This is the best cranberry maple chicken recipe! It's an easy, healthy, one pan meal that's made with pantry staples like chicken thighs, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar. This chicken dish is perfect for the holidays, or anytime and is a dish your whole family will love.
Chicken dishes like my healthy teriyaki chicken and broccoli, sheet pan teriyaki chicken and vegetables, gluten free chicken pad Thai and healthy mango chicken curry are some of my favourite meals, which is why I am so excited to share another delicious chicken thigh recipe with you today!
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe:
- This baked cranberry chicken thighs recipe is so good! The flavours of cranberry and maple blend perfectly to make this one of my all time favourite chicken dishes.
- It's quick and easy to make and because it's made in just one pan the clean up is also so simple.
- This festive chicken recipe is the perfect alternative to Turkey for Christmas or Thanksgiving dinners but it's also so simple to make that it's great for busy weeknight meals too.
- It's a healthy complete meal that is naturally gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free and paleo.
- This cranberry maple chicken dish makes great leftovers so it's perfect for meal prep.
If you love the flavours of maple and cranberry together you will also love maple cranberry Brussels sprouts and maple cranberry beef roast.
Ingredients and substitutions:
- Chicken thighs - I recommend using bone in chicken thighs for this cranberry maple chicken recipe.
- Balsamic vinegar - this adds a delicious sweet yet tangy flavour to this chicken dish. It also helps marinade the chicken and make it so tender and juicy.
- Avocado oil - this is used to make the flavourful marinade for this dish. You could use olive oil instead.
- Fresh cranberries - fresh cranberries add a delicious tangy flavour and beautiful colour to this recipe. You could also use frozen cranberries if you can't find fresh ones, just let them thaw first.
- Maple syrup - maple syrup is one of my favourite natural sweeteners that blends perfectly with the tart cranberries to give this chicken thigh recipe the most rich and delicious flavour while keeping this recipe refined sugar free.
- Seasonings and spices: Herbs de Provence spice blend, sea salt and ground black pepper are the only seasonings you need to help flavour this delicious chicken recipe.
- Broccoli - fresh broccoli adds some dark green vegetables to this dish and adds a beautiful contrast of colour. I recommend using fresh broccoli rather than frozen broccoli.
Recipe variations and add ins:
- You can use chicken breasts instead of thighs for this recipe, but you will need to reduce the cooking time.
- You could easily double or triple this recipe if you are serving a crowd, just use multiple baking dishes.
- For a change in taste, you could swap the herbs de Provence spice blend with Italian seasoning or rosemary. You could also add other seasonings or spices such as garlic powder, mustard powder, or onion powder.
- You could add some chopped apple to the dish to give this healthy chicken recipe even more natural sweetness.
How to make cranberry maple chicken:
- Step 1: First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and while the oven is heating make the marinade by blending the oil, vinegar, maple syrup, and spices together in a bowl or jar.
- Step 2: Put the chicken, broccoli and cranberries in a 9" x 13" glass baking dish and pour the marinade over top. Turn the chicken a few times to coat it evenly.
- Step 3: Then cover the dish in tinfoil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Step 4: Remove the tinfoil from the baking dish and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked. Then enjoy!
Top Tips:
- Feel free to prep this dish the night ahead and let everything marinade in the fridge overnight.
- Depending on the size of your chicken thighs you may need to adjust the cooking time. For larger thighs, add more time, for smaller thighs, reduce the cook time.
- You can tell if your chicken thighs are cooked when they reach an internal temperature of 165°F when measured with a meat thermometer.
How to serve:
This cranberry maple chicken recipe is a complete meal on it's own so you can simply serve it as is, however you could also pair it with other side dishes such as rice, sweet potato rice or cauliflower rice.
If you are serving this chicken thigh recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas I recommend pairing it with turnip and apple casserole, kale apple salad, healthy gluten free stuffing, or dairy free gluten free scalloped potatoes.
How to store:
Store any leftovers of this cranberry maple chicken dish in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
I don't recommend trying to freeze this recipe as the broccoli will get rather mushy when you thaw it.
Cranberry maple chicken FAQs:
Yes! Just thaw them ahead of time before baking.
I don't recommend using frozen broccoli for this cranberry chicken recipe. It will turn out too mushy when cooked.
No, this is not a low carb or keto chicken recipe.
No it is not because it contains maple syrup which is not permitted on the Whole30 program.
Other delicious chicken recipes you will love:
Recipe
Cranberry Maple Chicken
Equipment
- 9" x 13" baking dish
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (or olive oil)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence spice blend
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (more or less to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (more or less to taste)
- 6 chicken thighs
- 1 head broccoli, chopped
- 227 grams fresh cranberries (8 oz)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and make the marinade by blending the oil, vinegar, maple syrup and spices together in a bowl or jar.
- Lay the chicken, broccoli and cranberries in a 9" x 13" glass baking dish and pour the marinade over top. Turn the chicken a few times to coat it evenly.
- Cover the dish in tinfoil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the tinfoil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe makes great leftovers and can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
- You can use frozen cranberries for this recipe, just thaw them first.
- Nutritional values are an estimate and will vary depending on the exact ingredients used and your serving size.
Jamie Kass
I see that the chicken thighs are bone in but I don't see if they're skin on or skinless. Could you please specify what works best for this recipe, skin on or skinless chicken thighs?
Thank you
Erin Carter
I use skin on thighs. Thanks for reading!