Chicken Marbella is a legendary recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook and arguably one of the best chicken recipes in the world. Chicken is marinated overnight with prunes, olives, capers, oil, vinegar and loads of oregano and garlic. Just before cooking, white wine and brown sugar are added.
This is an easy chicken dish to cook for a crowd and the flavors are spectacular.
In This Recipe
The Story Behind Chicken Marbella
Chicken Marbella is a baked chicken dish with prunes, olives and capers, that comes from The Silver Palate Cookbook by Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso. The cookbook, first published in 1982, is one of the best selling cookbooks of all time and Chicken Marbella is its most famous recipe - a dinner party classic that has endured the test of time.
People love Chicken Marbella because it's extremely easy to prepare, all the prep work done a day ahead, and because the flavors are unique and extraordinary. Though the ingredients may seem unusual - vinegar, olives, capers, prunes, loads of garlic and oregano - it turns that this brilliant combination of sweet, sour, briny, and umami flavors utterly delights diners, time after time.
Famous Chefs Take On Chicken Marbella
Over the years, Chicken Marbella has inspired countless chefs and home cooks to put their own spin on this classic dish. Let's take a look at some of the most notable adaptations:
Ina Garten's version of Chicken Marbella, ups the amount of olives, garlic and prunes and swaps light brown sugar for dark, and she cuts the chickens into eight pieces instead of four.
Yotam Ottolenghi uses a more Middle Eastern flavor profile for his Chicken Marbella recipe. He subs dates for prunes, fresh oregano for dried, date molasses in place of brown sugar and chicken legs instead of chicken quarters.
NYTCooking's version of Silver Palate Chicken Marbella is only available to subscribers, but there's only 1 essential change from the original recipe. The NYT recipe calls for 2 large chickens (3 ½ - 4 pounds each) whereas the original Silver Palate recipe calls for 4 smaller chickens (2 ½ pounds each). Turns out chickens have gotten larger over the past 40 plus years!
NYT Cooking also has a Weeknight Chicken Marbella Recipe that requires no marinating and is ready in an hour! The gist is this: brown bone-in chicken thighs in a skillet, add the marinade ingredients, sprinkle with brown sugar, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or so until done.
Now for Panning The Globe's version!
My Chicken Marbella recipe uses boneless skinless chicken thighs and there's a very good reason for it!
I've been making Chicken Marbella for decades, as did my mother and my mother-in-law before me. I love this dish as much now as I did the first time I tasted it back in the late 1970's at The Silver Palate Gourmet Shop in NYC which was a few blocks away from my apartment.
Over the years I've tweaked the recipe to perfection. I use more prunes because they are so insanely delicious in this dish. I reduced the amount of brown sugar from 1 cup to ¾ cup because, for my taste, it's the perfect sugar to vinegar ratio for a vibrant sweet and sour sauce. But the biggest change I made in this recipe is to use boneless skinless chicken thighs for the following reason.
I wanted to make Chicken Marbella as the main dish for my annual new year's eve party which is a gathering of about 100 people. If I were to follow the original Chicken Marbella recipe, which calls for 4 whole chickens to feed 10 people, I would have needed 40 chickens - not happening! The solution - boneless chicken thighs!
Why I love this Chicken Marbella Recipe
This version of Chicken Marbella is everything you love about this iconic dish only it's made with boneless skinless chicken thighs. Here's why that's a plus:
- Great for a Crowd - Boneless chicken thighs take up much less room in the marinating bowl, in the oven and on the serving platter than bone-in chicken parts so you can easily make this dish for a big party!
- Elegant - Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are elegant on a platter and your guests can take one or two on their plate with plenty of room for other sides. Plus, when they're done, there are no messy bones or skin to push to the side of their plate when they go back for seconds - which I bet they will!
- Juicy and flavorful every time - In my mind there's never a debate what part of the chicken to use for a recipe - it's always thighs! While chicken breasts can easily become over-cooked and dry, thighs are difficult to overcook and they're always juicy and full of flavor.
