This cranberry chicken recipe is baked in the oven for a festive, show-stopping dinner that takes little effort to prepare! Garlic, rosemary, and tangy fresh cranberries bring boldly aromatic and savory-sweet flavor you’ll love.
This cranberry chicken recipe, with its vibrant red cranberries and golden-brown chicken, boasts the wow-factor of holiday roasts like leg of lamb or whole chicken. But it comes together in under an hour and requires very little tending to. It’s a beautiful centerpiece for a holiday party, but easy enough to add to your weeknight dinner rotation.
To get the best color and flavor, I quickly sear the chicken on the stove. It may seem like an added step (and you can skip it if you’re short on time) but the crispy skin is worth the extra dish. From there, I layer in a baking dish with carrots, celery, and a bright and savory mix of garlic, lemon, rosemary, and paprika.
Simply throw it in your oven and wait as the chicken bubbles, making a delicious sauce with the chicken’s drippings. The cranberries soak up all the flavor, becoming tender and so juicy. Make sure to spoon plenty of sauce over top, and serve with crusty bread or rosemary focaccia for dipping.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Cranberry Chicken
This cranberry chicken recipe uses easy to find ingredients and pantry staples for a festive holiday dish that doesn’t cost a fortune. Here’s what you need:
- Cranberries: The star ingredient that lends a festive touch, while also adding brightness. I prefer fresh for the best flavor and texture, but you can use frozen cranberries if you’d like.
- Brown sugar: Candies the cranberries, balancing their harsh tartness.
- White wine vinegar: Adds a burst of acidity for a depth of flavor, both in the marinade and the candied cranberries. You can substitute with Champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar if that’s what you have on hand.
- Chicken: 6 pieces bone-in skin on chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts and 4 thighs)
- Flavor-makers: Garlic, rosemary and sweet paprika bring a bold amount of sweet, savory, and aromatic flavor to the meat. Salt and black pepper enhance the flavor.
- Olive oil: Enriches the marinade. Use a full bodied, high quality extra virgin variety. Any of the oils from our shop would work well, but I especially love the richness and subtle peppery notes of our Greek Private Reserve with this recipe.
- Lemon: I use the whole fruit, with the juice adding acidity and the rind adding an aromatic, slightly bitter quality.
- Fresh vegetables: Onion and celery make for a nice foundational flavor for the broth and aromatics as teh chicken bakes. It’s the same concept as a classic (or Mediterranean-style) chicken soup.
- Broth: ½ cup of liquid in the pan evaporates into steam, tenderizing the chicken as it bakes. Chicken broth (homemade or store bought) will add a fuller flavor, but water works well too.
How to Make This Cranberry Chicken Recipe
Perfectly sweet and tangy cranberries, piney rosemary, and a bold amount of garlic builds loads of flavor without much fuss. Here’s how you make cranberry chicken:
- Make the sugared cranberries. In a small bowl, combine 2 cups of cranberries, ⅓ cup of brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar. Set aside to soften.
- Season the chicken. Pat the chicken pieces dry, then rub on both sides with 6-8 minced garlic cloves, 1 ½ tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 ½ teaspoons dried), 1 teaspoon paprika, and a good pinch or two of salt and pepper. Lift the skin and push the seasoning underneath the skin.
- Make the marinade. To a large bowl or deep dish, add ⅓ cup olive oil, 3 chopped celery stalks, 1 chopped onion, and 2 tablespoons of the white wine vinegar. Slice a lemon in half and squeeze in the juice, then add both of the juiced lemon halves.
- Marinate the chicken. Add the chicken and use your hands to work everything together. Set aside to marinate just for 15 minutes or so.
- Get ready to cook. While your chicken marinates, preheat your oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a baking dish large enough to hold the chicken.
- Sear the chicken. When your oven is hot and the chicken has marinated for at least 15 minutes, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook until the skin releases from the pan and turns golden brown, about 7 minutes. Flip and brown on the other side, about 5 minutes more. Do this in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding the pan, adding the seared chicken to the prepared baking dish as you go.
- Layer. To the baking dish with the chicken, add the onions, celery, lemon halves and any liquid from the marinade. Pour in the chicken broth or water, then top with the sugared cranberries.
- Bake and enjoy. Bake until the chicken is cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve hot.
What to Serve With Cranberry Chicken
If you're using this cranberry chicken as the centerpiece for a special dinner, kick off the party with blood orange cocktails with vodka and rosemary.
From there, try classic holiday sides with a fun Mediterranean Dish-twist! I would stick to savory dishes to complement the sweet and tart notes of the chicken. Shaved brussels sprouts salad, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and stuffed onions with fragrant rice and pine nuts all come to mind.
And, whether you’re outfitting a weeknight dinner or holiday party, you’ll want some crusty bread, rice, or rosemary focaccia to take advantage of the delicious pan sauce.
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Baked Cranberry Chicken with Rosemary
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, divided
- 6 bone-in skin on chicken pieces (I used 2 chicken breasts and 4 thighs, about 2 ¼ pounds in total)
- 6-8 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 ½ teaspoons dried rosemary), plus rosemary sprigs for garnish
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for searing the chicken
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 lemon
- ½ cup chicken broth or water
Instructions
- Make the sugared cranberries. In a small bowl, combine the cranberries, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar. Set aside to soften while you prepare the chicken.
- Season the chicken. Pat the chicken pieces dry, then rub on both sides with the garlic, rosemary, paprika, and a good pinch or two of salt and pepper. Make sure to lift the skin and push the seasoning underneath the skin.
