Pan sauces are one of those magical things that take a standard dinner to a new level. Although they might sound a little intimidating, they’re really straight forward and are incredibly versatile.
The following recipe is the one I’ve used the most to practice my pan sauce skillz. It’s simple and only requires a few grocery-store-only ingredients that you’ll have to pick up in preparation. It’s also easy to adapt this recipe with different veggies to really make it a one pan dinner. Or lunch. Or breakfast?!
You’ll need:
- A large, oven safe sauté pan or cast iron skillet
- Tongs and a wooden spoon/spatula
- 6-8 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
- 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
- 2 lemons, quartered and seeds removed
- 8-10 olives (I love cerignola’s so I use those – pits or no pits, your choice!)
- 3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary (thyme works nicely as well)
- 8-10 baby bella or crimini mushrooms, quartered
- Optional: 3-4 fingerling potatoes or fingerling sweet potatoes. If you use potatoes, cut back on the mushrooms
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil (or avocado)
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or organic corn starch (optional – you can thicken simply by reducing)
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Do this:
- Trim your chicken thighs. I remove some of the extra skin just so I’ve got a nice layer right over the top of the thighs. I may or may not put my leftover skin on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes at 350….
- After trimming them, season the skin side with a few generous sprinkles of salt.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and put a rack in the middle of the oven. Be sure there isn’t a rack directly above your chosen rack – you’ll need to fit your pan in there!
- Heat 1 tablespoon of your chosen oil in your sauté pan on the stove. Get it really hot to the point that it starts smoking. Pour off the oil, wipe down your pan and return it to the stove. You’ve now made your pan non-stick! Feel free to skip the above if you’ve got a non-stick sauté pan big enough for the job :)
- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil on medium high heat. Place your chicken thighs in the pan, skin side down and ‘fry’ for 5 minutes. You should have a nice, golden colored, crispy skin under there! If not, give them another minute.
- Turn the chicken thighs skin side up and move to the perimeter of the pan. Add 1 cup chicken stock, mushrooms, 6 lemon wedges, garlic, potatoes if using and rosemary to the middle of the party. Place the olives amongst the rest of the crowd.
- Bring liquid to a boil, remove from stove and put in the oven uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Transfer pan from the oven to the stove and remove your thighs – I let mine rest on a cutting board. The skin should still be crispy, but the underside should be nice and juicy!
- If you’re making a slurry to thicken the sauce, add 1 tablespoon arrowroot or corn starch to a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons COLD water to the slurry and mix with your finger to combine.
- Remove the rosemary and add remaining 1/4 cup chicken stock and squeeze the two lemon wedges in. Bring to a boil.
- Slowly drizzle in slurry while whisking constantly. Let things thicken up – make more slurry if you want it thicker and let it boil once all the slurry is in the pan. This will cook the starch and prevent it from tasting like…glue…
- If you want to skip the slurry altogether, keep reducing the pan sauce and don’t add the remaining 1/4 cup of stock.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add thighs back into pan briefly and voila!
To serve, use your tongs to take out chicken, potatoes, mushrooms and olives. Garnish with a lemon wedge and spoon the pan sauce over the chicken and veggies. Sometimes I’ll throw in a few handfuls of spinach at the last step to get more green in there or simply serve the chicken on a bed of spinach or with a big salad!
And there you have it – perhaps your first pan sauce! Once you’ve done it a few times, it’s easy to start thinking of other ingredients to add in or substitute in. White wine, red wine, lemon juice, beef stock, veggie stock – the list goes on!
photosandfoods 