Bobby Flay’s Pan-Roasted Chicken With Mint Sauce

By Sam Sifton

Bobby Flay’s Pan-Roasted Chicken With Mint Sauce
Sarah Anne Ward for The New York Times
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
5(740)
Comments
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Bobby Flay served a version of this chicken at Bolo, the elegant little jewel box of a restaurant he had on 22nd Street until 2007, when the building that housed it was sold. It came pan-roasted beneath a blanket of what Flay called Spanish spices, with a vibrant green mint sauce rich with chiles, honey, salt and mustard. The dish was one of the restaurant’s best sellers. I ate it about 3,000 times there before getting the recipe and adapting it for those of us who cook at home. Of course you can make the exact same dish with chicken thighs if you want. But some will prefer the breast meat. Some always have.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

    For the Chicken

    • 4bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
    • Kosher salt to taste
    • 2tablespoons Spanish paprika
    • 2teaspoons ground cumin
    • 2teaspoons ground mustard
    • 2teaspoons ground fennel seed
    • 1teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    • 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

    For the Mint Sauce

    • 1cup fresh mint leaves
    • ½ cup fresh parsley leaves
    • 4cloves garlic, peeled and roughlychopped
    • 1serrano chile, seeds removed androughly chopped
    • 1tablespoon honey
    • 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
    • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • Kosher salt and freshly groundblack pepper.
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

687 calories; 55 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 34 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 39 grams protein; 610 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 425. Rinse the chicken well, then dry it with paper towel. Season the chicken aggressively with salt. Combine the remaining dry ingredients in a small bowl, and rub the mixture all over the skin of the chicken breasts.

  2. Step 2

    Heat the oil in a large, oven-safe sauté pan or skillet set over medium heat. When it is shimmering, put the breasts into the pan skin side down, and cook, unattended, until the skin is golden brown, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Using tongs, turn the chicken breasts over, and place the pan in the oven. Roast until the chicken is golden brown all over and the meat cooked entirely through, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a warmed platter, and allow to rest.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, put the mint, parsley, garlic and serrano into a food processor, and pulse into a paste. Add the honey and mustard, and pulse again, until combined. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil until the mixture has become emulsified. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and if necessary, whisk in a few tablespoons of water to thin the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  4. Step 4

    Spoon some of the sauce over each chicken breast, and serve, with the remaining sauce on the side. Roasted potatoes with some thinly sliced lemons makes a fine accompaniment, along with sautéed greens.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
740 user ratings
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Comments

Lucia Hatch

Yikes--people are still recommending rinsing chicken first? That is a dangerous germy practice, long discredited. If you need a dry chicken part before cooking, pat it with paper towels.

Sam Sifton

Thanks, Stephen. You make a good point, but you also reveal a more important one: We're looking for flavor here, rather than color. Sweet and unsmoked Spanish paprika is nice for some; hot and smoky is nice for others. This is one of those ingredient lists we can file -- thanks to these Notes -- under "Dealer's Choice."

Pat

Finishing by roasting in a cast iron pan made the chicken really golden. The mint/garlic sauce is wonderful and could be used on hardier fish. It's an easy dish, quickly made. Served with roasted fingerlings in the same oven and sauteed spinach, it was a hit.

Nicole

Seasoned Chicken in advance and had dinner ready in 30 mins! Love the simplicity of it. Sauce was not quite right. I would cut or eliminate the honey, leave the seeds in the pepper for more heat, and add salt and a little lemon to brighten it up.

Susan S

I was recovering and tired, so I accidentally just put the spice-rubbed chicken in the oven as I do for a different recipe. When I realized my mistake, not long after, I drizzled olive oil over the chicken so the spices were moistened. I cooked them for maybe 35 minutes, they were big. I spooned the spice-flavored olive oil and drippings over the chicken when it was done. Delicious!

Dan

I detest parsley, so I used cilantro in the sauce instead. The sauce was absolutely delicious. But it somehow didn't quite work with the rub. Dinner wasn't bad in any sense. It was pretty good, but that's it. Will make the sauce again, but not the chicken.

Ash H.

@Dan Not super fair to say the sauce didn’t work with the chicken when parsley and cilantro are wildly different flavors and that wasn’t intended to work with the written recipe

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