Brown Butter Cider Chicken

 Cooler temperatures hit and we start consuming copious amounts of apple cider. Today, I’m sharing this recipe for Brown Butter Cider Chicken, a savory way to use up that gallon of fresh apple cider you bought over the weekend at the orchard. 

Having grown up on a Caribbean island, my consumption of apple juice was low. Even nonexistent was my consumption of apple cider. It was nowhere to be found on the warm island and instead we consumed plenty of guava, mango, and tamarind juices. Now living in New England, I know fall has started when the bottles of fresh apple cider start appearing at the farm stands and local grocery stores. The tangy, sweet apple cider still amazes me – it’s like biting into a fresh apple, what’s not to love?!

Now, the amount of sweet recipes using cider is a bit overwhelming, so I decided to make a quick and easy dinner recipe using apple cider that’s tasty and will impress you guests. Plus, with the added dried fruit and nuts, it’s healthy! Well, let’s not get carried away – it is a brown butter based sauce, but let’s not let that stop us.

Brown butter is one of those things that pertain to the quote of “simple is better”. It’s simply unsalted butter that heated over medium hight heat until it starts foaming starts to turn a golden brown color. But be warned, brown butter goes from brown to burnt butter in the blink of an eye, so stay close by! This is a dish that comes together quickly, so you’ll have it on the table in now time. Try this Brown Butter Cider Chicken with Apricots and Pecans for your next weeknight dinner! Don’t have pecans? Use almonds! Don’t have dried apricots? Use plump raisins or any other dried fruit of your liking.

Brown Butter Cider Chicken

Make this Brown Butter Cider Chicken and I'll promise you it will become a family favorite during the autumn season. It's quick, easy, and oh so flavorful!

Print Recipe

Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:15 minutes mins

Total Time:25 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 large skinless boneless chicken breasts, chopped to 1" pieces
• ½ cup dried apricots halved
• ½ cup whole pecans
• 1 cup fresh apple cider

Instructions

• In a large cast iron sauté pan, melt the butter oven medium high heat until it slowly becomes darker, essentially brown butter.
• Season your chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Sear on all sides in the brown butter (lower the heat to medium heat to allow your chicken to cook but not burn the butter).
• Toss in dried apricots and pecans. Saute until chicken is 3/4 cooked.
• Add apple cider and increase heat to high, until half of the cider reduces and becomes a glaze.
• Serve over brown rice, quinoa, or your favorite noodles.