If you still, even after my big sales pitch, prefer to make this dish with bone-in, skin-on chicken parts, you'll find instructions for that in the recipe card notes below. Or, if you want to use the original Silver Palate Chicken Marbella recipe, you can find that here.
Ingredients
Here's what you need to make Chicken Marbella:
- Olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Pitted prunes
- Pitted Spanish green olives
- Capers and caper juice - from a 2-ounce jar of small non-pereille capers
- Dried bay leaves
- 1 whole head of garlic - peeled and puréed so you may want to have a garlic press on hand.
- Dried oregano - lots!
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Dry white wine (Vermouth works well, too)
- Dark brown sugar
- Flat-leaf parsley or cilantro - to garnish
A Walk-through of this recipe with photos
Here's how to make Chicken Marbella:
Combine the chicken with all of the marinade ingredients in a large mixing bowl: olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.
Toss everything well, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight.
Before baking, arrange the chicken and all the marinade ingredients in two large shallow baking pans. Divide the white wine between the two pans and pan and sprinkle all the chicken pieces evenly with the brown sugar.
Bake the chicken for 45-50 minutes, until it's cooked through, basting once or twice with the pan juices.
To serve, arrange the chicken on a serving platter and spoon the prunes, olives, capers and some of the juices evenly around. Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro. Serve the extra sauce on the side.
What to serve with Chicken Marbella
You'll definitely want some sort of starch - potatoes or rice - to soak up all the delicious sauce, plus something green. Here are my favorite go-to sides with Chicken Marbella:
- Latkes. For Hanukkah dinner we always serve Chicken Marbella with potato latkes
- Potatoes: Mashed Potatoes, Smashed Potatoes or roasted potatoes
- Rice: Plain white rice is a perfect accompaniment
- Salad: This green salad or this tricolore salad
- A Green Vegetable: Steamed or roasted broccoli, asparagus or green beans, tossed with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
I had some hesitation about posting a Chicken Marbella recipe on Panning The Globe, thinking you all probably have the recipe by now. But with my deep and long-lasting love for this dish, I couldn't resist sharing it here. Whether you're a seasoned home cook or a novice in the kitchen, I hope I've inspired you to revisit this very special dish or to try it for the first time.
If you do, please come back and leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
PrintRecipe
Chicken Marbella from The Silver Palate
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings 1x
Description
Chicken Marbella from the legendary Silver Palate Cookbook, is arguably one of the world's best chicken dishes. This version, made with boneless chicken thighs, is the perfect dinner party dish. It's very easy to prepare for a big group, all the prep work is done a day ahead, and the flavors are fantastically delicious. I've also included directions for making this with bone-in chicken parts and a link to the original Silver Palate Chicken Marbella Recipe.
Adapted from a recipe in The Silver Palate Cookbook By Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins.
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ cups pitted prunes
- ¾ cup pitted Spanish green olives
- ½ cup capers (a 2-ounce jar), with 1 teaspoon of the juice
- 6 bay leaves
- 1 head of garlic, peeled and puréed (I use this garlic press)
- ¼ cup dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 4 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs (18 or so pieces)
- 1 cup dry white wine (Vermouth works well)
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl or plastic container, combine the oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers, caper juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in two large shallow baking dishes and spoon all the marinade ingredients on and around the chicken. Pour half the wine into each baking pan, and then sprinkle the all chicken pieces evenly with the brown sugar.
- Bake the chicken for 45-50 minutes, or until it's cooked through, basting with the pan juices after 20 minutes.
- To serve, transfer the chicken pieces to a serving platter and spoon the prunes, olives, capers and some of the sauce on and around the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with parsley or cilantro. Serve remaining sauce on the side.
Notes
- To make this with bone-in, skin-on chicken: Use 8-10 pounds of bone-in chicken parts: thighs, drumsticks, breasts or any combination. Follow the recipe exactly as written only increase the cooking time to between 50 minute and an hour, checking for doneness after 50 minutes, and basting 3 or 4 times while the chicken cooks, to keep it moist.
