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Our reader-favorite cranberry rosemary chicken is an easy one-pan chicken dish that’s full of vibrant, wintery flavor. Tart cranberries married with heady rosemary and sweet maple syrup, grounded by a rich white wine sauce. Made paleo-friendly or Whole30-compliant with simple ingredient swaps, this chicken recipe is perfect for holiday dinners and hurried weekday meals alike.
🍗 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- This cranberry rosemary chicken is, in a word, amazing. It’s super easy. It’s on the more-nutritious side of most holiday cooking. And it’s made right in one baking dish. Well, one baking dish and one blender, but still. It also happens to include a few of my favorite ingredients: cranberries, fresh rosemary, juicy chicken thighs, and dry white wine. Basically it’s winter on a plate and I love it.
- It’s perfect for dinner parties or holiday meals with extended family. Cranberry rosemary chicken looks and tastes super luxurious and indulgent on the surface. Secretly? It uses fewer than 10 ingredients and doesn’t take much effort at all. The oven does most of the work for you! Serve it with something green like roasted kale, Italian green beans, or tender-crisp asparagus and a side of mashed potatoes? Guaranteed to impress.
- Need to meet a variety of dietary needs? Cranberry rosemary chicken will absolutely work for most of your guests! It’s naturally dairy free, gluten free, and grain free. It’s super low in carbs and it’s paleo-friendly. We’ve also included easy options to make it Whole30-compatible or keto-friendly if needed. Unfortunately, there’s no good way to make this dish work for vegetarian or vegan guests, so it’s not a magic solution for everyone.
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- It’s no secret that cranberries are pretty tart. If you’ve never cooked with whole cranberries before, you might be surprised just how tart they are. The maple syrup helps offset that flavor, though! You can also sprinkle a little salt onto the whole cranberries to bring out their natural sweetness. Over-cooking the cranberries only adds to the bitterness, so be careful with the cook time.
- If you use a high-speed blender, you may notice your marinade is much more pink than what’s in our photos. Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything wrong. We used a standard blender and blended just until everything was smooth. A high-speed blender will just emulsify the ingredients much more thoroughly. It’ll still taste great!
- Because this recipe uses bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, the chicken comes out irresistibly juicy and moist, with the most delectable crisp skin. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs and chicken breasts will work, too, with a little adjustment. They won’t need to cook as long, so be sure to reduce the cook time to accommodate. For best results, always go by the internal temperature and not the clock!
🥘 More Must-Make Holiday Recipes
- One-Pan Holiday Meal
- Butternut Squash Casserole
- Truffle Mashed Potatoes
- Ruth’s Chris Sweet Potato Casserole
- Grilled Spatchcock Turkey with Gravy
- Great Grandma’s Sausage Stuffing
- Leftover Turkey Poutine
- Make Ahead Green Bean Casserole
- Crockpot Baked Brie Dip
- Cheesy Spinach Casserole
- Apple Cider Sangria
- Accordion Potatoes
One-Pan Cranberry Rosemary Chicken
A quick and easy one-pan chicken dish that's full of vibrant, festive winter flavor.
chicken thighs
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
- 9×13 baking dish with lid or plastic wrap to cover
- Large spoon or silicone spatula
- Basting Brush
- internal meat thermometer
Ingredients
For the Cranberry Rosemary Marinade
- ⅓ cup fresh cranberries
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
- ¼ cup dry white wine or chicken broth
For the Chicken Thighs
- 6 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs approximately 3 pounds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- salt to taste
- ½ cup fresh cranberries
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Serving Suggestions (All Optional)
- sprigs of fresh rosemary
Instructions
For the Cranberry Rosemary Marinade
- Add ⅓ cup fresh cranberries, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons coconut aminos, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 3 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, and ¼ cup dry white wine to food processor or standard blender. Blend or pulse ingredients together until fully combined into smooth marinade.
For the Chicken Thighs
- Place 6 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs skin-side up in baking dish and arrange chicken thighs in one flat layer. Pour prepared marinade over chicken thighs, making sure to coat chicken thighs completely and evenly.
- Cover baking dish with lid or tight layer of plastic wrap and place dish in refrigerator. Marinate chicken thighs at least 30 minutes and no more than 24 hours.
To Cook the Chicken Thighs
- Remove baking dish from refrigerator and set aside. Let baking dish stand at room temperature, covered, 30 minutes.
- Toward end of 30-minute window, preheat oven to 375º Fahrenheit. Uncover baking dish, then use spoon or spatula to scrape marinade off tops of chicken thighs and into dish. Be careful not to tear or remove skins of thighs.
- Brush 1 tablespoon olive oil evenly across tops of chicken thighs. Season generously with salt to taste, then sprinkle ½ cup fresh cranberries and 4 sprigs fresh rosemary into marinade around chicken thighs in baking dish.
- Place prepared baking dish in preheated oven. Bake chicken thighs, uncovered, 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, begin checking doneness of chicken thighs with internal meat thermometer. Continue baking chicken as needed, checking doneness every few minutes, until internal temperature of chicken thighs reaches 160° Fahrenheit.
