Worried that your chicken breasts are always dry and boring? No longer. These fork-tender Apple Cider Braised Chicken Breasts with Sweet Potatoes and Gingersnaps are anything but dry and boring!
I had chicken breasts in the freezer, apple cider in the fridge, a half a box of gingersnaps left in the pantry, a few sweet potatoes that I needed to use before they went bad, and friends coming for dinner.
The result was this recipe for Apple Cider Braised Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Gingersnaps. It far surpassed my expectations, and was a huge hit with our guests! Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!! 🙂
**Please Note - The printable recipe card with detailed instructions, complete ingredient measurements, and nutritional information for making Braised Apple Cider Chicken Breasts with Sweet Potatoes & Gingersnaps is available near the end of this post.
The easy ingredient list;
- chicken breasts
- apple cider
- light colored oil (I used avocado)
- onion
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder
- gingersnap cookies
What exactly is braising?
- Braising is a cooking method in a closed vessel with some sort of cooking liquid. In this case, I used a Dutch oven as my closed cooking vessel and apple cider as the cooking liquid.
- Braising is a super easy method of cooking which makes tough, dry, and cheaper cuts of meat moist and tender due to cooking them low and slow in the oven, or even on the stovetop.
Are there tips to getting the most flavor out of a braise?
- Yes! Season and brown the meat you plan to braise very well on all sides, before adding the braising liquid. This will add additional flavor to the meat.
- Once the proteins have been properly browned, add a small amount of the cooking liquid and scrape up all the browned bits of flavor (the fond) from the bottom of the pan. Again, this will add the most flavor possible to the pot and the completed dish.
The easy instructions for making Apple Cider Braised Chicken Breasts:
If you're a regular reader of my blog, then you know that here's where I like to add all my step-by-step photos. Believe me, I wanted to add them, and I did take the photos, but for the life of me, I can not find them anywhere (on either or my cameras, or on my computer files). I think that I must have accidentally deleted them. Sad. I know.
However, as I stated earlier, braising is easy as long as you follow a few basic steps. So here they are, without the photos. 😉 The exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
*Special Note - Braising takes several hours, however, most of it is hands-off time, so please plan accordingly. Braising is best saved for a weekend when more time is easier to come by.
- Season and deeply brown the chicken breasts in the oil on both sides, working in two batches if needed.
- Remove the browned chicken from the Dutch oven and set aside.
- Add a sliced onion to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add about 1 cup of the apple cider to the pot, making sure to scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Return the browned chicken to the pot and add the remaining apple cider.
- Cover and place the pot in a 300-degree oven for 2 hours.
- After two hours, remove the pot from the oven and add the peeled and sliced sweet potatoes to the chicken.
- Return the pot to the oven for an additional 70-90 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Remove the pot from the oven and add in some gingersnap cookies. Cover and return the pot to the oven for an additional 20 minutes.
- Serve, spooning the cooking liquid and the sweet potatoes over the chicken.
For additional delicious, family-pleasing chicken recipes I've shared in the past, please click on the following titles for;
- Gluten-Free Macadamia Nut Chicken Thighs
- Smoky Sweet Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts
- Maple Mustard Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs
- French Onion Chicken
- Waffle Batter Fried Chicken Tenders
Below is the printable recipe card for today’s Apple Cider Braised Chicken Breasts with Sweet Potatoes and Gingersnaps. If you’ve enjoyed this recipe and look forward to making it (or have already made it), I’d appreciate if you’d take a moment to give it some feedback by way of stars near the comment section at the end of this post. Thank you so much!
Apple Cider Braised Chicken Breasts with Sweet Potatoes and Gingersnaps
Ingredients
- 6 large chicken breasts boneless
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or other light colored oil
- 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder or to taste
- 1 large onion sliced
- 3 cups apple cider
- 5 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into large chunks
- 12 gingersnap cookies
Instructions
- Season the chicken breasts on both sides with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Add the oil to a large Dutch oven and brown the chicken very well on both sides on medium/high heat, working in batches, if needed.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Add the sliced onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 cup of the apple cider to the pan with the onion, making sure to scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan (deglazing).
- Add the browned chicken back to the pan along with the remaining apple cider. Cover and place in a preheated 300-degree oven for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, remove the pan from the oven and add in the prepared sweet potatoes. Return the pan to the oven for an additional 70-90 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Remove the pan from the oven and add in the gingersnaps. Return the pan to the oven for an additional 20 minutes.
- To serve, spoon the sauce, potatoes and softened gingersnaps over the chicken breasts.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
I sincerely hope you've enjoyed today's recipe for Apple Cider Braised Chicken Breasts with Sweet Potatoes and Gingersnaps as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you!
Should you have any questions regarding today's recipe or anything else you've seen on my site, please don't hesitate to contact me directly or leave me a comment in the comment section below. It is always my distinct pleasure to get back to you with a reply just as soon as I possibly can!
For additional information regarding my Kudos Kitchen recipes, and/or my hand painted glassware or fabric items, please follow me on;
FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, and YOUTUBE
Kudos Kitchen by Renée ~ Cooking up artistically delicious family-friendly dishes from my Kudos Kitchen to yours!
Until we eat again, I hope you have a delicious day!
Sue says
Hello! You say that 3 cups of apple cider are needed and that one cup gets added when the onion goes in to deglaze. But when do the other 2 cups of apple cider go in? Thanks! Sue
Renée says
I'm so sorry for my error, Sue. I've since gone back in and fixed it.
Add the remaining apple cider to the pot when you've added the chicken back in, and before adding to the oven.
I appreciate your kindly letting me know of my mistake.
Have a great day,
Renee
Kathy says
I made this today and accidentally put Apple cider vinegar. It turned out awesome! I also used extra wide egg noodles in place of potatoes. I added some chicken broth from the hatch chicken I made earlier as well as some sour cream.
It think the Apple cider vinegar tenderized the chicken.
Renée says
That's awesome, Kathy! I'm sure the vinegar tenderized the chicken.
Some mistakes make for the tastiest recipes. Thanks for the comment and star rating.
Have a great day!
Renee
Shiho says
Thank you for the tips to braise chicken. No more dry chicken breast for me. Thank you!
Nellie Tracy says
These recipes are awesome and I highly recommend them!
Renée says
Thank you so much, Nellie!
Nellie Tracy says
I can see why these are your most popular! I can't wait to try them!