- Storage: Chicken Marbella can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days in an air-tight container. Reheat it in a 350ºF oven, in a casserole dish covered tightly with foil, for 25 minutes or until heated through.
- Nutrition Disclaimer: We do our best to provide accurate nutrition values using an online nutrition calculator however our nutrition information should only be used as an approximation.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
This post was first published on May 21, 2021. It has been updated with a few new photos and more helpful information added to the written post: I have completely rewritten the copy of the post to be more clear about the history of this dish, I added a new section sharing famous chef's adaptations of Chicken Marbella, added a table of contents and a walk-through of the recipe with photos. The same delicious recipe!
Joann McNab
Hi Lisa I made this recipe as a taste test for a party I’m planing and my family loved it! How can I adapt this recipe to serve 60 guests? The make ahead feature makes this recipe a go to for my menu. Thank you
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Joann, I'm so glad you love this! it's one of my favorite dishes for entertaining. To prepare this for 60 I would assume that most your guests will each want 1 or 2 pieces of chicken and there will be some who come back for seconds. To be safe, I'd assume 2 thighs per person, so 120 boneless thighs which is about 26 pounds but best if you can have your butcher figure it out with you or determine how many thighs make a pound and then go from there. Even though you're scaling up my recipe by 6X, I think you'll be fine with 4X the marinade. But I suggest you do 6X the prunes, olives, capers and topping of wine and brown sugar. If you have 2 huge plastic containers or bowls, you can probably marinate a triple batch in each vessel. I suggest you cook the chicken in large heavy duty foil pans - 4 should do. Divide the wine and brown sugar among the pans and bake in 2 ovens, if you have them. You may need to add a little extra baking time with all that chicken being cooked at once. Good luck! Keep me posted!
Jane Kenslea
I made this recipe for a small gathering of six friends last evening (Saturday). Prepared it Friday evening which was the key to it's success and ease of entertaining factor. Guests and family loved it!!
Thank you Panning the Globe for another delicious dinner recipe that allows me to entertain and enjoy the company.
Lisa Goldfinger
hi Jane - Thanks so much for your note. I'm so glad this recipe worked out well for you and was enjoyed!
Martha
Was so excited to make this dish, but it was way too sweet for me. After checking other recipes, it seems 1/4c brown sugar is the average amount. Wondering if yours is correct or maybe a typo? I think it would've been great with less sweetness.
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Martha - I'm so sorry the chicken was too sweet for your taste - that must have been a big disappointment. My recipe doesn't have a typo. In fact, I reduced the amount of sugar that's called for in the original Silver Palate Recipe, from 1 cup down to 3/4 of a cup.
Carol
Thank you for this great adaptation. I served it last year for Christmas dinner for 8 people, and it was a huge hit. This year I’m serving 12 for Christmas and wondered if you could advise how much to scale up. Would advise I increase all ingredients by 50 percent. Or, make as shown here and just add a couple more Linda of chicken. Not sure how many thighs to figure per person. Thank you!!
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Carol, I'm glad you have had good luck with this recipe. I usually like to assume 2 boneless thighs per person. Not everyone has 2 but then there are leftovers and this dish is great the next day, too! If you're making enough for 12 I'd probably use 50% more of everything except the bay leaves - I think 6 bay leaves is plenty. Happy Holidays and happy cooking!
Donnie
Absolutely wonderful, had this in the early 90s, this recipe was most similar to that one...easy to make, serves a dinner party...everyone loved... it is a recipie that surprises the palate. The fussiest eater will love this.
I'm an average cook...at best, but this recipie made me feel like showing off.
If hesitant...don't be...serve some old fashioned PLANTERS PUNCH, a nice green... AND MASHED POTATOS...A TRUE WINNER...
