The end result! Baked Chicken with Sage and Dill. This recipe makes enough to feed about six people. I made baked sweet potatoes to go with it — all for under $10!!
It’s not often one can make a meal that serves six people for under $10, but that’s what I did tonight. I paired this recipe with baked sweet potatoes topped with butter and cinnamon. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs that cost me $8.00. A bargain! Lucky for us, there are only two people in my household, so that left us plenty of tasty chicken and sweet potatoes for lunch tomorrow and maybe a supper later in the week. Plus I baked enough extra sweet potatoes to have some fried for breakfast for the next couple of days. Easy peasy future meals. The herbs give it a fresh taste and aroma, and the maple syrup balsamic vinegar provides just a hint of sweetness.
Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (they are moister than breasts, cheaper, and cook quicker). Trim the extra fat off the thighs. Set thighs aside.
2 T olive oil
Two-and-a-half pounds of boneless chicken thighs is a LOT of meat! This dish easily serves six.
Coating Mix
1 C almond meal/flour
2 T finely chopped fresh organic sage
2 T finely chopped fresh organic dill
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 T coarse ground salt (leave out, and sprinkle on chicken after coating each piece)
Mix all ingredients except the salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
This is the brand of Almond Meal/Flour I usually use. I don’t think it’s organic, but it’s available at most of the grocery stores near me, and that makes it convenient.
Both The Herbal Garden sage and the dill are organic and available at Meijer. The coarse ground Mediterranean Sea Salt is great for coating chicken.
Finely chopped sage and dill. I put the spoon next to the piles so you can see how that this is a lot of herbs — each pile is two tablespoons.
The almond flour after mixing in the cumin, sage, and dill.
Batter
2 large eggs
1 T maple syrup balsamic vinegar
Beat eggs and vinegar together in small bowl, set aside.
Adding the maple syrup balsamic vinegar to the eggs makes them really dark, but don’t worry. It’s supposed to look like that.
The Process
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you’re making sweet potatoes to serve with this (I highly recommend it), wash them and put them in the 350-degree oven about 30-40 minutes before the chicken.
You’ll need a baking pan large enough for the chicken to lie in a single layer. I used a broiler pan — it has low sides and enough square footage to accommodate all the chicken.
- Coat the bottom of the pan with the olive oil.
- Dip each piece of chicken in the egg batter, then pat it into the the bowl of the coating mix making sure to coat both sides very lightly. Almond flour can sometimes create a gritty or very dry texture, so go easy. You don’t need to cover every inch of the chicken.
- Place the chicken in a single layer in the pan.
Just before it goes in the oven. Notice that the chicken thighs are not completely covered with the breading mixture. This is on purpose, otherwise the almond flour texture can be gritty and dry.
- When all the chicken is in the pan, sprinkle each piece evenly with some of the coarse salt. Use your fingers or the back of a spoon to press the salt into the chicken.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes. Chicken is done when you can cut it with a fork and the juices run clear.
- Turn up the oven to 425 degrees, place chicken on the top rack and brown it for five minutes. Do not overcook it or it will be dry! It won’t get super browned, but will brown up a bit.
Serve it with a side of sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon on them and you have a full meal! Yumcious, scrumptious!
The end result! Baked Chicken with Sage and Dill. This recipe makes a large pan full of meat, enough to feed about six people.
choice fare 