This pecan chicken is served with a creamy cranberry goat cheese sauce. A fancy looking festive dinner you can make in 30 minutes.
We went apple picking this weekend and even though we tried to be conservative in our picking, we somehow ended up with 10+ pounds of apples.
Ten pounds isn’t really a huge amount but as I’ve said before, I really couldn’t care less about them as a fruit.
Especially when the only varieties left on the trees were Empire, Red Delicious (worst apple on the planet, whoever put the word ‘delicious’ in that name was clearly high) and Cortland.
We did find a handful of Fuji trees hidden in the back corner of the orchard that had a few decent apples left on them which was the only redeeming thing about the experience.
Well, that and three dozen fresh cider donuts we ordered.
So I had every intention of making some sort of chicken dish involving apples to attack the stash sitting on my counter, except what came out was pecan chicken with cranberry goat cheese sauce.
Far from anything having to do with an apple.
Oops.
Not a bad oops though. It very much reminded me of a chicken version of this dijon almond crusted tilapia just obviously with a different nut too.
All in all, a delicious way to do an easy chicken dinner on a weeknight that’s not the same boring old breaded cutlet, ya know?
I’ll pretty much go through a bag of cranberries a week from now until Christmas, throwing them into any and everything I can.
Or simply making cranberry sauce in the slow cooker or my stove-top bourbon cranberry sauce to spoon onto everything I eat.
This combination of tart cranberries and creamy goat cheese makes a tangy fruit sauce perfect for topping this easy pecan chicken.
If the cranberry thing is too weird for you, roasted garlic whipped goat cheese is the perfect replacement.
It’s a beautifully festive dinner you’d think takes far more effort than it actually does; thirty minutes and it’s on your table.
I’ll work on the apples later…
Maybe a simple microwave apple crisp for dessert.
MORE CHICKEN RECIPES TO TRY:
Stuffed chicken marsala
Maple miso chicken
Garlic chicken bite skillet
Pecan Chicken with Cranberry Goat Cheese Sauce
This pecan chicken is served with a creamy cranberry goat cheese sauce. A fancy looking festive dinner you can make in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast
- 3/4 cup pecans
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1 cup fresh/frozen cranberries, divided
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 ounces goat cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- Combine pecans, 1 sprig of rosemary leaves, salt and pepper in a food processor. Process until finely chopped. Transfer mixture into a shallow bowl.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Place yogurt in a shallow bowl.
- Coat each piece of chicken in the yogurt then place in the pecan mixture and press down into the pecans until fully coated on each side. Place the chicken on the baking sheet.
- Bake chicken until cooked through and no longer pink, about 15-20 minutes depending on thickness of breast.
- While the chicken cooks, combine 3/4 cup of the cranberries with the water, remaining sprig of rosemary leaves and honey in a small sauce pot over medium-high heat.
- Simmer mixture until most of the liquid cooks off, about 5-7 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low, add the remaining 1/4 cup of cranberries and the goat cheese and stir until melted. Add a splash of water if necessary to thin out into a sauce-like consistency.
- Serve chicken with the sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 397Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 104mgSodium: 234mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 41g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For the most precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator based on the actual ingredients you used in the recipe.
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Rebekah C
Sunday 30th of November 2014
Sounds wonderful but I have some goat cheese haters here. Any suggestions for a suitable goat cheese swap/substitute?
rachel
Monday 27th of October 2014
this looks so good! its so perfect for fall!
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps
Tuesday 21st of October 2014
Crispy chicken, sweet sauce, tangy goat cheese -- I'm sold.