I want to start doing more posts like this where I cook a recipe I have found online, on Youtube, in a cookbook, or whereever and let you know what I think. I would guess 99% of these posts will end up being positive experiences but if I see something really off base that is getting a lot of traction I will let you know.
So where better to start than a new video from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt: Kenji’s One Pot Braised Chicken. Whenever I am looking for a recipe online Kenji is my first stop. His posts on Serious Eats, the videos he puts out on his Youtube channel, and the recipes and techniques in his The Food Lab cookbook have pretty much been universally great.
Disclosure: This post is monetized with affiliate links. If you buy something through them I earn a commission which helps support this site and lets me buy more meat so I can write about it.
A week or so ago Kenji posted a video called East One-Pot Braised Chicken with Cabbage, Bacon, and Potatoes:
Pretty much everything about that title sounded great. I am a fan of easy. One pot is always appealing as there are fewer dishes to wash. Chicken is usually good, especially when you add bacon to the mix. And I am a huge fan of all forms of potatoes. As far as cabbage goes it isn’t my first choice but The Smitten Kitchen (one of my wife’s favorite cooking sites) had a Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Cabbage recipe we have made a few times that was great. So I knew chicken and cabbage could be good together.
The video is loosely based on Kenji’s Serious Eats recipe for Crispy Braised Chicken Thighs with Bacon but there are a few differences. In the video Kenji leaves out the mustard, the sugar, and most of the vinegar in the original recipe and also adds potatoes. Other than that it is fairly similar.
I had some Pasturebird pasture raised chicken thighs and legs in the freezer and had a cabbage in the fridge so what better time than the present to give this one a shot. BTW, if you have never tried pasture raised chicken give it a try. The flavor difference between some quality chicken and grocery store chicken is immense.
If you want the full recipe go watch the video or check out the recipe as I am not going to go into all the details here but here is the final product:
Four Things I Love About This Recipe
There are many things to really like about this dish but here are four that really stand out to me:
- This dish can be made for under $10. Obviously if you go with pasture raised chicken or organic cabbage or some fancy chicken stock it will be more than that but for a family on a budget this is an awesome dish and with a big enough pan it could be great for a crowd.
Dark meat chicken can usually be had for under $1.50 a pound so 2 pounds is about $3. A cabbage is about $2.50, chicken broth can be about $2.50 a quart, and potatoes are dirt cheap. Add in a bit of bacon and some herbs and you are right about $10. - You can easily make modifications or substitutions to this recipe. Don’t want potatoes? Leave them out. Not a fan of cabbage? Add in some collard greens or kale. Do you like carrots? Cut them up and throw them in. Other than the cabbage or greens our kitchen and freezer usually have everything we need to make this dish. And cabbages keep for quite a while in the fridge so it wouldn’t be the worst thing grab one from the grocery store once a month for a dish like this.
- There are no special skills or techniques required to make this dish. Can you brown some chicken in a pan? Can you slice up a cabbage and onion? Well, that is about all there is to this one. Most of the cutting can be done while the chicken is browning as well so there isn’t a ton of prep work needed either.
- This dish can accommodate quite a few food allergies/aversions/preferences. Leave the butter out and it is dairy free. There is no wheat or gluten in this one. No soy either. Of course some butter could add a bit of richness to the broth, some flour could thicken it a bit, and soy could add a bit of umami punch but none of those are necessary at all. Onions could be left out if someone has an allium issue. You can avoid nightshade vegetables by leaving out the potatoes and adding something else. If you are having dinner guests over this is a great dish you can modify to accommodate nearly everyone. Sorry vegans/vegetarians, the chicken is a pretty integral part of this dish.
If I had one thing I don’t like about this one is the chicken splattered quite a bit while I was browning it. That could easily be avoided with a splatter screen or higher sided pan but I used my 12 inch Lodge cast iron skillet instead of my Dutch oven. But that splatter only takes about 20 seconds to clean up so it isn’t a huge issue at all.
And just because it looked great here is another picture of the finished dish:
Give Kenji’s One Pot Braised Chicken a shot if you are looking for a good, cost effective meal that will appeal to a wide range of people. And be sure to subscribe to Kenji’s Youtube channel so you can see all his other great cooking videos.
Also in March Kenji has a new cookbook (672 pages!!!) coming out that is all dedicated to cooking in a wok. Preorder it now! I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
