Pan-Roasted Blood Orange Chicken

By Kath Dedon

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Laura recommended Jessi Heggan’s Pan-Roasted Blood Orange Chicken, saying that it’s SO easy and SO good. I checked it out and made it a few days later. It was just as Laura said; this roast chicken recipe delivers so much flavor for so little effort. Bob and I both really enjoyed it!

It’s high citrus season right now. I find that it’s pretty easy to find blood oranges, but if you can’t find them you can substitute navel oranges.

The seasoned olive oil is so flavorful that it’s not necessary to marinate the chicken. Just cover the chicken with the seasoned oil and roast. Quick and easy!

I did find I had to roast the chicken for a longer time than Jessi suggested. Perhaps my chicken thighs were larger. It’s always best to check the chicken with an instant read thermometer to determine when it’s done.

I will definitely be making Pan-Roasted Blood Orange Chicken again before the blood oranges are out of season! And I’m planning on spending some more time exploring Jessi’s Kitchen. It looks like she has some interesting recipes. Check it out!

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Pan-Roasted Blood Orange Chicken was terrific with Perfect Instant Pot Broccoli

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Pan-Roasted Blood Orange Chicken

(Adapted, barely, from Jessi Heggan’s recipe on jessiskitchen.com)

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(print the recipe)

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Serves 4 – 6 

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2 blood oranges (if not available, can substitute navel oranges)

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

1 Tablespoon cumin

2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground

2 teaspoons sea salt

1/3 cup olive oil

3.5 – 4 pounds chicken thighs (can use either bone-in skin-on or boneless skinless thighs)

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1. Preheat the oven to 425°.
2. Zest one of the blood oranges.

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Zest of one blood orange

 

3. Combine the orange zest, garlic powder, chili powder, dried oregano, cumin, pepper and salt in a small bowl.

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4. Stir the olive oil into the spice mixture.

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5. Put the chicken skin-side down in a cast iron skillet. Spread half of the seasoned oil over the chicken. Turn the chicken over so it is skin-side up and spread on the rest of the seasoned oil.

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6. Slice the second blood orange and place the slices on top of the chicken.

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7. Roast until the chicken temperature, measured with an instant read thermometer, is 165°. This took 45 minutes for my bone-in chicken.

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8. Serve and enjoy!

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Update January 22, 2018:

I made this again for Carrie’s birthday dinner and I multiplied all of the ingredients by 1.5. (I used 12 chicken thighs instead of 8.) I roasted them on a sheet pan and they turned out great! They took only 30 minutes to roast, not 45 like they did in the crowded cast iron pan. I may use the sheet pan from now on, no matter how many chicken thighs I’m roasting. You could use parchment paper or cover it with foil, as I did, for easy clean-up. 

Ready to go into the oven for a 30-minute roast!

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