- Once chicken reaches 160° Fahrenheit internally, remove baking dish from oven and set aside. Preheat broiler to High. While broiler preheats, remove rosemary sprigs from baking dish and discard.
- Brush 1 tablespoon maple syrup over tops of chicken thighs, then place baking dish under preheated broiler. Broil chicken thighs, watching closely, until skin on thighs is crispy and browned but not burnt. See Notes.
- Once skins of chicken thighs have browned, carefully remove baking dish from oven. Immediately spoon cranberries and marinade from baking dish onto tops of chicken thighs, covering thighs completely. Let chicken thighs rest 3 to 5 minutes.
To Serve the Chicken
- Once chicken thighs have rested and internal temperature reaches 165° Fahrenheit, transfer chicken thighs to serving plates. Spoon additional cranberries and marinade from baking dish over tops of chicken thighs, garnish with sprigs of fresh rosemary if desired, and serve immediately.
- Broil Time: All broilers are different, so your chicken thighs could need anywhere from 3 minutes to 10 minutes to crisp up like you want. Mine were ready in 5-7 minutes, but I have to move my baking dish around underneath the broiler every 3 minutes or so to ensure an even browning.
- Make it Whole30: Use coconut aminos instead of both the soy sauce and the maple syrup in the cranberry marinade. Use chicken broth instead of white wine. Omit the maple syrup that’s brushed onto the chicken thighs or replace it with olive oil.
- Make it Strict Paleo: Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and chicken broth instead of white wine.
- Make it Keto: Use soy sauce instead of coconut aminos. Replace the maple syrup with a maple-flavored liquid keto sweetener. For strict keto, use chicken broth instead of white wine.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 533calProtein: 31gFat: 39gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 189mgSodium: 264mgPotassium: 443mgTotal Carbs: 11gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gNet Carbs: 10gVitamin A: 161IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 31mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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This was great! I used boneless skinless chicken thighs and marinated for about 4 hours. Then baked at 400 for 40 minutes. We all loved it!
Is there any way to modify this recipe to work in a slow cooker?
Sure! Just combine all the ingredients after the marinade and place in the slow cooker! Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is cooked to 165°F!
I never write reviews. After exhausting overtime shifts and school, we were searching Pinterest for something easy. Sooooo grateful I pinned this!! This is so easy and ridiculously delicious. Used chicken breasts cut in half to thigh size and followed the rest accordingly. Paired with garlicky kale one night and mashed garlic potatoes and roasted broccoli the rest. Can not recommend enough, will be trying another recipe this week!
I don’t typically write reviews, but this was delicious. The chicken is SO tender, and the sauce is just delicious. I paired it with rice and scooped up that sauce onto my rice, i couldn’t get enough! My fiance was a bit hesitant because he isn’t used to trying new recipes with things he doesn’t normally eat (ie. cranberries) but it was awesome. Some notes: I substituted coconut aminos for soy sauce because it’s what i had on hand. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs and it worked out fine. I made probably 10 or so chicken thighs?? Cooked it for a little longer. And substituted organic chicken broth for the wine. I’m guessing it would taste a million times better with the wine! I also marinated it for a day. Will definitely be a regular rotation…. I have so many leftover cranberries now, i’m wondering if you can freeze them? Thanks for the great and flavourful recipe!
If you used boneless skinless chicken thighs, then did you just skip the broiler part? Did the chicken brown anyway and look good?
We would probably still try to brown them with the skinless type!
Looks fabulous! I happen to have dried cranberries currently – do you think these would work in place of fresh?
Sure!
What would you recommend if making with boneless skinless chicken breasts? Unfortunately not everyone likes chicken thighs in our family. Thanks!
Just reduce the cook time a bit!
This looks great! Should I change the bake time if I do boneless, skinless thighs? Those are more readily available to me than bone in. Thanks!
I would slightly lower the cooking time and then use an in internal thermometer to ensure proper temperature of 165 degrees.
This was a win for our family! I used skinless boneless breasts, reduced the cooking time a little and used soy sauce… absolutely delicious! This was the first time we didn’t have any left overs in our house after dinner.
I wanted to do this recipe with boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of the bone in skin on. After the chicken was fully cooked according to the recipe I topped each piece with a small pat of butter and then sprinkled a mixture of grated myzithra cheese and Panko breadcrumbs. I then popped it back under the broiler so it would get crispy on top. The myzithra cheese was just slightly salty and helped hold the mixture together. It was really Yummy.
Do you broil it on high or low? Any suggestions?
My oven only has one broiler setting but I would recommend broiling on low for more control, if your oven lets you!
My marinade is bright pink! Maybe my Vitamix just did too good a job on the marinade, but I blended till smoothe and I’m afraid of pepto chicken tomorrow. Anyone else have a problem? ?
It doesn’t look pink anymore after it’s cooked ?
haha mine is pink too! its in the oven now. Im assuming it wont look as pink once its cooked.