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Tuscan Chicken

By Mangia Paleo March 2, 2014 Recipes 34 Comments

 

IMG_5546Have you ever ordered a Tuscan Chicken dish at the restaurant claiming when you’re there you’re family? Well first of all, my family has never made Italian food that unauthentic before. This restaurant actually has a menu item called Tuscan Chicken. It’s nothing like a dish you would get in Tuscany and, frankly, it is full of cream and has an identity crisis. Instead,a Tuscan dish should be simple with clean ingredients and isn’t always drowning in red sauce like you may think. I made a Tuscan Chicken dish that got me to say, “damn, I’d order this in a restaurant!”.

Best part? It’s made in ONE SKILLET! You only dirty one pan in the process of making this. 10 common ingredients. That’s it.

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Ingredients:

  • 6 boneless chicken thighs
  • 4 roasted red peppers, cut intro strips
  • 2 cups fresh whole leaf spinach
  • 10 oz can artichoke hearts, sliced
  • 1 medium yellow onion, julienned
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped (you will use half in step 2 and half in step 3)
  • 1/4 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (for the skillet)

 

Directions:

1. Liberally salt and pepper the chicken thighs. Add half the amount of oregano to the chicken as well (1/2 tsp). Set them aside.

2. Sweat the onions and one garlic clove in a skillet on medium heat. Be sure not to burn the garlic – so you may lower the heat.

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3. Add the chicken to the skillet and sear it on both sides for about 2 minutes each on medium-high heat. You may want to push the onions out of the way so the chicken touches the pan directly.

Once seared, lower to medium heat and add all remaining ingredients except for spinach. The remaining ingredients to add will be 1 chopped garlic clove, lemon juice & zest, peppers, and artichokes. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper.

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4. Let the chicken cook for about 15 more minutes, flipping once halfway through. Once the chicken has cooked fully with the rest of the veggies, pull the skillet off the heat.

5. Add spinach and toss until the spinach is wilted, but still bright green. Only about a minute.

6. Serve!

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MANGIA!

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34 thoughts on “Tuscan Chicken”

  1. Beth

    I never comment on websites, but this recipe was so delicious I was compelled to tell you! My husband made this for dinner last week and it was fantastic. Thanks for sharing something so terrific!

    Reply ↓
  2. Lisa Garton

    I am a junk food junkie, and I finally said enough is enough! I feel sluggish, am overweight, and depressed. I am changing my life, and part of what I am doing is eating a low carb diet. I am so excited to find these recipes in here-it is motivating me to try new things. Can’t wait to try the Tuscan Chicken!

    Reply ↓

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  4. Leah

    The directions call for lemon juice, but the ingredients didn’t list lemon juice. It also isn’t clear that when sweating the onions and garlic that you should only use one of the garlic cloves. Otherwise, a wonderful recipe! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply ↓
    1. mangiapaleo Post author

      Leah,

      Thank you for correcting the oversight. Now if only I had an editor! haha. It’s been corrected now. I would have written the recipe to add garlic in every step, but I think my Italian taste buds are a bit different than most…and it would have been even more confusing, huh? 😉
      Glad you are enjoying the recipes. Mangia!

      With good health,
      Laura

      Reply ↓

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  6. SANDRA GREGOR

    I’d appreciate your adding the number of servings to your recipes. They sound delicious, and looking forward to trying.
    Sandra

    Reply ↓
    1. mangiapaleo Post author

      Thank you for your feedback, Sandra. I usually would go by the amount of meat. In this case, if you eat 2 chicken thighs it will serve 3. That is recommended for one meal in my opinion. However, if you are eating it for lunch or a lighter fare it may serve 6. This one in particular is really easy to add more of any ingredient you like!

      Reply ↓

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    1. mangiapaleo Post author

      Hi Patricia,

      Thank you for your question. I do not normally provide nutritional values for my meals. However, there is a website and app called MyFitnessPal that has a feature. You can enter the amount of food and it calculates it for you. So helpful, right?
      I went ahead and estimated the recipe based on 1.5 pounds of chicken thighs. It comes to about 60 carbs total with about 15g carbs per serving and 32g of protein. I did not calculate salt&pepper so sodium will be off. Hope this helps!!
      Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar
      Total: 2,274 60 129 210 1,441 25
      Per Serving: 569 15 32 53 360 6

      Reply ↓

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  12. Ellen

    Hi Laura,

    I have just re-read this recipe and am wondering about the roast peppers. The only way we can get pre-roast peppers over here is in vinegar. Is that what you used?
    Looking forward to your answer.

    Regards,
    Ellen

    Reply ↓
  13. Rebecca

    This was so delicious! AND easy! Double win… thank you! I’ve never been one for the heavy “Italian” foods they serve up, either. This was light and easy for a weeknight dinner.

    Reply ↓

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  17. Chris

    Super Awesome! Thanks for this really great recipe. I varied it a little. Fresh red peppers and no artichokes. It was really tasty. This is going to be a regular dish.

    Reply ↓
  18. M Jones

    I didn’t think you could cook with lemon juice in cast iron without stripping the seasoning? Did this not affect your skillet.

    Reply ↓
    1. Mangia Paleo

      Luckily my cast iron is fine and I clean and reseason it well. However, you are right. You should stay away from acidic foods like lemon juice or tomatoes especially in a new skillet. The tablespoon of lemon juice hasn’t hurt my pan but if you’re worried you can always add it at the end for serving. It brightens up the flavor really well. Enjoy!

      Reply ↓
    1. Mangia Paleo

      That’s up to you! Would be great with pasta if your diet allows. I like to serve it as-is and sometimes I double or triple the amount of spinach. You can also try it over mashed cauliflower and roasted fennel.

      Reply ↓

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