Chicken Marbella
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One of the most popular dishes from the Silver Palate Cookbook, Chicken Marbella has been a family favorite for decades. Loved it back then; still love it now!
Chicken Marbella is probably the most famous recipe to come out of the beloved Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and the late Sheila Lukins. Growing up, this dish was a regular at our family dinners, especially during Rosh Hashanah and Passover. To this day, my mom prepares it for special family gatherings. I hesitated to share this recipe initially, thinking many of you might already have it tucked away. But then it dawned on me that an entire new generation of home cooks might be unfamiliar with it. After all, the cookbook hit the shelves in 1982 — and to put that in perspective, I was only 9 years old back then!
So, what makes Chicken Marbella so darn good? First off, the chicken itself is always tender and juicy. But more than anything, it’s in the unique Mediterranean flavor combination — a marinade of garlic and herbs, a savory-sweet wine gravy (which, I swear, is good enough to drink), and a mix of plump prunes, briny capers, and tangy green olives. It all comes together to make one gorgeous and memorable dish.
Table of Contents
“I made this for my husband’s birthday dinner last night – THE MOST AMAZING CHICKEN ever!”
If you don’t have the Silver Palate Cookbook, a 25th-anniversary edition complete with photos was published a few years ago. The recipes are as relevant today as they were in the 1980s. In fact, my mother still keeps her original copy by the stove, with the Chicken Marbella page (among many others) dog-eared and scribbled on.
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Marbella
Step-by-Step Instructions
In a large bowl combine garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers with caper juice, and bay leaves. Add the chicken pieces and coat completely with the marinade (use your hands to rub marinade all over and especially under the skin). Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and set two oven racks in the centermost positions. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in two 9 x 13-inch baking dishes and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.
Bake for about 1 hour, basting occasionally with the pan juices. The chicken is done when the thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest point, yield clear yellow juice (not pink).
At this point, you can serve the chicken as is, especially if you plan to remove the skin. However, if you prefer a crisper, browner skin, transfer the chicken pieces to a foil-lined baking sheet.
Broil 5 inches from the heating element for a few minutes, or until the skin is golden and crisp; keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Then proceed to serve as above.)
With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Add some of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with the parsley. Pass the remaining sauce on the side.
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Chicken Marbella
One of the most popular dishes from the Silver Palate Cookbook, Chicken Marbella has been a family favorite for decades. Loved it back then; still love it now!
Ingredients
- 2 cut-up chickens, 2½ pounds each, quartered, bone-in, skin-on (see note)
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2¼ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup pitted prunes
- ¼ cup Spanish green olives
- ¼ cup capers, with a bit of juice
- 3 bay leaves
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup white wine
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped Italian parsley
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers with caper juice, and bay leaves. Add the chicken pieces and coat completely with the marinade (use your hands to rub marinade all over and especially under the skin). Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set two oven racks in the centermost positions.
- Arrange the marinated chicken in a single layer in two 9 x 13-inch baking dishes and spoon the marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with the brown sugar and pour the white wine around them.
- Bake for about 1 hour, basting occasionally with the pan juices. The chicken is done when the thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest point, yield clear yellow juice (not pink).
- With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter (discard the bay leaves). Add some of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with the parsley. Pass the remaining sauce in a gravy boat. (Alternatively, if you prefer a crisper, browner skin, transfer the chicken pieces to a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil 5 inches from the heating element for a few minutes, or until the skin is golden and crisp; keep a close eye on it so it doesn't burn. Then proceed to serve as above.) Serve the chicken hot or room temperature.
- Note: You can substitute all white or dark meat depending on what your family likes. I've also seen appetizer versions made entirely with small drumsticks and wings.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 821
- Fat: 50 g
- Saturated fat: 12 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Sugar: 18 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 62 g
- Sodium: 963 mg
- Cholesterol: 280 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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This recipe was perfect! We loved the flavors. Will make again!
Can I use Dates instead of prunes?
Sure – hope you enjoy!
Hi, I need to make this for 16 people (10 men, 6 women)..and am having trouble figuring out the proportions to increase. It seems like it will be a lot of oil, oregano and a lot of sugar if I triple the recipe.
Hi Patrice, it may sound like a lot of oil, sugar, etc. if you triple the ingredients, but I would keep all the ratios the same. Hope everyone enjoys!
Made this for dinner party of 8 adults, I used bone-in and skin on breasts. They were probably too big, given I had appetizers, soup and salad. They turned out great though, just wrapped up leftovers for the guests. I got so many complements when i was opening the oven to baste, and they smelled great!!! Thank you!
I had an equivalent of one chicken in thighs and drumsticks. I made sauce that is supposedly for 2 chicken and it seemed to be about right for one. The dish turned out well. I liked the thighs much more than the drumsticks.
Can you marinate this longer than 24 hours in advance? ….and a friend of mine’s family uses honey instead of brown sugar on the chicken skin for the crispy factor. Have you ever heard of that and what do you think?
Thanks, jon
Sure, John — a longer marinade is fine and the honey sounds delicious.
This recipe is amazing! For all of you out there who are wondering about the “odd” ingredients- just make it! My husband and kids were thrilled. I made it with Parmesan orzo and Jenn’s asparagus with peas.
My mother visited the next day and she doesn’t like olives, capers and vinegar. I gave her a bite of the leftovers (didn’t even heat it up) and she ate the whole piece! Of course, I had to send her home with the rest of the leftovers…
Thank god someone finally did a smaller portion version of this recipe. I tried to cut back and it was not the same, glad you found the perfect amounts, it is wonderful!
Quick question, I was looking for a video of it, the video playing on the page was not for this recipe. How do you search video’s on your site?
Hi JKG, Glad you enjoyed this! Unfortunately, I don’t have a video of this recipe — sorry! You can find the handful of videos I have here.
I’m trying a couple of recipes for my upcoming small dinner party, so we just had this for lunch today. Delicious! I see that you say it can be made ahead and reheated. I could see that being a good thing for melding the flavors even more, but will the chicken skin be limp?
We love your roasted carrots with curry. If I served it with the Marbella would the flavors compete too much? I was thinking of doing that and a simple couscous.
Thank you!
Hi Kay, The chicken skin won’t be crisp while reheating it as you should cover it with foil. But before taking it out of the oven, you can remove the foil and put the chicken under the broiler for a minute or two to crisp up the skin. And I do think the curry in the carrots may compete a bit with the flavors of the chicken. You might want to consider this roasted carrot dish instead. Hope that helps!
I used just bone-in thighs. When I opened my jar of oregano, I only had about 1.5 T so added one t of thyme. I used the left over red wine vinegar from the pickled onions I keep in the fridge. Next time, I’d probably add a little crushed red pepper, but that’s just us.
I’m 57 and had never heard of this recipe. A lot of us from my generation, who had working mothers, grew up on Hamburger Helper. I spent most of my 20’s eating as inexpensively as possible (lots of lentil soup) and didn’t really cook more than necessary until my 30’s. Thanks for including it.