Pomegranate Citrus Glazed Chicken

When I was selected to host a Pom Party, I knew I wanted to somehow combine Chicken, Pomegranates and Goat Cheese. Why?  I love chicken- and one of my favorite restaurant dishes is the Chicken Bryan at Carrabbas. It's the first dish I ever tried that contained Goat Cheese- and I was hooked! It seemed to me that the tartness of the pomegranates and the tang of the Goat Cheese would work well together. When I started searching for recipes, I found that others found the combination pleasing- which meant I had to try it!

I found a recipe for Pomegranate Glazed Chicken on Martha Stewart's website that looked promising. It combined pomegranate juice, orange juice, and a few savory herbs to make a glaze that sounded delicious to me. I used a bit of the glaze in one of the other recipes, which is why I'm posting this recipe first. It made a great substitute for Marsala Wine in my Pomegranate Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms.

I found the process of making this glaze very enjoyable- it was fun to see how the flavors combined to make such a tasty glaze- without being overly sweet or overly savory. It is the perfect combination!

Reducing the juices and spices into a nice thick glaze

Printable Recipe


Pomegranate Citrus Glazed Chicken adapted from Martha Stewart
Serves 8

3 cups pomegranate juice
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
5 garlic cloves, smashed
coarsely ground salt and pepper
3 teaspoons red wine vinegar
8 chicken breasts
4 oz goat cheese
1 bag baby spinach
1 cup pomegranate arils

Preheat oven to 425. In a large skillet, combine juices, rosemary, garlic and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Boil over high heat, until reduced to 1 cup, stirring and scraping sides of skillet often. Pour glaze through a fine mesh sieve to remove any bits of garlic. Stir vinegar into glaze. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate if not using immediately. Reserve 1 cup of glaze for later use.

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Place in baking dish, and bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven, brush chicken with glaze and return to oven to bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Brush chicken with glaze every 5 minutes. Remove from oven when chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Place a chicken breast on a layer of baby spinach, top with a dollop of goat cheese and sprinkle fresh pomegranate arils on top. Drizzle with reserved glaze before serving.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!