Ann
Delicious and make ahead, except for baking. So happy with this recipe and very elegant!! I’ve made it and served it both hot and at room temp. Lots of compliments!!
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Ann - I'm glad the recipe worked out so well for you! Thanks for circling back around to leave a comment!
John P
Shouldn’t the bone in thighs with skin be sautéed first or just use skinless.
Lisa
Hi John - I suggest using boneless, skinless thighs for this recipe. It works really well. The flavors of the marinade are so delicious that you don't need skin and you don't need to sauté the chicken first. Just marinate it and then add the wine and brown sugar and pop it in the oven.
Rachel
what can you substitute if you hate olives
Lisa
You can double the amount of capers - capers have a salty briny flavor that's very similar to the flavor of olives. I can't think of anything else except maybe pickled pearl onions.
Marcia H
I made chicken Marbella fir the first tim in 1983 for a dinner party. I had never heard of cilantro, but saw it in my local produce store so bought it to use instead of parsley. I had often made a dish I’d never made before and they’d always been well received. This time, I took a bite and my heart sank. It was terrible. Everyone at the table said it was delicious and I was certain they were lying. I have since learned that I must be one of the ten percent who detest cilantro.
Lisa
Hi Marcia - Unfortunate that your first experience with chicken marbella was spoiled by cilantro. You are definitely not alone in your dislike of cilantro. I love it but I am close friends with a few people who are "super tasters" and they think cilantro tastes like soap. I have to be mindful of that when I have them over for dinner. I hope you've been back to making chicken marbella and enjoying it - with parsley!
Katarina
Fantastic recipe, thank you. Quantities are spot on.
Lisa
Hi Katarina - I'm so glad you enjoyed the dish! 🙂
Beth
Thanks for sharing this! I have made this dish for years and am looking forward to this updated version. I am a bit confused about the make-ahead directions. Should this dish be cooked in its entirety 2 days ahead and then reheated or should it sit in the marinade 2 days ahead and then cooked?
Lisa
Hi Beth - Thanks so much for pointing this out. I was unclear and I just updated that note. What I meant to say is that if you're planning to make this ahead and serve it at room temperature, you can fully cook it up to 2 days ahead of time.
DL
I am in process of making this recipe and do not see when cilantro or parsley are used. Is it just me??
Lisa
You are right! I'm so sorry and thank you for pointing this out! I never mentioned that the parsley or cilantro is a garnish that you sprinkle on the finished dish. I will make that update to the recipe.
DL
Oh brilliant, thanks. I marinated it over night, cannot wait to bake and taste today. I love cilantro so I didn’t want to miss out on this flavour.
Phoebe G.
Fantastic recipe. I haven't made this for years and found your delicious looking recipe on Pinterest. I love how you've adapted it for boneless thighs. Absolutely delicious!
RUTH K.
Excellent recipe. Years ago I bought the Silver Palate cookbook and this certainly was a very popular recipe. Hadn’t made it in years and then I happen to run across your version using boneless and skinless chicken thighs! Why did I never think of that! I love it even more - great for company and no bones to eat around. I now also use less sugar and more olives and prunes. Thank you for your version.
BTW - by mistake I added the brown sugar and wine in the marinade and it tasted great so I continue with my mistake - just less to think about when I’m baking it off.
Lisa
Hi Ruth - It's great to get your feedback on this dish - especially since you've made the original version. I'm so glad you enjoyed this boneless skinless version. Also great to know that it turns out well even if you add the wine and sugar with the marinade. I'm sure I must have made that mistake too over the years. 🙂
helan
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.
Jax
Absolutely delicious, definitely a keeper. Thank you
Lisa
You are welcome - I'm so glad you enjoyed!
restaurantthatdeliversnearme.website
Great Chicken Marbella recipe.
Karen Lee Kirk
For years I’ve made chicken Marbella with Cornish Hens. I’m having a dinner party next weekend for 8 and so glad I ran across this recipe using the boneless thighs! I also add dried apricots which are delicious and give the dish a beautiful fall color.