A fulfilling dinner for two, Maple Roasted Chicken Quarters with roasted vegetables underneath is simple yet packed with flavor. Ready in 75 minutes.
For the longest time when someone asked what my favorite food was, I didn’t have an answer. Sure, I love some foods more than others, but nothing stood out as number one. Was it ice cream? Chocolate chip cookies? Shrimp? Clams? Then I started thinking about what I would eat as my last supper and still didn’t have an answer. It wasn’t until I was eating this Maple Roasted Chicken Quarter recipe for the third time in one month when I finally realized what my last supper would be – crispy chicken skin with roasted vegetables underneath. I’ve always jokingly said that someone should just serve up a plate of crispy chicken skin at a restaurant for my entree. The chicken meat itself I can take it or leave it, but since I wouldn’t want to waste the meat, it must be dark meat; I don’t like eating roasted chicken breast. The roasted vegetables underneath – carrot, potato, onion, and garlic – tie everything together with a built-in side dish for a fulfilling dinner for two. I don’t have a date for this upcoming Valentine’s Day, but if I did, I would tell him let’s stay home and make this roasted maple chicken dinner together.
My original plan for this chicken recipe was to use chicken thighs, but the butcher didn’t have any. Instead I bought two fat chicken quarters, which is pretty much equivalent to four small chicken thighs. I even made this recipe using one chicken breast since I only had one chicken quarter left, but since I’m not a fan of light meat, I ended up using the cooked breast meat in pasta the next day. Pretty much any type of chicken will work as long as you know your preference between dark and light meat.
The ingredient list may seem too simple with only maple and fresh thyme flavoring the chicken skin, but sometimes simple is best. It’s also why it’s very important to buy pure maple syrup. Be careful if you buy maple syrup from the grocery store as a lot of them are pancake syrups with artificial maple flavoring. I bought my latest bottle from a local farm via a diner in Somerset County, one of the top counties in PA that produces pure maple syrup.
Don’t let the roasted vegetables underneath fool you because they are anything but ordinary. Between the maple syrup and the chicken juices, the vegetables are packed with so much flavor, I like them even better than the meat, especially the roasted garlic. I bet I could eat a whole head of roasted garlic. I’ll just have to make sure I don’t have any social plans afterwards.
What would you eat for your last supper?
Maple Roasted Chicken Quarters (Dinner For Two)
Yield:
2
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Cook Time:
55 minutes
Total Time:
1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large chicken quarters, sprinkled with a few pinches of salt
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into quarters
- 1 large potato, peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Have a small casserole dish or an 8x8 pan ready.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Once hot, add the chicken quarters, skin side down, and brown for 5 minutes. Flip and brown the other side for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the carrots, potatoes, onion, and garlic to a large bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and sea salt. Spread into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Once the chicken has finished browning, place chicken on top of the vegetables, skin side up. Brush evenly with maple syrup and sprinkle with thyme. Bake for 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165F. Serve immediately, removing garlic peels while eating.
Rachel says
Much as I love chicken, my last supper would be a huge slab of prime rib, a gigantic baked potato oozing with butter, a crisp salad with a white balsamic vinaigrette, and a whole pan of tiramisu (can you tell I’ve thought about this a lot? :) ) Oh, and a huge bread basket, with loads of butter.
Carla says
Oh that last supper sounds amazing too!
Catherine says
Dear Carla, what a beautiful meal! Your chicken looks absolutely perfect….beautiful photos! xo, Catherine
Carla says
Thank you!
Megan says
I love crispy chicken skin too and I think preparing it simply more often than not gets it that way. I’ll be dreaming of the veggies though in this case, chicken juices and maple syrup? Yum.
Erin says
I just made this last night and it will now be going into regular rotation. What a delicious meal! I absolutely gobbled it up. And also, as a single lady, it was super nice not to have to cut the recipe in half, like I normally have to do. Thanks for sharing with us!
Carla says
Glad you enjoyed it! This chicken has been in my regular rotation as well.
Wilma Manasse says
We eat chicken leg and thigh together a lot. Now I have a new way to fix it. Will let you know if it was a hit or not.
Carla says
Hope you enjoy!
Mat says
This meal looks outstanding. Will try it tonight although wouldn’t browning chicken and then baking for 45 mins at 425 dry it out completely? What am I missing here? Will be doing this with boneless chicken thighs and still want the flavour from the juices.
Carla says
Browning helps crisp up the skin, but the chicken is still raw inside. This recipe calls for chicken quarters, which are bigger than boneless thighs. If you’re substituting boneless thighs, they won’t take as long. Brown them for about 3 minutes per side (if they aren’t quite brown, cook another minute or two) then bake them for 20 minutes. If they aren’t done, bake until fully cooked through.
Brian Kincaid says
Now should it be covered or uncovered?. I am going to do it all in a dutch over (browning and baking) and didn’t know if I should cover it for half the cooking time and then uncovered for the last 15 minutes to get it brown.
Carla says
Uncovered. If you cover it, the skin will get soggy and not crisp up.
Jj says
How can i made this recipe using microwave?
Carla says
I don’t have any experience making this in the microwave. If you google “how to cook chicken quarters in the microwave”, you can use that as your starting point for this recipe.
Diana says
This was delicious! I wanted to try something new for Valentine’s Day and this came out so good. My SO efen had seconds which I have never seen him do.
Carla says
I’d take this maple chicken for a romantic dinner any day ;) Glad you enjoyed it!
Hannah Caveny says
Delicious! I had a dinner party last night, found chicken quarters on sale and needed a good recipe for them fast! This was awesome. Thank you.
Carla says
Thanks for the positive feedback!
Myshelle says
My boyfriend wanted to make us dinner and found this recipe. It was a HIT! He doesn’t cook very much but found this to be easy to prepare and the flavor was amazing! Thank you for sharing! We are going to double it and have it again tonight with the teenager.
Carla says
That was sweet of him! Glad you both enjoyed it :)
Riley says
Making this tonight for my boyfriend ☺️
Carla says
Awesome! How did it turn out?
Riley Peterson says
It was fantastic, I had to take the chicken and put the veggies on broil they were in the oven about an hour and a half and still were pretty firm. I think it had to do with the ceramic dish I used and I had a cookie sheet underneath it. I ended up adding more carrots, onions, potatoes and garlic so there would be leftovers for my partner to take to work! The garlic was delicious, I’m with you on being able to eat a whole head of garlic 😋 yum!!!!
Carla says
Hmm possibly. 90 minutes is a long time for chicken and vegetables. The cookie sheet underneath could have prevented the heat from circulating around the dish. Also if you added more vegetables, I wonder if the dish was too crowded? Or maybe your oven isn’t as accurate as it should be? Regardless, I’m glad you were able to salvage it with the broiler!
Frank says
Maybe a little late to the game, but I made this tonight. Carla, I have to say, it was excellent! I made it with bone-in chicken breasts since that’s my preference and I made it all in a cast iron skillet. The flavors were excellent and adding the garlic cloves is genius! This is definitely going into my recipe binder for continued use. I can see trying it with other vegetables, like maybe Brussels sprouts. Well done, Carla! Thank you!
Carla says
Glad you enjoyed it, Frank! I’ve made it with bone-in breast before and still works just as well. It’s such an easy meal to throw together and happy to hear it’s going in your rotation. Brussels sprouts are a great idea!
Joan Macintosh says
This does sound delicious! I’m wondering why you don’t peel the garlic cloves?
Carla says
I find they cook better while in their skin (plus the skins help protect against burning).