Chicken Thighs with Red Cabbage. I have been making this dish for many years, dating back to the mid 90’s. There used to be a column on the Washington Post Food section called “On The Fridge- Dinner Tonight”. It is now called Dinner-in-Minutes, but the concept is the same. Easy, quick recipes that can be made on a weeknight, with little prep work.
It’s a great fall recipe, with cabbage and apple cider as two of the main ingredients. Throw in red onions and red wine vinegar, and you can understand why we call this “The Red Chicken Dinner”.
First you pan-sear the chicken to crisp up the skin, then braise it nestled in a pan full of red cabbage and red onion, red wine vinegar, with a pinch of sugar, along with the apple cider.
This recipe is great for your busy weeknights because it’s all made in 30 minutes and using one-pot only. With lots of protein and fresh veggies, this chicken thigh and cabbage dish is filling and delicious.
Made with simple ingredients, this one pan meal is gluten, dairy and nut free. It’s low-carb and fits great with the paleo and Whole30 eating plans. It makes healthy eating super easy with meal prep.
What is the best type of cabbage for this dish?
There are more than a dozen varieties of cabbage, but some work better in this chicken and cabbage dish than others. Try any of these:
- Red cabbage- this is a little tougher if you want it to maintain a more crisp texture. It is my preferred cabbage for this recipe.
- Cannonball cabbage- these are the typical green cabbages found in the grocery store
- Napa cabbage- if you like something a little sweeter and not as crisp
Equipment
- Large sauté pan with cover
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 4 bone-in chicken thighs
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1 small head of red cabbage cored and sliced (about 8 cups)
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup apple cider
Instructions
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil.
- Season chicken with the thyme, oregano, coriander, and salt & pepper
- Add the chicken and brown on both sides, about 5 minutes
- Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.
- In the same skillet, bring the onion, cabbage, vinegar and sugar to a boil.
- Cover, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the cabbage begins to wilt, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cider.
- Place the chicken on top of the cabbage mixture.
- Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 25-30 minutes.
- Internal temperature of the chicken should be 165 degrees
- Serve with creamy polenta or mashed potatoes.
Video
Nutrition
How do you cut cabbage?
Cabbage is very dense and can be intimidating to cut into even pieces. Once you know the method, your chicken and cabbage will be evenly cooked and will look amazing.
- Remove the outer leaves. Just pull off the ones that are loose and easy to remove.
- Quarter the head of cabbage.
- Each piece now has a bit of the core left. Use your paring knife to remove the tough core.
- Put your cabbage quarter cut side down on the cutting board and slice it horizontally into ribbons. You can make the ribbons as thick or thin as you like. For the chicken and cabbage dish, thicker is probably a little better than very thin slices.
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If you liked our recipe for Chicken Thighs with Red Cabbage, try our recipe for Yorkshire Pudding
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Great fall recipe, easy to make and ready in 30 minutes or so
Red cabbage is a favorite in our house. Yum!
Thanks