Our Garlic Ginger Braised Chicken is one of my favorite, go-to family dinners. I probably make this dish 2 or 3 times a month. It’s so easy to make, packed with delicious sweet and savory soy sauce, ginger and garlic flavors and always a crowd pleaser!
How to Make Garlic and Ginger Braised Chicken
Ingredients
- chicken leg quarters – I like using the leg quarters because they stay really nice and juicy in this recipe. I also just almost always prefer dark meat to light meat because they don’t dry out easily in general.
- shallots, garlic and ginger – These are the aromatics of the dish and very important! They impart really great flavor into the sauce and chicken. If you don’t have shallots, a little bit of diced onion will work just fine.
- chicken stock, soy sauce, and brown sugar – I love the combination of these three ingredients together to make the super simple sauce. The sweet and salty combination is addicting and so easy. I like using stock for the added flavor, but if you don’t have it, you can use water instead.
- white pepper – I like adding white pepper to this dish because it adds the most subtle ‘spicy’ flavor to the dish and balances everything out. If you don’t have white pepper, you can leave it out and everything will still be delicious.
Process
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Generously season chicken quarters on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add oil. Sear skin side down, for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and sear for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
- Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and sauté shallots, garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes.
- Add stock and soy sauce to the pot to deglaze and simmer for 2 minutes Stir in sugar and pepper and continue to simmer until sugar dissolves.
- Add chicken back into the Dutch oven, skin side down.
- Cover and place in the oven for about 30 minutes.
- Uncover, flip the chicken legs, and continue to cook in the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Make Ahead and Reheating Braised Chicken
This dish can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Although different storage steps should be taken if being made 1 or 2 days ahead of time. We break it down for you below!
If making the dish 1 day ahead of time, cool completely after braising, cover with the lid and place the entire pot into the refrigerator. When ready to reheat, just place the pot over the stove and simmer over medium-low heat until just cooked through.
If making the dish two days ahead of time, cool completely after braising, remove the chicken legs from the braising liquid and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Cover the pot and also store in the refrigerator. When ready to reheat, nestle the chicken legs back into the braising liquid and simmer over medium-low heat until just cooked through.
We do these different storing methods so that the chicken doesn’t get too salty by sitting in the braising liquid for 2 days (1 day is fine).
Common Questions for Braising Chicken
- Can I use Chicken breasts instead? While you can use chicken breasts I do not recommend in for this recipe (or most braise recipes). Chicken breasts cook up very quickly so a braise tends to toughen the meat and dry it out quite a bit.
- Can I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs? Absolutely! I often use boneless, skinless thighs for this recipe because they cook up faster. Just remember to reduce the cooking time. You can omit the extra 15 minutes of uncovered braising at the end.
- Do I have to use stock? I like using stock for the bit of extra flavor it provides, but you can definitely substitute water here for an equally delicious dish!
What to Serve with Our Garlic and Ginger Braised Chicken
We’ve listed some of favorite side dishes to enjoy with our braised chicken below!
- Steamed White or Brown Rice
- The BEST Fried Rice
- Garlic Noodles
- Chile Oil Garlic Noodles
- Roasted Cauliflower
- Roasted Green Beans
More Delicious Chicken Recipes You Will LOVE
Garlic and Ginger Braised Chicken
A recipe for fall off the bone, Garlic and Ginger Braised Chicken. Serve over steamed rice with an extra drizzle of the braising sauce for a deliciously simple dinner.
Servings:
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 chicken leg quarters any excess skin and fat trimmed
- ¼ cup diced shallots
- 4 minced garlic cloves (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper optional
- 2 thinly sliced green onion for garnish
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Generously season chicken quarters on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add oil. Sear skin side down, for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and sear for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
- Remove chicken from the pot and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium and sauté shallots, garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes.
- Add stock and soy sauce to the pot to deglaze and simmer for 2 minutes Stir in sugar and pepper and continue to simmer until sugar dissolves.
- Add chicken back into the Dutch oven, skin side down. cover and place in the oven for about 30 minutes.
- Uncover, flip the chicken legs, and continue to cook in the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and top chicken with sesame seeds, green onion and serve with some steamed rice and extra jus on top.
NOTES
Make Ahead and Reheating Braised Chicken
This dish can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Although different storage steps should be taken if being made 1 or 2 days ahead of time. We break it down for you below!