- Marinate the chicken. To a baking dish large enough to hold the chicken, add the olive oil, celery, onions, and remaining 2 tablespoons of the white wine vinegar. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze in the juice, then add both of the juiced lemon halves. Add the chicken and use your hands to work everything together. Set aside to marinate just for 15 minutes or so.
- Get ready to cook. While your chicken marinates, preheat your oven to 425°F.
- Sear the chicken. When your oven is hot and the chicken has marinated for at least 15 minutes, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook until the skin releases from the pan and turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip and brown on the other side, about 3 minutes more. Do this in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan, adding the seared chicken to the baking dish as you go.
- Bake. Top the chicken with the sugared cranberries and any accumulated juices, then pour in the broth or water. Bake until the chicken is cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Serve. Garnish with a few rosemary sprigs, if you’d like, to dress it up a little before serving. Serve hot, spooning the juices and vegetables over top.
Video
Notes
- To use boneless, skinless chicken: I recommend chicken thighs. Begin by browning them for a couple minutes on each side. Adjust baking time; boneless thighs will take about 25 minutes to bake in the oven
- Frozen cranberries option: I love the flavor of fresh cranberries, but feel free to use frozen if you have them on hand.
- Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including olive oils, honey, jams, and spices.
Nutrition
* This post first appeared on The Mediterranean Dish in 2019, and has been recently updated with new information for readers' benefit.
Fantastic recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. This made for a beautiful and delicious Christmas dinner. I followed the instructions exactly, used BLSL breasts and thighs. Will absolutely make again!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Natasha!
Can I use skinless chicken breast for this? Any changes to the recipe if I do?
Sure! No real adjustments to make, unless using boneless breasts (they will cook faster, so keep and eye on them).
Can you prepare this meal a day in advance? Or, will it get too dried out?
Hi, Peggy. It is possible to prepare this in advance. Cover well and store in the fridge. Take it out of the fridge a few minutes before reheating in the oven at 325 degrees F. I'd add a very little bit of liquid to the baking dish and cover with foil. Uncover and very briefly broil if you feel the skin has lost it's crispiness. If your worried about it drying out, though, I'd really recommend preparing everything the day before, but waiting to actually bake until just before serving.
HI, I'm from the caribbean and i've been making for Christmas every year the last three years and it's always amazing. my variations however are I use dried cranberries because it's more affordable and easier to get than the frozen or fresh kind, but its still great I find. I still soak in the sugar and wine vinegar also. and with the chicken i season with our traditional ' caribbean green seasoning' because as a trinidadian its a crime not too, however i use less of it than usual to allow the rosemary and garlic flavors the shine through.
Thank you so much for sharing your adaptations here, Kyle! Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!
I have no lemons!!!! Should I use an orange or just lemon juice? I can't believe I forgot them lemon 🙁
You can use lemon juice, Mary. Enjoy
Excited to try this for the gathering I’m hosting! Can white wine be substituted for white wine vinegar?
Sure!
Hi! I tried the cranberry rosemary chicken recipe and it was so yum! But I have 2 qns:
1. After baking, the cranberries were sour... is it supposed to be that way or were they supposed to be sweet? I followed the recipe to soak them in brown sugar and I substituted with Riesling instead of the vinegar.
2. I had a lot of liquid in my baking tray after I roasted the chicken in the oven. my chicken was like swimming in liquid...is that right cause in the pic it doesn’t seem to have that much liquid.
Hope you can help me out cause I want to make it again for Christmas!
Hi, Deepa! The cranberries will have some tartness, even after soaking them. I can't say that my chicken has ever been "swimming in liquid", but there is definitely some in the pan after cooking.
I love this recipe, thank you! I cook chicken and potatoes once a week and love this variation with the cranberries. I also added potatoes and Brussels for a whole meal. I’ll be making this again 🙂
Thanks, Sherry! So glad you enjoyed it!
Made this and the Italian Oven Roasted Vegetables for Thanksgiving - there were only 2 of us. The only change I did was to only use 2 pieces of chicken. Everything was so good. In fact, my hubby asked that I make this again for Christmas.
That's great to hear, Jill! So glad you both enjoyed it.
This looks delicious. Can is use a whole chicken and use either my IP/ air fryer lid?
I have a whole chicken thawing but want to make it as simple as possible.
thanks!
Angie
Hmmm... I have never tried this one with a whole bird in an IP/Air Fryer, so I can't really advise. If you give it a go, please let us know how it turned out!
This was awesome. I butterflied my chicken breast because they were quite thick. Will definitely make again!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it.
Hi, Can I use Cornish Hens for this recipe? How would the cooking time change?
Thanks,
SK
Hi there, we have a cornish hen recipe here that may help you as far as the cooking method and you can then use the flavors from this recipe if you like. Cornish hen recipe: https://www.themediterraneandish.com/cornish-hen-recipe-spice-rub/
Made it last night for dinner and it was DELICIOUS!!! Because it is the season, I have purchased fresh cranberries to freeze so I can make this when cranberries won't be in season. Truly a winner. Thank you!
Thank you so much, Carol!
I made this for the first time last night and we loved it! I followed the tips for using boneless chicken and it was delicious! And visually appealing too. I appreciate the easy to follow instructions that take out any guesswork. This chicken recipe will definitely be added to our dinner rotation.
Yay! Thanks, Ann!
Made this for Sunday dinner and it was absolutely delicious! I used frozen cranberries and the colors in the recipe were absolutely beautiful. Thank you for posting this!
My pleasure, Irena! So glad you enjoyed it!
Insanely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and this was a huge hit with the family.
That's so great to hear! Thanks, Jennifer!