Braised Chicken with Kale, White Beans and Olives

Why I Make Chicken with Kale Often

This dish is a beautiful blend of tender juicy chicken and slightly bitter earthy greens. Here I’m making it with kale but it’s versatile and can be made with any hearty greens.

• Delicious Balanced Flavor – Braising chicken along with the mineral rich greens and white beans creates a rich balanced taste. Olives and lemon add a little tang.
• Tender, Moist Chicken – Braising allows the chicken thighs to cook slowly, resulting in moist, fall-off-the-bone tender meat. 
• Crispy Skin – Searing the chicken before braising creates a crispy, golden brown skin.
• Easy to Make In One Pan on The Stove – With a relatively short list of simple ingredients and minimal prep time, you can sit back and relax while it simmers.
• Full of Protein, Vitamins, Minerals and Fiber – The chicken and beans have lots of protein. Kale is packed with B Vitamins and bone building minerals. The greens and beans provide microbiome supporting fiber.

Ingredients and Substitions

This healthy chicken recipe can be customized to your own tastes and diet. It has a short list of ingredients and some options. This is what you need and a few substitutions:

• Humanely Raised Chicken Thighs – I use bone in skin on for the most flavor and best texture. The skin is essential to get a nice crispy exterior. It also prevents the chicken from drying out in the bubbling liquid as it simmers and it helps build flavor as its fat renders. You can always remove the skin before serving.
• Shallots – Caramelizing the shallots in the savory fat adds a rich umami taste. Red onions can be substituted.
• Garlic – Plenty of fresh garlic for flavor, you’ll use 3 large cloves.
• Kale – Use curly kale (not baby kale). It’s a sturdy green with a slightly bitter earthy flavor. Escarole, Swiss chard, collards or mustard greens are also good.
• Cannellini Beans – The creamy cannellini beans add a nice texture, protein and fiber. If beans are not part of your diet, butternut squash works great too. You can substitute any bean you like.
• Chicken Broth – Homemade or store bought.
• Castelvetrano Olives – I love the mild, buttery, slightly sweet and briny flavor of these olive. I buy pitted to make it easier. Any green olives can be used.
• Smoked Paprika – This provides a smoky, woodsy, earthy flavor. If you like a little spice use hot smoked paprika or substitute red pepper flakes. 

How to Make Braised Chicken with Kale

Braised chicken is great for fall. This slow cooking method of simmering in broth draws out the savory chicken fat and lets it slowly meld with the kale and white beans as is cooks. Here are the basic steps, the exact details are in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Heat oil in a large heavy bottom skillet. Add chicken and let sear until it browns lightly on both sides.

Step 2: Transfer chicken to a plate. Add shallots to the pan with a pinch of salt and cook until pale golden brown. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

Step 3: Add chopped kale and parsley. It may seem like a lot of kale so do it in batches until they cook down. Stir, tossing to coat in the residual chicken fat. Cook until they have just started to wilt, about 2 minutes.

Step 4: Add chicken to the skillet with the kale.

Step 5: Pour in the chicken stock. Bring liquid to a gentle simmer. Let everything braise partly covered for 15 minutes. Add more stock as needed to keep the kale tender and moist.

Step 6: Add the beans. Simmer 5-10 minutes more until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

Step 7: Stir in olives and simmer 1 minute more. Squeeze one lemon half over everything and taste to adjust salt. Serve.

Serving

I usually serve this dish alone. It’s also nice with mashed cauliflower or mashed sweet potatoes to catch all the juices. Roasted sweet potatoes would also be good.

Storage Tips

• To Store. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freezing is not recommended as the kale gets mushy.
• To Reheat. Rewarm gently in the microwave or on the stovetop with a splash of chicken stock or water to keep it from drying out.