Go Back
+ servings
polenta chicken with garlic sauce in a bowl
Print Recipe
4.88 from 8 votes

Polenta Chicken

A simple recipe for chicken and polenta with garlic, a typical Romanian polenta dish, full of comfort and flavor.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Poultry
Cuisine: Romanian
Servings: 4
Calories: 665kcal
Author: Adina

Ingredients

  • Garlic chicken:
  • 6 whole chicken legs/ chicken quarters See note
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 ½ cups chicken stock
  • ½ bunch parsley
  • 4 large garlic cloves
  • fine sea salt and pepper
  • For the polenta:
  • 1 ⅔ cup polenta
  • 4 ⅔ cups water
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons butter optional

Instructions

  • Remove the skin from the chicken legs and divide them at the joint. Sprinkle them generously with salt and pepper.
  • Brown chicken: Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottom pan, a pan large enough to hold the chicken pieces in one layer. Place the chicken parts in the pan and brown all over. Sprinkle the paprika on top and stir well to coat the chicken parts with it. Add the chicken stock, it should cover the meat almost entirely, but the chicken should not be swimming in liquid.
  • Simmer: Chop the parsley and add half of it to the pan. Add some pepper, bring to a boil, lower the heat and cover the pan leaving a crack open. Cook for about 30 minutes (turning the chicken once in between) or until the meat is cooked through.
  • Polenta: Start making the polenta about now if you want to serve this immediately.
  • Sauce: By the end of the cooking time, the sauce should have been reduced by half. If you want a thicker sauce, remove the lid from the pot during the last 5 minutes of the cooking time. I don't find it necessary; I like to have a runnier sauce to soak the polenta.
  • Grate the garlic cloves and add them to the pan together with the rest of the chopped parsley. Cook for 1 minute, remove from heat, and season.
  • To make the polenta, heat the water in a large pan but do not let it come to a boil. Add the salt, stir to dissolve. Add the polenta in a slow stream while stirring all the time.
  • Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover with a crack, and cook, often stirring, according to the packet's instructions. Mine takes about 20 minutes, but that can differ greatly depending on the polenta you bought.
  • Add butter: Once the polenta is ready, stir in the butter.
  • Serve as soon as the polenta is ready.

Notes

Or use 4 large chicken thighs and 4 large chicken drumsticks.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of the dish | Calories: 665kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 79g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 407mg | Sodium: 1419mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g