Roasted Apple Cider Chicken

ByDeanna Segrave-Daly
17 Comments

Use apple cider in cooking - like with this easy roasted chicken recipe for your next family dinner.

Roasted Apple Cider Chicken

Disclosure: Boyden Valley Winery provided an in-kind wine tasting and purchasing discount for attendees at Blog Brûlée but I was not compensated nor asked to write this post. Opinions are my own.

Chickens roasting on an open fire....

OK, that's not exactly how the song goes but the cold weather has kicked in here in Philly and you can just feel the holidays coming on. (Though I gotta say, props out to the stores that are closed on Thanksgiving, or not opening early the day after or not putting up holiday decorations until after Thanksgiving - I'm sure hoping this trend continues.)

So, back in September during our Blog Brulée event, we were lucky enough to squeeze in a wine and cheese tasting (at 10 am - that's how we roll) with Boyden Valley Winery and our friends at Cabot Cheese.

First off, it was one of the most picturesque scenes of the weekend both inside and out - red barns, pumpkins on display, chandeliers hanging from wooden rafters.

Scenes from Boyden Valley Winery for #BlogBrulee via @teaspoonofspiceNow, I'm certainly not a wine connoisseur but I've done a fair share of tastings and vineyard visits and I have to say, Boyden produces some of the most unique wines/spirits I've seen in a while. Case in point:

  • Vermont Ice Hard Cider - a dry, sparkling hard cider made with Vermont Macintosh, Empire & Northern Spy apples. <--yeah, I bought two bottles. (And it was paired with my new favorite Cabot cheese: Alpine Cheddar.)
  • Cranberry Rosé - a semi-dry rosé made by Vermont grown cranberries <-- so unique
  • Gold Leaf - a dessert wine made of Northern Spy apples and estate maple syrup fermeted and aged for two years <--- WHY did I not buy this? It was magical.
  • Vermont Ice Maple Crème Liqueur - a cordial made from apple brandy, estate maple syrup and cream - like apple + maple meets Baileys <--- I did buy a bottle of this. You're welcome everyone coming over for Christmas as we will be breaking open this baby.

Think maple syrup meets Baileys in this Boyden Windery Vermont Ice Maple Creme

On top of everything, Boyden's owner, Linda Boyden and manager Bridget Jones were so welcoming and full of interesting stories and information - that the time flew by. If you are ever near Burlington or heading to Smugglers' Notch, I definitely recommending stopping by Boyden Valley Winery for a visit (located in Cambridge, VT.)

So, onto the recipe...this couldn't be simpler.

1) Add about 2 ½ pounds of chicken parts to a roasting pan.

2) Add apples, onions, lemon and seasonings.

3) Pour apple cider over and cook in oven for about 75 minutes.

4) Done.

And now for the more official recipe.....

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Roasted Apple Cider Chicken

  • Author: Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD
Print Recipe

Description

Use apple cider in your cooking like with this easy roasted chicken recipe for your next family dinner.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 pieces of chicken (breast, leg, thigh or a combination) - about 2 ½ pounds
  • 3 medium apples, coarsely chopped
  • 1 large onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 1 medium lemon, cut into wedges
  • 6 springs rosemary
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups hard apple cider or non-alcoholic apple cider

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Pour oil into a large roasting pan and add chicken (flip each piece a few times so oil is coating all pieces.)
  3. Add apples, onion and lemon wedges. Place rosemary springs over chicken pieces. Sprinkle with pepper and salt.
  4. Slowly pour apple cider over chicken. Bake for 75 - 80 minutes or until chicken is browned and cider is reduced down a bit.

Notes

Adapted from the US Apple Association's Cider-Baked Chicken and Sausage

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us @tsp_basil @tspcurry — we can't wait to see what you've made!

While this roasts, the aroma coming out of your kitchen will be just heavenly. Be sure to serve it with a crusty, multi-grain bread to sop up all that lovely cider juice so you can really clean your plate.

Use apple cider in your cooking like with this easy roasted chicken recipe via @teaspoonofspice

If you're digging this post, you might also like these recipes:

CHINESE STYLE BAKED LEMON CHICKEN
UGLY ROSEMARY ORANGE ROASTED CHICKEN
SPINACH SALAD WITH ROASTED APPLES + HOLIDAY SALAD RECIPE ROUNDUP

Are you an apple cider (regular or hard) fan? Do you ever cook with it? 

Use apple cider in your cooking like with this easy roasted chicken recipe for your next family dinner. Recipe at Teaspoonofspice.com

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17 Comments

  1. i love the roasted flavor combination of chicken, apples, and onions! comfort food at its simplest... now for the boyden goodies, somehow i got out of there empty-handed. in my mind that is near unforgivable and must be remedied. 🙁

  2. I love the invite for us to come over at Christmas and drink the Maple Creme... #IWish 🙂

  4. I am chuckling to myself that you had a wine tasting in the morning. Not exactly what I would expect from a group of RDs. Ha ha! This chicken has to be part of my weekend. That's all there is to it. Love everything about it!

    1. Oh, but you know us well - that we are the food-loving, wine drinking RDs that are game for anything - he he. Honored if this chicken became a part of your weekend (as your chocolate swirl pumpkin pie was part of mine - soooooo good!)

  5. I've never liked apple cider...to drink. But to cook...YES! This is fabulous! A perfect way to flavor chicken!

    1. Yes, I think even non-drinking cider peeps could get behind this recipe 🙂 I'll drink your leftover cider too - ha!

  6. Your chicken looks wonderful - love the combo of apples and apple cider in this! I would never in a million years thought of trying this combo!

    1. Thanks Shashi - it just dawned on me one day when I saw cooking pork with apple juice 🙂

  7. I'm reading this at breakfast time, but that pan of chicken is so gorgeous, I could dig in right now! I'm off to the store for cider 🙂

  8. SO...Don't be surprised if I show up on Christmas day, since you put out the invitation 🙂 LOVE this recipe (and I think it might be delicious w/ a turkey breast too :-)And, on my holiday shopping list is to order some of those yummy wines, ciders, and maple creme liqueur (amazing stuff!!) for my dad (he loves sweet wine), and for my hubby and myself too!

    1. You have the open ended 24/7 invite any time you are even close to Philly (like NYC 🙂 I know - Boyden Wines make awesome gifts - luckily my sister-in-law lives over the bridge in New Jersey so I can get around PA's kooky liquor laws and get stuff shipped there.

  9. The next time someone tells me they have no time to cook, I'm going to send them straight to this recipe. And so pretty, too!

  10. I have all of the ingredients in the house-including Texas local Fowler Farms Apple Cider in the fridge--I'm making this over the weekend. 🙂 LOVE

  11. Wow, I can only imagine how flavourful that would be- the combination of apples and onions is delicious and damn. Can I come over for dinner?

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