Step 2
Add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the shallot and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, about 1 minute. Whisk in the lemon juice, miso and 4 tablespoons water, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and season with salt, if desired. Transfer to a small serving bowl and wipe the pan clean.
- Step 3
Arrange the bread slices in the skillet, tearing a piece in half if necessary. (They don’t need to fit perfectly in the base and can come up the sides a little to get toastier at the tips.)
- Step 4
Place the chicken thighs, browned sides up, on top. (If you want the ratio of toasty brioche to be higher, place the chicken thighs more off-center on the slices.) Bake until the bottom and exposed tops of the bread are golden and the chicken is fully cooked, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Step 5
Right before serving, stir the sauce and spoon over the warm chicken and brioche, reserving some to serve on the side, if desired. The bread will soak up the sauce quickly, so spooning the sauce over the chicken and brioche when ready to eat will also allow you to control the moist-to-crunchy ratio. Top with dill and more black pepper, if desired.
Tip
- If you can only find thinner, presliced brioche, use 8 slices instead of 4.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Mimi Pond
I can’t believe I’m the first one to post about this? It was delicious and I’m gonna call it Lemony Snicket Chicken!
Carol
what temperature do you bake it at? 350 degrees?
Annie
Brilliantly simple, all my favorite flavors (although I’ll add rosemary). Great way to use up last slices of my sourdough. Trying it tonight
Nancy
For the same purpose? No. Miso adds a pronounced umami flavor, it's not just an emulsifier. Use mustard for a different-flavored, sharper, sauce. Mayo, I think, would not be a positive element here.
celia mllton
Love this! I want to try it with a roasting chicken atop thick slices of challah! Sounds like a perfect Hannukah dish, right?!
Laura
First of all, Lemony Snicket chicken is adorable! I made this tonight though I did not have white miso on hand. Substituted a mix of soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce (about a tablespoon total). My husband raved and raved. The blend of sour lemon, sweet brioche and dilly dill is brilliant. Served with sautéed baby spinach with garlic. Yum!
Mike in Pac NW
My wife really, really prefers chicken breast. So I pulled out a couple of thin-sliced breasts. I removed the bone from a couple of thighs and kept the skin on. Put the breasts on the toast about halfway through the oven time and it worked out OK. Very nice recipe; it'll be in the chicken rotation regularly.
DC Joe
My mom grew up during the Great Depression. She called this an “Open Faced Sandwich”. Everything old is new again.
Neil
Holly cow, this was my first NYT recipe. My wife was away for the week, which never happenes, and I made a pact with myself to NOT phone it in with meals for my high school senior and picky eater 6th grader. Written instructions were perfect for me a total kitchen novice, finished dish was A from everyone, I wasn't sure about my searing abilities so I put my grill temp prob in the chicken and cooked to 150 pulled and rested to 155. AMAZING!
Mike in Pac NW
I used a dollop of Worcestershire sauce. Not enough to do other than add a "what is that?" flavor.
Dan
I made this tonight and it was a hit. I noticed the sauce starting to congeal while the chicken and bread were in the oven so I switched it over into a saucepan on a low flame to keep it warm and give it a good consistency. I forgot to get dill when shopping, but the flavor profile was right on the mark without it. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Lydia Sugarman
I think I'll use tarragon instead of dill.
Steve in East Hampton
Made this tonight, first time, followed the recipe closely. Miso is hard to find, but it IS in your grocery store. Look in the dairy aisle. I bought a loaf of challah so I could stay true to the concept and glad I did. The dish was a dream. I boiled/steamed some broccoli and what a fantastic sunday night dinner. And the leftover challah will be french toast Monday morning -- a great way to make a Monday awesome. We just loved this recipe.
J Hampton
All favorite ingredients and will be so easy to scale for 1!
Todd Garland
Oddly enough, I made something quite similar just two nights ago. The only difference was the sauce (I made a kind of miso/barbecue sauce). Otherwise, it’s exactly the same idea. I knew when I made it that it couldn’t be an original innovation: it’s so simple an idea. And it works wonderfully well!
