Braised Chicken with Olives and Capers Recipe for Basque Style Chicken

Our braised chicken with olives and capers recipe makes incredibly succulent chicken legs in a Basque style with a couple of surprising Asian ingredients. Adapted from a recipe by Australian chef Martin Benn, it’s a foolproof set-and-forget chicken recipe that no matter how long you leave it or reheat it the chicken remains juicy. Serve it with a chicken jus and creamy mash or Hasselback potatoes.

This ever-reliable, super-easy Basque-style braised chicken with olives and capers recipe makes one of our best chicken recipes. It will make you amazingly juicy chicken legs, which we love to serve with crunchy Hasselback potatoes made with baby potatoes (also called new potatoes, which cook faster than larger potatoes), and our radish cucumber salad with feta, rucola and fresh herbs.  It’s my idea of a perfect Sunday dinner for two.

Alternatively, you could serve these succulent chicken legs with creamy mashed potatoes or even a warm German potato salad. Germany is not on the Mediterranean, we know, but, trust me, it works. As our braised chicken is made with Japanese soy sauce and mirin, and I’ll get to that in a moment, this fragrant fresh herb salad also makes a fab side.

Now before I tell you more about this braised chicken with olives and capers recipe, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by buying something on Amazon, such as classic cookbooks for serious cooks, cookbooks for culinary travellers or cookbooks by Australian chefs, or shop our Grantourismo store for gifts for food lovers designed with Terence’s mouthwatering images. Now let me tell you more about our braised chicken with olives and capers recipe.

Braised Chicken with Olives and Capers Recipe for Basque Style Chicken

We’ve adapted this recipe for Basque style braised chicken with olives and capers from a recipe by one of our favourite Australian chefs, Martin Benn, of Sepia fame. You’ll spot various iterations of this braised chicken recipe called ‘Spanish braised chicken’ and ‘Basque chicken’, but I’ve called it ‘Basque style’ for reasons obvious below.

Now closed, Martin Benn’s Sepia was one of Sydney’s finest restaurants for many years, and while this comforting braised chicken with olives and capers recipe is very different to the elegant, inventive food at Sepia, Martin’s Japanese influence is present in the form of soy sauce and mirin.

We’ve been making this braised chicken with olives and capers recipe for so long that neither of us can recall when Terence first began cooking it. I only recently took over making this easy braised chicken dish when we thought we should share it with you and I began testing Terence’s recipe.

I’ve cooked it three times this week, which also means we’ve eaten it three times, and I’m not tired of it yet! Just a few tips to making this braised chicken with olives and capers recipe as it’s actually very easy and once you put it on, it’s virtually a set-and-forget-dish.

Tips for Making this Braised Chicken with Olives and Capers Recipe

This braised chicken with olives and capers recipe is so easy, I only have a few tips to making the dish. Because aside from a little basting, it’s virtually a set-and-forget-dish.

You’ll add most of the ingredients to a baking pan large enough to hold the chicken pieces, to which you’ll pour in the chicken stock, white wine, Spanish olive oil, soy sauce, and mirin, and add the ground paprika. Give that a good stir to combine everything.

Next, spread the chicken pieces out in the baking tray, spoon the liquid onto the chicken, and season with salt and white pepper. Distribute the olives, capers and garlic around the chicken pieces, then slide the tray into the oven. Slide it out every 15-20 minutes for a quick baste of the chicken and spoon the liquid over the chicken legs.

The chicken should be cooked and be a beautiful golden colour at around 45 minutes. Slide the tray out of the oven and check the internal temperature of the chicken with a digital kitchen thermometer by poking it into the thickest part of a chicken piece. When the chicken is cooked through, it should reach an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F).

Ladle or pour most of the chicken liquid, including the olives and capers, out of the pan and into a small saucepan, leaving just enough in the baking tray to cover the bottom of the pan, as you’ll need this for a final baste of the chicken.

Return the tray of chicken pieces to the oven to brown while you reduce the chicken liquid in the saucepan over high heat to create a jus.

Plate the braised chicken legs, pouring the delicious jus over the chicken pieces, and arrange the capers and olives around the chicken legs.

We recommend serving the braised chicken with Hasselback potatoes or mashed potatoes, sides of vegetables such as caramelised Brussels sprouts or blistered green beans or a simple garden salad. You’ll need some crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Braised Chicken with Olives and Capers Recipe for Juicy Mediterranean Style Chicken

Braised Chicken with Olives and Capers Recipe for Juicy Mediterranean Style Chicken

AuthorLara Dunston

This braised chicken with olives and capers recipe makes an incredibly succulent chicken in a Mediterranean style with a couple of surprising Asian ingredients. Adapted from a recipe by Australian chef Martin Benn, it’s a foolproof set-and-forget recipe that no matter how long you leave it or reheat it remains juicy. Serve it with a chicken jus and creamy mash or Hasselback potatoes.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Main Course

Cuisine Australian, Mediterranean, Spanish

Servings made with recipeServings 4

Calories 627 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 120 ml chicken stock
• 120 ml Chardonnay
• 125 ml Spanish olive oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp ground smoky paprika
• 4 chicken legs - large (around 300g each)
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 100 g olives - mixed – Kalamata for flavour, Spanish for colour
• 2 tbsp Spanish salted capers
• 8 small garlic cloves - peeled

Instructions

 

• Heat the oven to 220°C (430°F).
• To a baking pan large enough to hold the chicken pieces, pour in the chicken stock, white wine, Spanish olive oil, soy sauce and mirin, add the paprika, and stir to combine.
• Spread the chicken pieces out in the baking tray, spoon the liquid onto the chicken, and season with salt and white pepper
• Distribute the olives, capers and garlic around the chicken pieces, slide the tray into the oven for 50 minutes, basting the chicken with the liquid every 15-20 minutes or so.
• The chicken should be cooked and be a lighten golden colour at around 45 minutes. Slide the tray out of the oven and check the internal temperature with a digital thermometer by poking it into the widest part of a chicken piece.
• Ladle or pour most of the liquid, along with the olives and capers, out of the pan and into a saucepan, saving just enough to cover the bottom of the baking tray for a final baste.
• Return the chicken to the oven to brown while you reduce the liquid over high heat to create a jus.
• Plate the chicken, pouring the jus over the pieces, and arranging the capers and olives around the pieces. Serve with potatoes and sides of vegetables or salad and crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Nutrition

Calories: 627kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 24gFat: 54gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 32gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 121mgSodium: 1226mgPotassium: 442mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1973IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 51mgIron: 2mg

This recipe also makes an elegant dinner for her for International Women’s Day. Click on the link for more ideas. Please let us know in the comments below if you make our braised chicken with olives and capers recipe as we’d love to hear how it turns out for you.