Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

Who’s ready for a quick and easy chicken recipe?? I’ve mentioned before that we’re trying to eat a little less meat in our house, but sometimes there’s just no replacement for a fast chicken bake when you’re scrambling to get dinner on the table on a weeknight. While I’ve started experimenting with upping the veggies in certain recipes to compensate for the lack of meat, I have yet to try to tackle the beast that is tofu. In fact, I may never try that. The jury is still out on whether or not I like the texture of it, which means it probably isn’t my fiancé’s thing either. So we may just stick to eating beans for our protein and calling it a day.

Which means when we are in the mood for something that’s seasoned like meat, we’ll just go ahead and make chicken! We’re trying to keep this to weekends or really busy weeknights when we have no other choice because there’s no time to come up with a new veggie recipe. It’s still cutting back on the amount of meat that we eat, and it’s a good way to gradually get used to vegetarianism. I always said that I wanted to eat less meat without completely cutting it out of my diet, and this plan certainly helps that! So on nights when we forgot to buy beans at the grocery store and are staring at the pantry hoping that some other source of protein is going to magically jump out at us (which happens more often than I’d like to admit), I’ll turn to the freezer and whip up this quick and easy chicken recipe.

The great thing about this is that garlic and brown sugar are ingredients that I always have on hand. Garlic seems to keep forever in my fridge (which is a blessing because I suck at eating produce before it goes bad… please see my multiple banana bread recipes for evidence), and brown sugar is a must-have because I love to bake so much. Plus, when I first read this recipe, I was so shocked at the thought of the two flavors together. Sweet garlic? I hadn’t really heard of such a thing. Anything that sounds weird is right up my alley, and so I knew I had to try it.

The result is a delicious blend of savory and sweet that flavors the chicken so well and keeps it nice and juicy. The brown sugar caramelizes in the oven to provide a crunchy topping, while the garlic is the pungent flavor kick that you need to keep easy weeknight dinners from becoming boring. Add a couple of vegetables on the side, and you’ve got a dinner that was almost as easy to make as a frozen pizza, with a lot more nutrients and flavor! Hopefully you find this quick and easy chicken recipe a staple within your home too. Got any ideas for variations on it? Any good ways to get this same great flavor in a vegetarian recipe? Drop a comment below – I’d love to try your suggestions!

Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

A quick and easy chicken recipe for those weeknights when you don't want to sacrifice flavor for time. A good choice for the whole family!

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

  

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic (finely minced)
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar (packed)
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thawed)

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a 9x9 (or larger if you're increasing the recipe) baking dish with foil and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Add the chicken to the dish and set aside.
• In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the garlic until fragrant and tender, about a minute or two. Add the brown sugar and stir until the mixture is incorporated and all of the sugar is wet and clumpy from the oil. Spread evenly over the chicken breasts.
• Bake at 450 for about 20 minutes. The chicken should be fragrant and the sugar should be boiling in the bottom of the dish. Check that it is cooked through on the inside, then serve with fresh veggies and enjoy!

Notes

• This recipe is adapted from one found on Food.com.