This blackberry chicken is full of flavor from sweet fruit, fragrant fennel and thyme. Made with all easy recipe steps, it's delicious as a summer dinner idea!
I really love making recipes with seasonal produce as they always taste delicious, and you can even pick your own berries to make this blackberry chicken recipe (I did when I took the photos for this)!
Just like my blueberry chicken, this recipe makes the most of fresh sweet summer berries, veggies and fragrant herbs. I suggest to pair with mashed potatoes or rice, and some veggies on the side.
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Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Chicken - I use boneless skinless chicken breasts to make this recipe, and slice into a few pieces for a quicker cook time in the skillet.
- Blackberries - grab from the store or pick your own if you're able to!
- Fennel - gives a nice anise flavor. Just make sure to dice fairly finely as it's quite fibrous.
- Rosemary and thyme. Always a delicious combination, and the main seasonings of my rosemary thyme chicken recipe, they give a lovely fragrant flavor.
How to Make Blackberry Chicken
Making chicken with blackberries is quite simple, and there's no fancy kitchen equipment required. I suggest to prep your produce and herbs before starting, then all you need is a skillet, ovenproof dish and meat thermometer.
All the instructions are set out in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Brown the chicken
Drizzle olive oil in your skillet. Once at a medium to high heat, use tongs to add seasoned chicken breasts and sear for 3-4 minutes each side until you have some browning (image 1).
Step 2: Cook onion and fennel
Set aside the chicken breasts. Add a touch more oil if the skillet seems dry. Cook onion and fennel until softened (image 2).
Step 3: Make the blackberry sauce
Add the garlic and cook for a minute, then tip in the blackberries, pour in the honey and add the rosemary and thyme. Cook until the blackberries have cooked down and released their juices (image 3).
Step 4: Bake the chicken with blackberries
Transfer the chicken breasts to an ovenproof baking dish, then pour the blackberry sauce over the top. Bake until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F using a meat thermometer (image 4).
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Adjust the blackberry quantity. When I recipe tested this on my parents, my mum was all about as much sauce as possible, my dad a little less. If you're a 'less sauce' person, I would use 1.5 cups of blackberries rather than 2 cups.
- Help the blackberries cook down. Pressing on the blackberries (careful for spattering, it's not the time to wear a white shirt . . !) with a wooden spoon helps them reduce.
- Chicken cooking. I suggest to get some nice browning of the chicken in the skillet, but it doesn't need to be fully cooked through as we are then baking it in the oven.
- Use a meat thermometer. For safe chicken cooking, use a meat thermometer and check for an internal temperature of 165F / 74C.
More Chicken Recipes
Find so many ideas on my chicken recipes page including my creamy paprika chicken and oven baked turmeric chicken and rice, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you, so please do leave a star rating and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Blackberry Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- ½ onion diced
- 1 small fennel finely diced, tough root and stems removed
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups blackberries
- 2 tablespoon thyme leaves diced
- ½ teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves finely diced
- 2 tablespoon honey
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F / 200C.
- Dice the chicken breasts, lengthways, into 2-3 pieces. Season with salt and black pepper, if using.
- Drizzle olive oil in your skillet and once it is hot, use kitchen tongs to place the chicken breast fillets. Cook for 3-4 minutes each side, until you have some browning. They don't need to be fully cooked through, as we're going to bake them. Set aside on a plate.
- Into the same skillet, add the diced onion and fennel and cook for 4-5 minutes, until softened. Add in the garlic and cook for a minute, then tip in the blackberries, pour in the honey and add the fresh thyme and rosemary. Season with a further pinch of salt. Bring to a light simmer, and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, so the blackberries break down and they release some liquid.
- Transfer the chicken breast pieces to an ovenproof dish. Spoon the blackberry sauce mixture over the chicken. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken has an internal temperature of 165F using a meat thermometer.
Notes
- I suggest to slice the chicken thighs into 2-3 pieces for a quicker cook time, and so the blackberry sauce coats more of it!
- As the blackberries are cooking down, you can press on them with a wooden spoon to help the process.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- onion, which scores 1. White onion can be used, which scores 0.
- garlic, which scores 1. There is a note, 'In small amounts, usually well tolerated after cooking'.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
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