My Cinnamon Apple Chicken with Buttered Purple Cabbage is soooo good. It’s comfort, health, ease, and deliciousness all wrapped up in one meal and tied with a bow. Cabbage and apples are a great combo that everyone will love.
Most of my chicken dishes are made in a slow cooker, but once in a while, I want some golden (pasture raised organic) chicken skin to sink my teeth into, such as the gluten free recipe below (and also this staple in our house: Garam Masala Orange Chicken). I buy my pasture raised organic chickens here (also available soy-free, meaning they didn’t feed the chickens any soy). Good Earth Farms is also where we bought our pasture raised turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas. A testament to the quality and deliciousness of their poultry was when my mom, who is always extremely(!) honest, exclaimed three times how much she enjoyed the turkey and she’s never been a “turkey” person.
Cinnamon Apple Chicken with Buttered Purple Cabbage
Yield 4 servings
- 1 whole pastured organic chicken, pieced (usually 3 to 5 pounds)
- sea salt to season pastured organic chicken
- 1/4 cup grass fed organic ghee (or coconut oil if strict paleo)
- 1 tablespoon organic apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 organic apples, cored and quartered
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped (for garnish)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Season the chicken pieces generously with sea salt and set them in a large glass baking dish or a must-buy-very-useful roasting pan. I want to emphasize the need to properly season your poultry… don’t be shy with the salt.
- Place the apples around the chicken.
- Stir together the ghee, vinegar, orange juice, and cinnamon until combined as much as can be. Brush/Pour/Rub the sauce all over the chicken.
- Bake the chicken for 15 minutes at 375 degrees F.
- Lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and cook for 20 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces, baste the chicken and apples, and cook another 15 minutes. Flip the chicken back over and cook until done… about 15 to 45 minutes, or until done as indicated by a thermometer for proper poultry cooking temperature. My favorite thermometer is the Thermapen Instant Read Thermometer). Be sure to quickly baste the pastured chicken and apples a couple times throughout the cooking process (I use a glass Norpro baster.
- If desired, crank up the heat to 400 to 425 degrees F for the last minutes to crisp the skin more (Kamea’s favorite part is the chicken skin).
- Allow the chicken to rest 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Season with additional sea salt, if needed, at the table.
Buttered Purple Cabbage
This recipe is fabulous. Clearly it isn’t for strict paleo (or vegan) peeps with the grass fed butter in it, but you could always drizzle coconut oil on it to satisfy people in those crowds. That’s soooo not the same as grass fed butter though.
Yield 4 servings
- 1 head purple cabbage, chopped or sliced
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup filtered water
- 1/4 cup grass fed butter, melted (or more)
- sea salt, to season
- Cook the cabbage (seasoned with a bit of salt) and water, over medium heat, covered, until tender.
- Transfer to a bowl, pour grass fed butter on top, season with more sea salt, and toss to mix.