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Chicken marbella

Name: Chicken marbella
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 garlic bulb; 3 tbsp olive oil; 3 tbsp red wine vinegar; 100g pitted green olives; 150g pitted soft prunes; 30g capers; 3 bay leaves; 1 tbsp dried oregano; 2 tbsp soft light brown sugar; 8 chicken thighs; 250ml white wine; 15g parsley, finely chopped; Mashed potatoes or crusty bread to serve

By: Tom Shingler
Head of food, delicious.

Published: 31 Mar 25
Updated: 31 Mar 25

Learn how to make 1980s dinner party favourite chicken marbella with our easy recipe. This chicken dish is packed with olives, prunes and capers.

Why it’s so good: Chicken marbella is essentially a traybake, relying on a long marination to infuse the chicken with bags of sweet, sour, salty and umami flavours.
Global influences: There’s heaps of garlic, olive oil, white wine, bay leaves and capers, giving the dish a distinctly Med vibe, but the addition of prunes and brown sugar provides a higher than normal level of sweetness that takes it into North African tagine territory.
Did you know? Chicken marbella was created by a duo of New York cooks, Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso, who catapulted the dish to fame in their 1982 cookbook The Silver Palate.
Updating the dish: This recipe is true to the original from the 1980s. It does contain a little less brown sugar, which we think dials down the sweetness and improves the balance of flavours in the dish.

Try more flavour-packed chicken traybakes.

Easy
April 2025

Test kitchen approved

Serves 4
Prep time 10 min, plus overnight marinating. Cook time 1 hour 5 min

Learn how to make 1980s dinner party favourite chicken marbella with our easy recipe. This chicken dish is packed with olives, prunes and capers.

Why it’s so good: Chicken marbella is essentially a traybake, relying on a long marination to infuse the chicken with bags of sweet, sour, salty and umami flavours.
Global influences: There’s heaps of garlic, olive oil, white wine, bay leaves and capers, giving the dish a distinctly Med vibe, but the addition of prunes and brown sugar provides a higher than normal level of sweetness that takes it into North African tagine territory.
Did you know? Chicken marbella was created by a duo of New York cooks, Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso, who catapulted the dish to fame in their 1982 cookbook The Silver Palate.
Updating the dish: This recipe is true to the original from the 1980s. It does contain a little less brown sugar, which we think dials down the sweetness and improves the balance of flavours in the dish.

Try more flavour-packed chicken traybakes.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 832kcals
Fat: 51g (12g saturated)
Protein: 55g
Carbohydrates: 24g (23g sugars)
Fibre: 4.8g
Salt: 1.9g

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Ingredients

1 garlic bulb
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
100g pitted green olives
150g pitted soft prunes
30g capers
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
8 chicken thighs
250ml white wine
15g parsley, finely chopped
Mashed potatoes or crusty bread to serve

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Method

Fill a small saucepan with boiling water from the kettle. Smash apart the garlic bulb into individual cloves, then submerge the cloves in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and leave for a minute or 2 until cool enough to handle – the skins should slip right off.
Finely chop the garlic, then put in a large container with the remaining ingredients (except the white wine and parsley). Add a big pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper, then mix well to ensure the chicken is well coated and everything is combined. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight (see Be A Better Cook).
The next day, heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Add the contents of the container, marinade and all, to a large roasting tray. Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer, ensuring the thighs are skin-side up. Carefully pour the wine into the tray, avoiding the chicken skin, then pat any exposed chicken skin dry with kitchen paper.

Roast in the oven for 1 hour. Bring to the table scattered with the parsley and let everyone help themselves. Serve with mash or crusty bread to ensure none of the beautiful braising liquid goes to waste.

Recipe from April 2025 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 832kcals
Fat: 51g (12g saturated)
Protein: 55g
Carbohydrates: 24g (23g sugars)
Fibre: 4.8g
Salt: 1.9g

delicious. tips

When marinating chicken, longer isn’t always necessarily better. Any acidity in the marinade will start to ‘cook’ the chicken, breaking down the proteins. Let this happen for too long and it’ll turn mushy once cooked. There’s some acidity in this marinade from the vinegar, so you don’t want to leave it longer than 24 hours.