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!
If you're looking for the taste of fall in a flavorful chicken dish...look no further!
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The easy ingredient list:
- chicken breasts
- apple cider
- light colored oil (I used avocado)
- onion
- sweet potatoes
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder
- gingersnap cookies
How this recipe came to be:
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!! 🙂
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.
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Whoops!
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 cannot find them anywhere (on either of 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.
The buzz on braising:
*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.
The easy instructions:
- 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.
Additional chicken recipe you'll enjoy:
- 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
When you make this recipe (and I hope that you will), I'd appreciate it if you'd take the time to come back and give it a star rating along with a comment on why you rated as you did. Search engines such as Google appreciate comments and ratings and, in turn, will show my recipes to more people. Please look for the pink star rating box within the printable recipe card. Thank you!!
Printable Recipe Card
Apple Cider Braised Chicken Breasts with Sweet Potatoes and Gingersnaps
Equipment
- salt and pepper grinders optional
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 (or juice)
- 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!
Thank you so much for visiting me today in my Kudos Kitchen. I hope you found something you'll love and that you will come back and visit me often. Please know that there is always room for you around my kitchen table!
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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!