Soft and Juicy Oven-Baked Chicken: The Secret of Yogurt Marinade
Cooking an oven-baked chicken that doesn’t turn out dry is the challenge for every cooking enthusiast. If, like me, you don’t particularly enjoy white meat when it’s dry, this recipe will change your mind. The secret to obtaining meat that “melts in your mouth” is using a yogurt and honey sauce added directly during cooking.
Why Does Yogurt Sauce Make Chicken More Tender?
Unlike classic recipes, here the seasoning isn’t just a side dish but the heart of the preparation. The yogurt acts in two ways: the natural acids in the yogurt break down the fibers of the meat, making it very tender. The yogurt and honey mix also creates a protection that seals the juices inside, ensuring an incredible “melt-in-your-mouth” sensation from the first bite. The yogurt sauce will also drip onto the cooking vegetables, creating a creamy and flavorful side dish that will win over the whole family.
A Complete and Aromatic Main Course
This recipe is not only technical but an explosion of flavors thanks to a balanced mix of aromatic herbs and spices. Cooked together with a rich side of seasonal vegetables, namely carrots and potatoes, this chicken will become a unique, nutritious, and digestible dish, perfect for a daily meal or a special occasion.
If white meats are your passion, here are some other ideas to inspire you to enjoy them in a more original and tasty way:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stove, Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs (*)
- 4 fresh spring onions
- 4 potatoes (medium)
- 4 carrots
- 1.4 fl oz white wine
- 2 cloves garlic
- to taste aromatic herbs (thyme and rosemary)
- to taste chives
- to taste garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- to taste black pepper
- 3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons orange blossom honey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 lemon juice
Tools
- 2 Gloves
- 1 Scissors
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Pan
- 1 Ladle
- 1 Hand Whisk
- 1 Strainer
- 1 Baking Dish
Steps
Using kitchen gloves and scissors, start by removing the chicken skin without washing the thighs under running water**.
Place the thighs in a large bowl, I used a baking dish, and season with 2 tablespoons of oil, the fresh aromatic herbs plucked, the dried chives, the garlic powder, the paprika or other preferred spice, and a sprinkle of pepper to taste.
Massage the thighs with these aromas and let them rest for about 20′ .
In the meantime, tend to the vegetables: wash, clean, and cut the carrots and potatoes into medium chunks, and slice the spring onions into rounds, including the green part of the stalk with a knife.
In a large non-stick wok or pan, brown the spring onions with 2 cloves of garlic and 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat for about 1′.
Add the potatoes and carrots, cover with a lid, and simmer over low heat for 13′-15′, adding a little hot water to the vegetables only if needed.
After this time, turn off the heat, adjust the salt and pepper to taste, and let cool.
Once cooled, transfer the vegetables into a large baking dish or roasting pan.
In the pan where you cooked the vegetables, add a tablespoon of oil to the leftover juices, sear the chicken thighs over high heat for 5′ on each side, to seal in the chicken juices and create a nice crust***.
Separately, in a bowl, combine the Greek yogurt with the honey, add the soy sauce, the mustard, and finally the freshly squeezed lemon juice using a strainer.
Mix with a hand whisk until all the ingredients are blended.
Transfer the seared chicken thighs into the baking dish with the vegetables and drizzle the entire surface with the yogurt and honey sauce.
Place in a preheated static oven at 350°F for 35′-40′ or until it appears well cooked. Serve garnished with a few lemon slices.
And voilà… the oven-baked chicken with potatoes and carrots in yogurt and honey sauce is ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appétit from La Cucina di FeFè!
Storage
👉 You can store the oven-baked chicken with potatoes and carrots in yogurt and honey sauce in the fridge in suitable refrigerated containers and reheat the thighs in the microwave for a few minutes before serving.
Tips, Notes, Variations, and Suggestions
🔵* This recipe calls for chicken thighs, but you can slightly modify it by using drumsticks or upper thighs instead. Since less experienced cooks tend to confuse these cuts, let me clarify: the drumsticks are the lower and smaller part of the thigh, while the upper thigh is the higher and larger part. The thigh naturally includes both, the drumstick, and the upper thigh.
🔵** The temptation, before cooking the chicken, is always to wash its raw meat for better cleaning. But experts agree that rinsing the chicken is indeed dangerous. Raw chicken is often contaminated by bacteria like Campylobacter, Salmonella, etc., which can cause serious food poisoning. Cooking the meat to 185°F is the best solution to destroy these bacteria and make the chicken safe. Washing it, on the other hand, only spreads the bacteria to other surfaces, sink utensils, and other foods, increasing the likelihood of contamination. Washing your hands if you haven’t used gloves is highly recommended!
🔵*** Searing meat, in general, and chicken in this recipe, is an essential step if you want to prepare certain types of dishes like roasts or slow-cooked dishes. When you sear meats, both white and red, you caramelize their natural sugars and brown the proteins, forming a rich brown crust on the surface that amplifies the savory flavor of the finished dish. The initial hot searing of the chicken in the pan is therefore critical to achieving this delicious browning.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
1. Can natural yogurt be used?
Yes, of course, you can use regular natural plain yogurt instead of Greek yogurt, but to achieve the same softness and juiciness, it’s good to keep a couple of technical tips in mind: since classic yogurt is more fluid than Greek yogurt, to prevent the sauce from slipping off too quickly during cooking, making it less protected, you can add a teaspoon of cornstarch or flour to the marinade. This will help the yogurt “cling” better to the meat, creating that moisture barrier critical to keeping it from drying out.
