Heather says:
I admit to not being the biggest fan of chicken thighs and drumsticks, so I look for a recipe where I enjoy the flavor so much that I don’t miss the texture of white meat. Leg quarters have been on sale for $0.69 a pound and that my friends, is too good to let go.
This simple recipe is not the world’s most nutritious glaze, but the kids are fans and I balance out the meal with healthy side dishes. (Yes, they get eaten, too).
Caramelized Garlic Chicken
- 1 stick butter
- 4 garlic cloves – minced or pressed
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 5 lbs chicken parts which is about
3 leg quarters or 1 whole chicken – cut up
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Melt the butter in a pan with the garlic over low heat.
Place the chicken pieces in a baking dish.
Add the brown sugar to the butter and garlic and increase the temperature to medium high.
Look, I finally splurged on new spoons.
Stir frequently, but gently until the butter and sugar begin to combine. This takes in the neighborhood of five minutes. Immediately turn off the burner and stir vigorously until you have a smooth glaze. It will still be grainy, but not lumpy. The grains of brown sugar will melt in the oven.
Pour over the chicken pieces. Do not worry about coating each piece perfectly, the sauce will thicken the moment it touches the cold chicken and will slide off if fiddled with.
Bake for approximately 50 minutes at 350°F or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
If you are baking another item while this dish is in the oven, place the chicken on the lower rack. If it is too close to the upper element, the glaze may burn. Near the end of the cooking time, you can swap positions if the chicken doesn’t appear to be browning enough for your taste.
Enjoy.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks DELISH! I love brown sugar glazes. And I'm a huge fan of garlic.
Can you use the minced garlic that comes in a jar?
How would you alter the cooking time if you were making this with boneless, skinless chicken boobs?
I would check them between 25 & 30 minutes. The glaze will help them stay moist, but it's not the same as a skinned piece of chicken.
Split chicken breasts would work really well.
We made this a few weeks ago with chicken breasts…we cooked them for about 30 minutes and cut them open to make sure they were done. I'll DEFINITELY make this again…everyone LOVED IT! I didn't even have any leftovers for lunch the next day…I was kinda miffed!
I wonder if this would work on my George Forman or if all the glaze would just kind of slide off.
I would not use this recipe on an indoor grill. The sweet glaze would burn easily. Let me rephrase that, In a grilling situation, I would brush the chicken just before the end of the cook-time. Wipe up extra glaze quickly as will probably smoke easily.
I love wooden spoonz. I've been trying to buy some new ones, for a few years now. I have some nice oak ones.. that can stand up to some work. But I can't really find the heavy work ones, lately. I'm turning the other cheek to the ones, at Walmart, with someone's name on them… but ooooh! (Most of the big ones have big handles.. that feel too wide and uncomfy in my hand..)
I used to buy chicken leg quarters, years ago, in California, for $.19/lb, on sale. I'd buy 50 pounds and spend the entire weekend stewing them and de-boning them.. freezing them as shredded chicken, in meal-sized batches. This really took hours off of meal-time prep, each afternoon. I miss having all that meat ready-to-go! Maybe that's how I did it with all those little kids?
(I guess I should add here that chicken really creeps me.. and if you'd de-bone it, I'd buy some, for us, both, and stew it, at your house, for both of us.
I divorced my de-boner. ::giggle:: )
Absolutely!
While I still prefer them fresh, the pre-minced garlic and pre-diced onions (as well as green peppers, etc. sold the same way) have revolutionized my weeknight cooking. Without that prep already done for me, I'd be REALLY unlikely to do much actual cooking when I get home after the 7-5 workday.
What side dishes did you use to accompany this?
Last night I made lentil pilaf and garlicky broccoli. I'll be posting both recipes over the next week or so.
I thought that looked like your lentil pilaf out of focus in the background.
Tried this just a few hours ago and we loved it! So easy-and so quick to fix! I will be back for more recipies! Jan