Chicken Thighs With Fresh Plum Agrodolce

By Samantha Seneviratne

Published July 24, 2024

Chicken Thighs With Fresh Plum Agrodolce
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
Total Time
25 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(444)
Comments
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Agrodolce means “bittersweet” in Italian and usually refers to a tangy sauce made with honey or sugar along with vinegar. This summertime riff is inspired by the Italian classic but uses fresh plums to add an additional sweet tart element. Simmered with sherry vinegar and honey, the softened plums make a beautiful sauce to top simple chicken thighs making this a weeknight meal that’s lovely enough for company. Round out the meal with some rice and roasted asparagus.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 3tablespoons olive oil
  • 4large boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1¼ pounds)
  • Salt
  • 1large shallot (or ½ small onion), thinly sliced
  • 3large red plums, pitted and cut into ½-inch wedges 
  • Red-pepper flakes 
  • ⅓cup sherry vinegar
  • 3tablespoons honey
  • 1tablespoon cold butter, salted or unsalted
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt. Place the chicken in the skillet and brown on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side. (Don’t try to flip the chicken until it releases naturally from the pan.) Transfer the chicken to a plate.

  2. Step 2

    Add the remaining tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add the shallot and plums and season with salt and a generous pinch of red pepper. Cook, stirring, until shallots have softened. Add the vinegar and honey and bring to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan along with any accumulated juices and cook until the sauce is syrupy and the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to a serving plate. Whisk the butter into the pan sauce and season to taste.

  3. Step 3

    Serve the chicken topped with the plum sauce.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
444 user ratings
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Comments

lynn

curious — recipe says boneless, skinless; picture looks like bone-in, skin on, which is what i’d prefer. guess just cook a bit longer and check temp.

PB

Used four boneless pork loin chops; otherwise followed the recipe. This was easy and delicious. The sauce was intense and velvety. Definitely serve with rice, mashed potatoes, bread - something to soak up the (awesome) sauce.

Diana

“Whatever grows together, goes together. Was just reminded of this axiom by The Bear just saying —. Serving this fresh plum-based dish with asparagus at the height of summer makes no sense. How about grilled eggplant, zucchini or peppers?

Eric

Add 4 tablespoons of honey instead of 3 to give it the proper sweet-sour balance. I followed the recipe, but it was too much on the sour side, so the additional honey helped.

Amanda

The vinegar + honey sauce was a bit too much, the plums and onions alone would have been fine. Also as others have noted, the plums nearly dissolve when you make this; the picture must have quite underripe plums to stay firm like that. The taste of the plums and onions with roasted chicken was really tasty though! I only had bone-in skinned chicken, so I roasted it separately and made the sauce alone. I will make again, just without the vinegar/honey part.

Meh

Mostly just sour, not much sweet. Not much actual flavor either. Not sure what the high ratings are about.

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