Herby Skillet Chicken With Greens
Updated March 18, 2024
- Total Time
- 35 to 45 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 25 to 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 6garlic cloves, 5 smashed and peeled, 1 finely grated or minced
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal, or use ½ teaspoon Morton), more as needed
- 1teaspoon ground coriander
- Large pinch of red-pepper flakes
- 1½ to 1¾ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (see Tip)
- 1bunch scallions
- About 1 large or 2 small bunches kale, collard greens, mustard greens, mature spinach or other hardy greens (12 ounces)
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
- 1cup chicken stock or water
- 1cup chopped soft herbs, such as cilantro, dill, mint or basil, or a combination, more for serving
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1lemon, zested and halved
- 1 to 3tablespoons chopped olives or capers (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
399 calories; 22 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 41 grams protein; 822 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together grated garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, coriander and red-pepper flakes. Rub all over chicken, then set aside to rest at room temperature while you prepare vegetables.
- Step 2
Thinly slice the scallions, separating the white and green parts. Pull the leaves off the greens and coarsely chop them (discard stems or save for another use). You should have 8 to 9 cups.
- Step 3
Heat a 10-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high. Add oil and smashed garlic cloves, stirring to coat garlic in oil, then add chicken. Cook, stirring the garlic occasionally, until chicken is deeply browned on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn chicken and cook for 1 to 2 minutes on the other side, just until no longer pink (the chicken will still be very raw inside). Transfer chicken to a plate but leave garlic in the pan.
- Step 4
Stir in scallion whites (save the greens for later) and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until softened and lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in stock, greens, herbs, another pinch of salt and a drizzle of oil. Bring liquid to a simmer, tossing to wilt the greens (you might have to add the greens in batches, adding more as they wilt down).
- Step 5
When the greens are wilted, nestle chicken into skillet, browned side up, and pour in any juices from the chicken plate. Transfer skillet to oven and cook, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pan from oven and transfer chicken to a plate.
- Step 6
If pan juices are watery, bring to a simmer over high heat and cook until thickened slightly. Add scallion greens, butter, lemon zest, and olives or capers (if using) to the pan, stirring until the butter melts. Squeeze in a little lemon juice, then taste and add more salt and lemon juice if needed. Return chicken to the pan and toss with the saucy greens. Top with more herbs and serve.
Tip
- If you want to use bone-in, skin-on thighs or chicken breasts here, you can. Just add about 10 minutes or so cooking time for the bone-in thighs, and start checking the breasts 5 minutes sooner since they might need less time in the oven.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
hillary
Maybe I am lame but it took me, between washing veggies/herbs and chopping and cooking more than an hour and a half total. Peeling garlic, grating garlic, chopping herbs, greens, scallions. Little bowls to hold everything. Cooking chicken in two batches because all the thighs didn't fit in 10" pan. Did enjoy, but definitely not a quick dinner (for me, anyway).
Anne B
I made this exactly as written. If someone had made it for me, I would have been very happy. But as the cook, I thought it was too much work for the reward. I am impressed by the person who plans to add it to their weeknight rotation.
Richard
Made this with kale, Swiss chard and cilantro and skin on/bone in thighs. Essentially a seared chicken dish with a green/lemony/buttery pan sauce. Easy weeknight dinner for us and we enjoyed. I needed the juice from a whole lemon to complete the sauce. Worth a go.
MJT
As I read Step 2, the 8-9 cups refers to the greens, torn from the stems and coarsely chopped. The scallions are separate.
Liz
I believe the 8-9 cups refers to the coarsely chopped greens [1 large or 2 small bunches kale, collard greens, mustard greens, mature spinach or other hardy greens (12 ounces)], not to the scallions.
Danny
While the recipe does involve a good bit of prep, I handled all of the chopping earlier in the day and set in the fridge before dinner (including letting the chicken marinate in the rub). When it came time to cook, things came together pretty quickly and the end result – with those herby, garlicky, wilted greens – was spectacular.
indigo394
The miracle of the Wedding at Canna: I bunch of scallions becomes 8-9 cups once chopped! Melissa, I know you are a wizard in the kitchen, but even I suspect this might be a typo? Mark
katerina
she means the collard and other greens, not the scallions
Jade
This is a great recipe that allows you to use what’s on hand and vary according to your palate. Due to missing ingredients I used onions instead of scallions , deglazed pan with wine (no lemon in the house!) and added spinach and a little parsley. Absolutely delicious over rice. I’m dairy free- no need for the butter- and perfect level of salt. No need for olives IMO. Warm and yummy.
debra j
Great addition to the weeknight rotation — I love the flexibility! I used kale and a combination of parsley, thyme, oregano and sage bc that’s what I had. Added a shallot bc it was about to get tossed, and I served it over rice. I’ll try spinach next and capers or olives (didn’t use either this time).
Kate
Pretty tasty, particularly with capers and lemon in the sauce but the cilantro I used cooked with the kale was completely lost. Next time would just sprinkle in at the end.
Richard
It says the scallions and the leafy greens. The amount is correct.
