Hello, It’s 1985 Calling. We’d Like Our Favorite Chicken Recipe Back, Please.
To which we say a resounding NO WAY. Chicken Marbella is far too good to give up—we loved it as kids and we’re keeping it! We’re taking this classic 80s chicken dinner and time-jumping it into the new millennium with our favorite time-and-effort saving trick—our trusty sheet pan! We’ve also done away with the overnight marinade that’s called for in the original Silver Palate Chicken Marbella recipe, because we wanted to bring this beloved chicken dinner into the realm of weeknight possibility. For more delicious chicken thigh recipes check out our Chicken Provencal and Baked Chicken Thighs with Asparagus.
What You’ll Need To Make Sheet Pan Chicken Marbella
Chicken Marbella is all about a certain Moroccan-ish (by way of the Upper West Side of Manhattan) combination of flavors. The ingredients that create its signature sweet, tangy, herby goodness are widely available and easy to find. Although in the recipe we list the ingredients for the sheet pan chicken and the paste that coats the chicken pieces separately, there’s a ton of overlap. Here’s everything you’ll need to make this sheet pan Chicken Marbella recipe:
- Pitted green olives
- Pitted prunes
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Fresh garlic
- Capers
- Oregano
- White wine
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken legs and thighs
- Chicken stock
- Brown sugar
- Butter
How To Make Sheet Pan Chicken Marbella
- Make the “paste”. Purée olives, prunes (about 8), olive oil, garlic, capers, dried oregano, white wine, salt and pepper in a food processor.
- Coat the chicken in the Chicken Marbella paste.
- Bake! Lay the chicken pieces on a baking sheet and carefully pour chicken stock and white wine into the pan, and top the whole (at this point very full) sheet pan with more olives, capers and prunes, plus a sprinkling of brown sugar and salt. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Make a pan sauce! Take the chicken off the baking sheet and use the drippings to make a sauce by simmering them a bit and then whisking in some cold butter. Pan sauce FTW!
- Serve!
Tools You’ll Need
- Rimmed sheet pan. This is non-negotiable, because Chicken Marbella is pretty saucy.
- Food processor.
- Small saucepan.
More Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Recipes
Oh, wonderful sheet pan dinners. Thanks for saving our sanity on the regular. Here are a few of our recent faves:
To Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins, With Love from TMP
Thanks for writing The Silver Palate Cookbook and inspiring a generation of homecooks to raise us‚ their hungry kids, on delicious, exciting meals like Chicken Marbella. Because of you, we get to play around with the flavor combinations that you made so popular and make them our own. And as for you, TMP reader, thanks for reading! We hope you try this recipe out and if you do, let us know how it went! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!