Pete
Forget the butter and oil for the chicken. Browning the chicken over high heat in butter and oil left me with a lot of burnt fat that smelled bad and did nothing for the chicken. Just use a little bit of olive oil and leave the skin on the chicken thighs, and you’ve got plenty of grease to brown the chicken nicely. Then sauté the shallots in olive oil at a low temperature, then add butter and miso and lemon juice. Starting with butter left me with a burned mess.
Barb
Really good. The brioche adds a subtle sweetness that other breads don't have. Also delicious with some capers and asparagus tossed in.
Tiffany
I swear someone else said this, but I can’t find it. I don’t put the skillet in the oven; instead I prep the bread on a cookie sheet and put the chicken on them as soon as they’re done. Then I put that in the oven while I make the sauce. It helps make sure the sauce stays warm while also saving time!
Sara
Delish, delish, delish!
Julia
This is my favorite thing I have cooked. (Relatively new to cooking, lead a takeout, frozen pizza kind of life previously). The sauce is wonderful. It is shockingly hard to find miso but one major regional chain near me has just one variety of it. It comes in a squeeze bottle and is called “Minute Miso”, and I found it the section with soy sauce. It makes a great sauce addition for a number of recipes.
j9
This recipe started a lethal love affair between me and the brioche bread from Trader Joe’s. Me and bf loved this recipe, he didn’t understand the point of the lemon, I kindly educated him about salt fat acid heat. I did 1.5 lemons, I do agree that I probably only needed 1 even though it was less than 1/4 cup when I squeezed it. Great recipe, would eat again!
Melissa
Holy HECK, is this ever good! We’ve had some frigid cold weather and steely grey skies here lately, and this was the comfort food we were looking for. The recipe comes together in a snap and the flavors are so delicious and satisfying. I made double the sauce (and am glad I did) and the combination of it and the juices from the chicken gave the brioche a creamy, almost pudding-like consistency, which was wonderful. Served with roasted green beans and it was a perfect dinner.
Kate M
This was amazing.
Jen Sergent
A keeper! It was a snow day and we didn’t want to go to the store so instead of brioche, we used what we had: Dave’s Killer Organic bread w 21 whole grains. And we didn’t have miso so I used a commenter’s suggestion to replace with Dijon mustard. And then served with sautéed garlic spinach. It was so warm and hearty on a cold day, and so delicious with the spinach in each bite. This is going in the rotation!
Rahul
This was so delicious and given how easy it was - almost deceptively so? Amazing. I only had red miso and misread and used bone-in, skin-on chicken breast - otherwise, followed exactly as is and it was incredible. A total flavor bomb.
Stacey
Pretty good. The custardy texture of the brioche after cooking is amazing! I'm not a fan of chicken thighs, but made it as directed all the same. I might try it with breasts next time, modifying the cooking time as another commenter did. Served alongside green beans on a snowy night, it hit the spot.
NDN
It was delicious, but I guess I just didn’t understand it. Why the bread? An open-faced sandwich? If it was referenced as such, maybe I wouldn’t feel confusion. The chicken was delicious, but I’ll skip the bread next time. It wasn’t my favorite part of the dish.
Jeanette R
I ordered red and yellow miso from Amazon and scraped them into small resealable plastic containers which have remained fresh in my fridge for over a year. still in perfect condition!
Cat M
Excellent, quick and easy to make. No shallots on hand, used chopped Vidalia onion, no miso either, so used 2T Golden Sauce and 1T Worcester sauce. Had some stale Brioche buns, so sliced layer off the top, forked the insides a bit to absorb sauce and nestled thighs in. Used the same subs again, but forgot the dill the second time, and it was still pretty darn good. Outstanding ROI for time, ingredients and skills required make this a keeper recipe that everyone looks forward to.
David Morris
It’s a great recipe—thank you—but I’m always at a loss as to why one wouldn’t use skin-on, bone-in thighs. So so much better.
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