This is the perfect summer chicken recipe, highlighting the bounty of blackberries that can be seen ripening up all over the Pacific Northwest. I had just baked up a delicious recipe of Old Fashioned Blackberry Cobbler, and was pondering other ways to use the plethora of blackberries that I had picked from my garden. A main dish that features blackberries is what was needed. Blackberry Chicken was the answer.

My daughter had her friend over for the afternoon, and between the three of us, we tinkered with the sauce until it was perfect. It pairs so well with the dark meat of seared chicken thighs and drumsticks. A bit of a riff on cranberry sauce with turkey. The sauce is snappy and sweet at the same time.

A couple of notes:

The blackberries I used were a thornless variety that are a marionberry/blackberry hybrid. They are large and juicy, but a bit more tart than the variety you might find in the grocery, or in the wild. If you are using very sweet blackberries, you may want to adjust the recipe accordingly.
More importantly, if you have any sauce left over, you MUST spoon it over vanilla ice cream for dessert!! The sweet/tart sauce pairs in such an amazing way with the ice cream…. I may even make the sauce for the sole purpose of dessert.
If you have extra berries, be sure to try Old Fashioned Blackberry Cobbler or a lovely Blackberry Crumble Pie. Another impressive blackberry option would be the amazing Layered Blackberry Sponge Cake.

Equipment

Wire Mesh Strainer

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Duck Fat (or butter) for searing chicken
Salt & Pepper
4 Chicken Thighs, bone in, skin on
4 Chicken Drumsticks, bone in, skin on
2 1/2 Cups Fresh Blackberries. **See note** Can substitute frozen, but you may need to add a bit of cooking time for thickening
1/2 Cup Fresh Blackberries for Serving Garnish
1/4 Cup Water
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar, Use high quality, thick and sweet variety
2 Tbsp Honey
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Butter

Instructions

Preparing Chicken

Preheat oven to 325℉
Season Chicken pieces with Salt & Pepper.
Melt Duck Fat in a Le Creuset, or other Dutch oven.
Once Duck Fat is melted, and pan is hot, add Chicken Pieces, skin side down. Sear for several minutes. Once golden brown, turn Chicken over and sear other side for another few minutes. Flip Chicken back to skin side and continue to sear until deep golden brown. Once hard sear is accomplished on skin side, flip chicken over and sear for another few minutes until under side is seared nicely. Make sure that when your searing is complete, the chicken is facing skin side up. This whole process should take 15-20 minutes.
Cover tightly with lid and pop in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked and internal temperature is 170℉.
Turn oven up to 450℉ on the roasting function (if you have it). Remove lid and cook chicken for 5-7 more minutes to crisp the skins. You could also do a quick broil on high to achieve the same results.

Blackberry Sauce

While chicken is cooking, place the Blackberries and Water in a saucepan set over medium-low heat. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until berries have cooked down. Remove from heat.
Using a 1/2 Cup measuring cup, scoop out 1/2 Cup of the cooked berries. Set aside.
Place wire mesh strainer over a bowl and strain the berries (leaving the 1/2 cup aside).
Press the seeded pulp around the strainer to get as much of the berry pulp off of the seeds.
Place pan back on low heat and add the Balsamic Vinegar, Honey, Butter and Salt. Add the 1/2 cooked berries back into the pan. Gently stir to combine. Cook for 5-10 minutes until thickens.

To Serve

Spoon a generous helping of sauce on each plate. Nestle the chicken thigh and drumstick into the sauce. Drizzle more blackberry sauce over the top. Enjoy!

Notes

If using Frozen Berries, reduce water to 1 Tbsp.
In regards to the type of blackberries you are using: I have thornless a blackberry/marionberry cross in my garden. These berries are much more tart than very ripe wild blackberries. If you are using sweeter, very ripe blackberries, you may want to reduce the honey by 1/2 Tbsp and increase the Balsamic Vinegar by 1/2 Tbsp. This will keep the bit of tartness that balances so well with the chicken.
If you have left over sauce, be sure to spoon it over vanilla ice cream for dessert! I may even like the sauce better with the ice cream, as the tangy/tartness of the berries balance out the sweetness of the ice cream. SO DELICIOUS!

Blackberry Chicken