Pumpkin Chicken

Pumpkin chicken?  Yup!  I needed to use up some leftover pumpkin puree so I thought why not.  I adapted this pumpkin chicken recipe from Witty in the City (original recipe here).  I had to use honey instead of maple syrup since I didn't have any.  This pumpkin chicken was actually a little on the spicy side, so if you like a kick, this is your type of chicken dish.  Serve this pumpkin chicken over rice or egg noodles and definitely spoon some of that extra sauce on top.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chicken

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound chicken thighs, boneless and skinless (4 pieces)

1 cup pumpkin (plain puree)

1 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon honey (or maple syrup)

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

½ teaspoon garam masala (or curry powder)

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper.  Place in baking dish.

In a bowl, whisk together pumpkin, chicken stock, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, red chili pepper flakes and garam masala.

Pour pumpkin sauce over chicken.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Rotate baking dish halfway through baking and baste chicken with the pumpkin sauce.

Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Mustard Maple Chicken

I am personally not a huge fan of mustard but I am a fan of this mustard maple chicken.  This is such a quick and flavorful dish.  It is very similar to honey mustard sauce.  I adapted my recipe from Food Network's Ellie Krieger recipe for Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs . You can basically use any type of chicken, if you have chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, it would still be fine.  You just need to adjust the cooking time, usually a little longer for chicken thighs.  I served the mustard maple chicken with saffron rice (recipe here) and sauteed kale.  Make sure you spoon that extra sauce from the baking dish over the chicken. 

 

Mustard Maple Chicken

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds chicken breast

½ cup dijon mustard

¼ cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

 

In a small bowl, combine mustard, syrup and vinegar.

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste.  Place chicken in greased baking dish.

 

Pour the mustard maple mixture over the chicken.   Turn chicken breasts over to fully coat with mustard maple mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Turn chicken breasts halfway through.   Bake until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

 

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6.