Description
Sticky Glazed Christmas Chicken is a festive, flavorful roast chicken recipe featuring juicy, bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks marinated in a zesty, spiced orange glaze. Roasted until deeply caramelized and sticky, this dish offers a delightful combination of sweet, tangy, and warm spices perfect for holiday gatherings.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken
- 1.2 kg / 2.4 lb chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
- 800g / 1.6 lb chicken drumsticks, or more thighs
Marinade
- 5 tsp orange zest (from 2 oranges)
- 1/2 cup orange juice (from the zested oranges)
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar (substitute with white wine, sherry, or champagne vinegar)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 whole star anise
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Serving and Garnishes
- 2 oranges, cut into wedges or halved then sliced
- Good value leafy greens – like endive, watercress, for the bed
- Orange zest curls
Instructions
- Marinate Chicken: Mix all marinade ingredients together in a jug. Pour over the chicken pieces in a large ziplock bag and massage the marinade into the chicken to coat thoroughly. Marinate ideally for 24 hours, but a minimum of 3 hours and preferably at least 12 hours is acceptable to allow deep flavor absorption.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Trays: Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan assisted). Line two baking trays with foil, then cover with parchment or baking paper to ease cleanup and prevent sticking.
- Arrange and Roast Chicken: Distribute the marinated chicken pieces evenly on the lined trays, then pour any remaining marinade over the chicken. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.
- Baste and Continue Roasting: After 30 minutes, continue roasting for a further 20 minutes, basting the chicken 2 to 3 times with the pan juices. Initially the juices may be watery, but in the last 10 minutes they will thicken and darken. Increase the frequency and amount of basting during this thickening phase to develop a deep golden, sticky glaze.
- Rotate Trays: When the top tray is nearly cooked, swap the positions of the trays (move the bottom tray to the top rack and the top tray underneath) so both trays finish cooking evenly.
- Final Baste and Serve: Before plating, baste the chicken one last time with the sticky glaze from the tray. Arrange a bed of leafy greens on a serving platter, pile the sticky glazed chicken on top, and garnish with orange slices or wedges and orange zest curls.
Notes
- Chicken – Skin-on, bone-in pieces are essential for the glaze to caramelize beautifully and to keep the meat juicy. Whole chicken is not recommended unless spatchcocked due to uneven cooking and caramelization issues.
- A ziplock bag is ideal for marinating to ensure even coating. If avoiding plastic, use a bowl or non-reactive container and increase marinade volume by 50%, tossing chicken occasionally. Avoid pouring excess marinade during roasting to prevent overly salty glaze.
- Orange zest curls: use a zester or sharp knife to cut thin strips, twist around a wooden spoon handle and leave 15+ minutes to hold curled shape for an elegant garnish.
- If glaze doesn’t thicken by the 50-minute mark, remove chicken, cover to keep warm, and return trays without chicken to the oven to reduce juices until they become syrupy. Then glaze the chicken with it.
- Leftovers keep in the fridge up to 4 days and reheat well in microwave or oven. They also freeze well; thaw then reheat to restore sticky, juicy texture.
- Make-ahead tip: combine chicken with marinade and freeze. Thaw in the fridge 24 hours before cooking to marinate during thawing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving (approx. 200-250g chicken with marinade glaze)
- Calories: 450 kcal
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 650 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 110 mg