Janet
For those of us who avoid the difficulty and dangers of repeatedly lifting a hot heavy pan of meat and sloshing liquid, partially covering the pan and completing the last steps of the recipe on the stovetop will be the way to go. Shifting the cover so that different areas of the pan are open helps to maintain a slow simmer and evaporate the liquid.
Nadia
Agree this takes longer than the indicated time (~1 hour for me), but delicious and doable on a weeknight nonetheless with minimal clean up (especially if you've washed/cut the greens previously). Used swiss chard and dill with some olives, which gave it a Greek vibe. Also used a 12" skillet - this would have been tight in a 10" and I only had a pound of chicken too.
Wendy
Cooked as written, with parsley and dill for herbs. Somehow, the combination of flavors didn’t jell. Not awful, but not tasty either.
Alexandra
Made this twice so far. First time gave it 10 stars out of 5. Second time it was tasty but not superb. With that in mind, some comments: First time used all kale. Tonight used one bundle of chard and one of kale. Chard (and the basil I used as the herb) got mushy. Would recommend all kale and a less leafy herb. Cooking down in last step until it’s really an emulsified sauce without extra liquid makes a huge difference and is worth the time. Use full lemon and capers Takes 60-90 min total
Lisa D.
Glad I read the notes before I made this dish. It's good, but as others noted: A) It's salty. I did not add any extra salt other than the 1tsp. I also used reduced sodium chicken stock but it was still for my wife's palate. B) Yes, between all the chopping of greens it took longer. I didn't have a microplane so I minced the first garlic clove. C) Recipe was made with kale and Swiss chard. I used the stalks of the chard and I'm glad I did as the kale cooked down to almost nothing.
Meg
This recipe is amazing! I used a bigger pan and yes, it took longer than indicated, but so worth it. I used dill and basil for the herbs, kale for the greens, added castelvetrano olives at the end and the flavors were perfection.
1234mom
This was a nice go to the garden and pick dinner meal. The only problem is it turned out to be too salty. Will cut the salt back by a lot next time and the flavors would be perfect. Served with bread to mop up those salty juices. I also made this into a insta pot. Meal thinking it wouldn’t heat up the kitchen on this steamy day. I was wrong, boiling away the extra moisture just steamed the kitchen.
MJ
Made as directed, and it was delicious. Sped up the process by giving the kale a quick rinse and hand-tear rather than a proper rinse, dry and chop. I also didn't really bother with separating the chopped ingredients into bowls, I just divided them on my cutting board. Next time, I think I'll skip the minced garlic in the marinade to save time as I felt the crushed garlic got the flavor across just fine.
T.Heuer
Used a 12 inch cast iron creuset for more space. Added more garlic. Used basil and cilantro as herbs and kale as greens. Added a bit of olive oil to the smashed garlic to form paste to better coat the chicken. Added capers and lemon juice. Excellent. Will make again.
Amy S
This was marvelous. I was quite worried the garlic would burn so I used a 12" cast iron in order to have room to operate. I kept the garlic moving and it turned out just fine, disintegrating nicely in the final dish. Greens let out such a lovely "pot liquor," so I increased the chicken broth to 1.5 cups and may even do a little bit more next time. With all that lemony garlic and pot liquor, the resulting sauce was amazing. Yes, it took some time to prep but was SO worth it.
Sarah
Melissa Clark always makes me feel like I’m a more skilled cook than I am: we LOVED the elegant flavors this dish produced. I used 2 lb of BLSL thighs and 1.5x the rub, but I still felt there could have been more — next time I’d 2x. We used collards for the greens, and added the capers to delightful result (though I’ll need to remember to reduce my salt a bit when using capers — it was great over unseasoned rice, but the sauce was too salty on its own. My fault, not Melissa’s!)
Simon Greedwell
This was incredibly good. The greens wound up being almost like saag paneer. WOW
Anne
I liked this a lot. I gave it a 4 out of 5 only because it was a lot of work. I served it with an orange and fennel salad that complimented it very well. So much that I wondered how subbing orange zest and juice for the lemon would go. Next time.
Paul
We have made this three times since the recipe first appeared in the daily NYT email, and really like it. I would say the time to make it is optimistic, because it is a lot of prep. However, the flavor is fantastic and well worth the effort.Great Mediterranean flavors, lots of citrus and bright flavors. One of our favorite dishes.
jenny
We really enjoyed this recipe, though agree with previous comments that it did take longer than expected. We used basil, parsley and dill as our primary herbs and the combination was delicious. We used swiss chard, and capers with extra lemon and thought the flavors were great together. We will definitely put this into our rotation, but I think moving forward we will not cook the greens in the oven with the chicken, preferring them more aldente.
nikki chernick
I made this with basil and mint and followed the recipe exactly. What I can say is, it is an absolutely perfect recipe. I’m so happy with this. I’m so happy with it that it’s my first note ever and I’ve cooked hundreds of NYT recipes.
Megan
This was incredible. The greens were melt in your mouth great. I used young collards and some baby spinach that was wilting. This will be a go to when I need to use up old greens — I threw in a bunch of cilantro that was on its last legs, some mint and basil. I had no green onions so used a shallot in place of the white parts. Used capers. I definitely needed to cook it down a smidge after it came out of the oven. But I could genuinely have eaten the whole thing myself.
TrixieP
Delicious!!!
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