If making the dish 1 day ahead of time, cool completely after braising, cover with the lid and place the entire pot into the refrigerator. When ready to reheat, just place the pot over the stove and simmer over medium-low heat until just cooked through.
If making the dish two days ahead of time, cool completely after braising, remove the chicken legs from the braising liquid and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Cover the pot and also store in the refrigerator. When ready to reheat, nestle the chicken legs back into the braising liquid and simmer over medium-low heat until just cooked through.
We do these different storing methods so that the chicken doesn’t get too salty by sitting in the braising liquid for 2 days (1 day is fine).
Common Questions for Braising Chicken
- Can I use Chicken breasts instead? While you can use chicken breasts I do not recommend in for this recipe (or most braise recipes). Chicken breasts cook up very quickly so a braise tends to toughen the meat and dry it out quite a bit.
- Can I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs? Absolutely! I often use boneless, skinless thighs for this recipe because they cook up faster. Just remember to reduce the cooking time. You can omit the extra 15 minutes of uncovered braising at the end.
- Do I have to use stock? I like using stock for the bit of extra flavor it provides, but you can definitely substitute water here for an equally delicious dish!
Calories: 605kcal Carbohydrates: 47g Protein: 34g Fat: 32g Saturated Fat: 8g Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g Monounsaturated Fat: 16g Trans Fat: 0.1g Cholesterol: 142mg Sodium: 4469mg Potassium: 686mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 39g Vitamin A: 194IU Vitamin C: 4mg Calcium: 90mg Iron: 4mg
CUISINE: asian
KEYWORD: braised, chicken, garlic, ginger, soy sauce
COURSE: dinner, Main Course
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with the measured ingredients, how many chicken thighs would be best?
Hi! I would say between 6-8 thighs
Hi, I look forward to making this tomorrow. Why do you place the chicken skin side down in step 6?
Thank you,
Brad
Hi Brad! We do this so the braising liquid can penetrate the chicken better, through the skin
This was super! There were no leftovers. I was worried with having equal portions of soy sauce to chicken broth. Thanks for this great recipe.
Must have done something wrong? Followed recipe but the chicken never took on a nice sticky, glaze but instead was just swimming in the braising liquid. Tasted good, smelled wonderful and was certainly moist!
Hi! The chicken actually doesn’t take on a sticky glaze, but should absorb some of the braising liquid as it braises. How you’re describing it is exactly how it should be! You if do want a glaze on the chicken, you can remove about 1 cup of the braising liquid from the dutch oven (after the chicken is finished), add it to another pot with an additional 2 tablespoons brown sugar, then simmer/reduce it by 1/3, then brush that glaze over each chicken qtr.
Loved this. I did thicken the sauce with corn starch and substituted half of the chicken stock with white wine. I will definitely make this again.
Hi Jenny,
What size is your le creuset pot in the video?
Hi! It’s a 5.5 quart
Is it possible to make this on the stove top? I don’t have a Dutch oven ☹️
Yes you totally can! It just needs to be covered with a lid and the liquid should be very lightly simmering (so maybe medium-low heat?). The cook time might also have to be slightly adjusted
Since we are not going out because of the virus, I don’t have chicken legs but I do have thighs that are not skinless and boneless. I think I am going to make this tonight! I have a million chicken recipes, but when I saw this, the power of suggestion caused me to run to the freezer! Thanks for the great suggestion!
That’s great! I usually have chicken thighs in my freezer too and make this with just thighs often! Hope you love it!
This was absolutely delicious! This has been added to our rotation. My family has asked for it twice this week.
I’m so happy to hear that!! It’s on regular rotation at my house too! :)
Thanks for sharing this on insta!! Only had to buy a few things that I normally have on hand
i think it’s been good. but it’s saltier for my tastes. so for ones that are watching their sodium, please just use half maybe.
This looks really good, but I’m wondering if I reduce the amount of sugar if that will really affect the outcome?
Mmmm-hmmmm…this looks really tasty. Think dinner is covered for tonight. Thanks!
this looks great, love the soy-ginger-garlic flavors in this and the relative simplicity of the recipe for a weeknight dinner, thank you!
Thanks! This recipe is definitely a favorite of mine. :)