Don’t have an acorn squash for this chicken thighs recipe? Use butternut. Not into mustard greens? Use kale, Swiss chard, or spinach.
Ingredients
8 Servings
4
2
8
4
1
1
½
3
2
2
1
1
2
2
Preparation
Step 1
Lightly season chicken thighs all over with salt and pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Working in 2 batches and pouring off all but 2 Tbsp. fat between batches, cook chicken, skin side down, until skin is browned and crisp, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a plate, placing skin side up (chicken will not be cooked through at this point).
Step 2
Cook white and pale green parts of scallions, chiles, and ginger in same pot, stirring often, until scallions and ginger are golden, about 3 minutes. Add wine, bring to a simmer, and cook until reduced to about 3 Tbsp., 5 minutes. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and 1 cup broth and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Return chicken to pot, placing skin side up and overlapping if needed. Partially cover pot, reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 25–30 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Step 3
Add squash and remaining 1 cup broth to pot and push in squash so it’s mostly submerged. Arrange greens on top. Bring to a simmer, partially cover pot, and cook until squash is barely fork-tender and greens are wilted, 10–12 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to medium, and continue to cook until liquid is reduced by about two-thirds and has the consistency of thin gravy, 10–15 minutes.
Step 4
Remove pot from heat and drizzle vinegar over vegetables. Taste sauce; it should be plenty salty, but season with more salt if needed. Add chicken back to pot, turning to coat in sauce, then scatter dark green parts of scallions and sesame seeds over top. Serve with rice.
Step 5
Chicken can be braised 2 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill. Reheat covered over low.
Nutrition Per Serving
How would you rate Braised Chicken Thighs With Squash and Mustard Greens?
Leave a Review
Reviews (29)
Back to TopFirst time I made it followed recipe exactly and it was WAY too salty - I've modified it now to use maybe 1/4 cup soy sauce + splash water and1 half can coconut milk (basically combining this recipe + coconut curry braised chicken thighs recipe) - really cuts down on the harsh bite of the salt and adds great flavor. I use kabocha squash instead of acorn and add a little garam malsala and harissa to the sauce once simmering. DELICIOUS. Next time it will hopefully take me less than 3 hours now that I've tweaked it...
Audrey Marie
Des Moines, IA
9/1/2022
Delicious! made according to recipe. loved it. will definitely make again.
marvin
Palm Springs
1/12/2022
Just made this last night and LOVED it! My husband and son said the only thing wrong with it, was that I didn't make more.
J Ellis
Seattle, WA
1/1/2022
Why does everything have to be so spicy?! Can the dried chiles de árbol be left out or substituted for a milder pepper. The reason people from hot climates eat extremely spicy foods is because it helps them to perspire thus cooling the body. We certainly DO NOT NEED this in colder climates and many in my family havet to take prescription antacids due to GURD and Barretts asophagus. I like the idea of the greens and squash because these carry a big nutrional punch.
Anonymous
New Hampshire
11/22/2021
Delicious. Made as written. The Chile’s de arbol are key to the flavor. Don’t skip or substitute them. I used butternut squash which dissolved a bit but added to the flavor of the sauce. Excellent dish.
Nancy
1/20/2021
The flavor of this dish is AMAZING. Even those in my family who hate any greens or squash got second helpings! It produces a large quantity but it reheats so easily as leftovers.
Anonymous
Sacramento, CA
12/19/2020
After making this recipe probably more than 20 times, I feel obligated to leave a review! I first made this from the 2016 magazine, and keep on returning for a delicious dinner. It does take a bit of time, typically about 2 hours in total, but I've varied the ingredients with success every time! I typically use an onion instead of the scallions, sub in what ever dried peppers or hot sauce I have available, and pour a cup off of whatever wine or beer I'm drinking that evening. DEFINITELY use low sodium soy sauce and chicken broth or else it's too salty. 5 stars with the adjustments, and it will be the best dinner you have in a while!!!
Anonymous
Grand Rapids, Michigan
12/4/2020
This was so much more complicated than it let on. I am not an idiot, followed the instructions and ingredient list and the whole thing was just A MESS. Maybe it was just poorly written? Everything was soggy and nothing ever cooked down as expected.
Anonymous
New York, NY
11/13/2020
This was soooo good! I modified a few things: maple syrup because I had no brown sugar, and then I added some flower to the sauce to make more gravy instead of letting it reduce. It was just so yummy. Everyone from my toddler to my grandpa had two servings. Oh! Also I used spinach instead of mustard greens
GraciePea
San Francisco
11/8/2019
Definitely use low-sodium soy sauce! I did not and it was on the salty side - not enough to ruin it but enough for me to invest in LS soy sauce. Also, I couldn't find those dried peppers at my store and instead used a combination of some red pepper flakes and cayenne, maybe 1/2 tsp each. I subbed kale for the greens which were great. Overall a DELICIOUS meal, happily ate all the leftovers & found it got better with time. This is certainly a lot of steps and isn't one to walk away from but very worth it. Guests loved it, too!
Amber Anderson
Boston
10/18/2019
Fantastic and surprising flavor mix! I substituted a large red onion for the scallions, 2 TBS of lemon juice for ginger, Swiss chard for mustard greens, and used yellow Hungarian peppers for the heat. It got the "one of the best things you've cooked in a long time" rave from the fam!
Anonymous
Brooklyn, NY
10/15/2019
I really liked the sauce, but felt the squash and greens both tasted water-logged when cooked in it. Perhaps reduce some of the sauce until it is syrupy, then use it to glaze the squash towards the end of roasting it in the oven. Get the benefits of the taste of the sauce, without cooking the squash in liquid. The greens also add a bitterness that is out of place in the dish.
Anonymous
NJ
9/3/2019
This was one of the tastiest dishes I have ever cooked! Granted, I had to substitute a few ingredients - instead of white wine I used a little imperial stout, and instead of the chiles de arbol I added some mexican chile oil. I think those ingredients just made it richer though, in a good way. So much excellent umami in this dish.
Tim Halbur
Los Angeles
1/31/2019
It’s a very good dish with unexpected flavors. I followed the exact dirrections and everything turned out great. I gave 4 stars because it came out too spicy and too salty for my taste. Next time I will add less soy sauce and less peppers. I’m not a big squash eater but squash turned out delicious!
Anonymous
9/9/2018
So yummy!! I did not use semsame oil and had to substitute Chipotle in Adobo for the chiles. It was amazing!
Anonymous
12/24/2017