It has been awhile since I have shared a savory recipe. Why? Well, I happen to be a fan of sweets and I find them much more fun to make. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good savory dish too. Today, in honor of fall, we are going to give chicken a holiday makeover. It is a savory and sweet dish (win win!) that is perfect for a get together or even Thanksgiving dinner. With the help of some semi-homemade ingredients, this Maple Pumpkin Chicken dish will be ready and on the table in no time!
The Semi-Homemade Way
Back in the day, when I had way more free time on my hands, I used to love watching some of my favorite Food Network shows. One of my go-to shows was Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee. I absolutely love the idea of incorporating short cuts into a recipe to save both time and money. Who doesn’t? There are so many ways to make cooking a breeze without compromising on taste or quality.
Today, we are going to make our own semi-homemade recipe that is both delicious and uncomplicated. In fact, there are really only four main ingredients! Four! How easy is that? How is that possible you ask? Well, you need an all star component that will add the majority of the flavor, with all the other ingredients just helping to bring it together. This all star ingredient that I speak of is pumpkin butter. Not just any pumpkin butter, but maple pumpkin butter!
Maple Pumpkin Butter
Now, you could absolutely make your own pumpkin butter. It is certainly delicious. But if you are a busy mom like me, then allowing someone else to do some of the prep work is a no brainer. When you are using semi-homemade ingredients, it is important to be sure that you are choosing high quality ones. The reason for this is because you often are not adding a lot of your own flavorings, so they need to be great on their own.
For this recipe, I used Stonewall Kitchen’s Maple Pumpkin Butter. If you have never tried any of their products you are missing out! They have so many to choose from! This pumpkin butter is smooth, creamy and rich. It has just the right combination of maple and pumpkin flavors. It goes well with chicken, pork and would also be amazing on carrots! You could try this recipe out on any of them! Today however, we will use chicken.
Maple Pumpkin Chicken
Let’s get started. First you will need a large skillet and some olive oil. Just heat the oil over medium high heat and then add your well seasoned (salt and pepper) chicken. Once you place it down, don’t move it! Allowing it to cook for a minute or two undisturbed will help to create a nice golden crust. Cooking times will entirely depend on the thickness of your chicken. Mine were quite thick so they took several minutes per side. I always keep a thermometer handy so that I know when they are 170 degrees and can prevent over-cooking. Once they are done, remove them from the pan and cover to keep warm.
Now it’s time for the star ingredient, the pumpkin butter. If you have never tried pumpkin butter, there is no better time than now! Stonewall kitchen has amazing pumpkin butter that is sure to make your taste buds do the happy dance! While in theory, you could just slap a bunch on top of your chicken as is, I find that it is a little too thick and sweet for that approach. We are going for a sauce/glaze texture here.
Super Easy Sauce
For the sauce, you’ll want to use the same pan that you cooked the chicken in. That pan is now loaded with bits of flavor that should never go to waste! Making the sauce in the pan will “deglaze” it and help with cleaning later. You are killing two birds with one stone as they say. So, in the same pan, heat a stick of butter over medium heat and be sure to stir whisk it around to pick up those good bits stuck to the pan. Once the butter is melted and bubbly, add about two tablespoons of all purpose flour. We are not making a true roux here so you don’t need equal parts of flour/butter. We just want to thicken the butter a bit so that we get a more substantial sauce.
Once the flour has been added, you’ll need to whisk it vigorously with the butter to work out any lumps. Let it cook for about a minute to take away the bitter raw flour taste. Now you are ready to add in the pumpkin butter. I used only three tablespoons because I wanted the flavor but not a ton of sweetness. If you want to live dangerously, you can add a fourth. I would start with three and give it a taste to see if you like the level of sweetness before adding more.
A Little Heat Never Hurts
After adding the desired amount of pumpkin butter, continue to whisk and let simmer for another one to two minutes or until it begins to reduce and thicken. We like a little kick in our recipes here, so I also added a little bit of cayenne to the sauce. I would stick with ¼ to ½ teaspoon. You don’t want a perfect balance of sweetness and heat. You won’t taste “spice” but rather just get a hint of warmth on your palette. Not a fan of spice? It is completely optional!
All that is left to do now is place your cooked chicken back into the pan and turn it once or twice to coat with the sauce. I also recommend spooning some extra sauce over the chicken once it has been plated. One bite will take you to a happy fall place. You will be so amazed how quickly you made this dish that you just might want to make it for your next holiday gathering or on your leftover turkey! And nobody needs to know it was “semi” homemade. It’s our little secret. 😉
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Maple Pumpkin Chicken
Ingredients
- 3-4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ c unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 3 tbsp Stonewall Kitchen's Maple Pumpkin Butter
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Season chicken on both sides liberally with salt and pepper.
- Preheat pan over medium high heat.
- Add olive oil and place chicken in pan.
- Allow chicken to cook for several minutes per side (depending on thickness) or until browned and cooked through.
- Remove chicken and keep warm.
- In the same pan over medium heat, melt butter, whisking to pick up bits of chicken left in pan.
- Once the butter is melted and bubbly, add the flour and whisk vigorously until smooth. Cook and stir for one minute.
- Stir in maple pumpkin butter and allow to simmer for one to two minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Add chicken back into pan and turn to coat.
- Serve with extra sauce for garnish.
