Saint Patrick’s Day is coming up, and that means another wedding anniversary. This is our 13th. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but here we are. Every year, I make a couple of Irish and/or Irish-inspired dishes for the double holiday. This year I’m giving this Irish Chicken recipe a try. I know chicken probably isn’t the first thing most people think of for Saint Patrick’s Day, but this dish does have a few things in common with corned beef. Don’t laugh! It’s full of potatoes, cabbage, onions, and spices, which is a big part of your typical corned beef and cabbage recipe. Just change out the meat and skip the carrots. Oh, and it sounds like it’s going to be quicker and easier. I love corned beef and cabbage, but maybe, just maybe, I’ve found an easier alternative. Let’s find out!
Here’s an alternative dish for St. Patrick’s Day! It’s Irish Chicken with Cabbage, Potatoes, Bacon and Onions. I can’t begin to tell you how good this was. It’s all cooked in one pan and then after assembling, into the oven it goes.
The Ingredients
I can’t say whether this is an authentic/traditional Irish recipe, but I’m guessing Irish-inspired because of all the spices. My understanding of Irish cuisine is that it’s marked by simple ingredients with few spices. At any rate, this recipe does include ingredients typically found in Irish cuisines like chicken, bacon, cabbage, onion, and potatoes.
These simple ingredients were all easy to find kitchen staples. I had all of the spices on hand, so that left me to shop for the meat and vegetables. I even bought a whole chicken and cut it apart myself. I found a video that showed how to do it in a minute. The instructor is a pro chef, so I didn’t even try to go that fast. Instead, it took me 3 minutes, but it was amazingly easy.
I’m going this route from now on! The whole chicken I bought was $7.10 for 3.57 pounds. I estimate the cost of buying the breasts and legs separately at $18.56. I saved significantly for 3 minutes of work.
The Process
So making this Irish chicken was simple and went according to the instructions. Here’s how my time was spent:
- 20 minutes to prep
- 9 minutes cooking on the stove
- 50 minutes baking in the oven
- 1 hour 19 minutes total
That was a little longer than the 1 hour 5 minutes listed, but not that much.
Really, everything went according to the instructions, and I followed them to the letter for the most part. The only change I made was to the chicken. I lifted the skin on all the pieces and put some of the spices underneath so they would be in contact with the meat. I also some on the outside of the skin, but that was mostly for presentation purposes.
I have to say it worked a treat. I highly recommend using this method when seasoning any poultry with skin. It makes such a huge difference in the flavor, especially if you don’t eat the skin.
And although it’s not specified, I used my 12-inch cast-iron pan for this recipe. It had enough room to mix the cabbage, onions, and potatoes and for the chicken pieces. I’m not sure a smaller pan would have worked.
