Roasted Chicken With Fennel, Onions and Fingerling Potatoes
Last week I tried the new Plated meal kit service and we really enjoyed all the meals! One meal in particular really stood out for my family and that was this Roasted Chicken With Fennel, Onions and Potatoes. My ten year old son loved it so much he asked for it as his birthday dinner. This is huge because he is such a picky eater compared to the girls, but that just goes to show how delicious the dish was for him! So, I made a few very slight changes to the recipe to use boneless, skinless chicken and extra onions. I tried it as a one sheet pan meal this week and it didn’t quite work out the same because I had too many veggies on the sheet pan and they steamed rather than caramelized, so if you want to make it as a sheet pan recipe, I would definitely put the potatoes on one pan and the veggies and chicken separated on another pan so that it gets the proper browning instead of steaming.
This recipe is perfect timing for the sales at Safeway this week – boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs just $1.87/lb. and the fingerling potatoes are on sale for $1.69/lb. This recipe uses a few additional ingredients to make a honey, lemon sauce that marries the flavors together. Other than the lemon, you most likely have everything else on hand in your pantry.
How to Cut Fennel
When raw, fennel is crunchy and sweet; once cooked, it becomes silky soft. Raw or cooked, fennel has a faint flavor of licorice or anise. Not so much that it overwhelms a dish, but just enough that it adds an interesting layer of flavor to the dishes in which it’s used. The stalks and fronds are also edible! The tender, lacy fronds are fantastic in salads and the stalks can be chopped up into stews or used for vegetable stock.
Here’s how to take that hefty bulb of fennel and trim it down into bite-sized pieces.
- Peel away any wilted outer layers. If the outer layer of your fennel bulb feels wilted or rubbery, peel it away and discard.
- Trim off the fennel stalks. If the stalks are still attached to your bulb of fennel, cut them away close to where they connect to the bulb. Save the fennel stalks and fronds for something else — the leafy fronds can be eaten raw and the stems are great for soup stock.
- Cut the bulb in half. Trim a little bit off the bottom of the fennel bulb to make the bottom stable (and cut away any tough root bits). Then, cut straight down through the root of the fennel bulb
- Slice the fennel crosswise. With the quarter still on its side, slice crosswise to cut the fennel into slices. Start at the top of the bulb and work toward the root. Cut your slices thick or thin, according to your recipe. Repeat with the remaining bulbs.
- I typically remove the core piece, but you don’t have to do that.
Ingredients
- 11/2 pounds fingerling potatoes halved lengthwise
- 2 bulbs fennel thinly sliced
- 3 yellow onions thinly sliced
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup plus 4 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
For the Honey-Lemon Sauce
- 2 lemons
- 2 Tbsp honey
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon ground fennel seed
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.On a baking sheet, toss potatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, ¾ teaspoon salt, and pepper as desired. Arrange cut-side down in a single layer, spacing apart as much as possible, and roast until golden and tender, about 20 minutes
- While potatoes roast, pat chicken dry with paper towel and season with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Heat a large ovenproof pan over medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Sear chicken on each side until golden and easily lifts from pan, 8–9 minutes.
- While chicken sears, in a small bowl, whisk together honey, spices, juice of 2 lemons, ¼ cup olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper as desired.
- Sauté fennel and onions Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan from chicken over medium-high heat. Add fennel and onions. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and pepper and sauté, stirring, until softened, 6–7 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Return chicken to pan on top of fennel and onions, skin-side up. Pour over lemon sauce. Transfer pan to oven (with potatoes) and roast until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink, 12–15 minutes.
- Serve by placing a layer of fennel and onion mixture on the plate and topping with chicken and the roasted potatoes
SuperSafeway is a blog devoted to helping you find the best deals at Safeway in the Denver division. Every week we slice and dice the ad and tell you the best deals at Safeway with and without coupons. For more low prices, check out Super Safeway’s weekly ad coupon matchup page. Want to stay updated on the best deals? If so, make sure to like Super Safeway on Facebook, join our Facebook group, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest and subscribe to our newsletter.
* Please note – Savings information is based on Colorado pricing and the Safeway Coupon Policy for the Denver Division which includes Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming and South Dakota. Your market may vary. *
Neat