Orange-Honey Glazed Chicken Breasts

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk the 1 1/2 cups orange juice, corn syrup, honey, mustard, vinegar, pepper flakes, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper together in a medium bowl. Place flour in a pie plate, season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Working with one chicken breast at a time, coat the chicken with the flour.

2. Heat the oil in an ovenproof 12-inch skillet (see my notes below) over medium heat until oil shimmers. Add the chicken breasts skin-side down; cook until well browned and most of the fat has rendered from the skin, about 10-14 minutes. Turn the chicken over and lightly brown the other side, about 5 minutes longer.Transfer chicken to a plate.

3. Pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat from the pan. Add the minced shallot and cook until softened, 1-2 minutes. Increase heat to high and add the orange juice mixture. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to 1 cup, 7-10 minutes. Using tongs, roll each chicken breast in the glaze to coat evenly and place skin-side down in the skillet.

4. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake the chicken until the thickest part of the chicken registers 160 degrees, about 30 minutes. Turn the chicken skin side up halfway through cooking. Transfer chicken to a platter and let rest. Return skillet to the stove top on high heat and cook the glaze, stirring constantly, until thick and syrupy (about 2-3 minutes). (see my notes). Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the remaining 2 Tbls orange juice.

Serve white rice, topped with a chicken breast, with glaze spooned over breast.

Note: I don’t have an oven proof skillet, so I transfered my chicken to a casserole dish when baking. I reused the same skillet when I brought it out of the oven.

I didn’t feel the glaze was as thick and syrupy as it should have been. So I mixed 1 tsp of cornstarch to the 2 Tbls orange juice, added that back to the pan and simmered for a few minutes to get it a bit thicker. Remember, never add cornstarch directly to hot liquids. Always dissolve corn starch in cold liquid first.

Apple-Maple Glazed Chicken Breasts:

Follow the same recipe, but substitute apple cider for the orange juice and 2 Tbls maple syrup for the honey.

Pineapple-Brown Sugar Glazed Chicken Breasts

Follow the same recipe, but substitute pineapple juice for the orange juice and 2 Tbls brown sugar for the honey.