Video summary

The Secret Ingredient In This Chicken Dinner Costs Pennies

Main summary

Key takeaways

Cooking

Presenter / Channel

  • Rick, Backyard Chef

Ingredients (with quantities/substitutions as mentioned)

  • Chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in
    • Substitution mentioned: boneless, skinless also works
  • Celery (diced)
  • Carrots (diced)
  • Garlic (“the usual,” chopped/smashed—size flexible)
  • Onions (added to the pan; size not specified)
  • Frozen peas (defrosting while cooking)
  • Chicken stock (added to loosen/deglaze and to the tray)
  • Lentils (used after being rinsed; key “secret ingredient”)
  • Tomato paste / tomato purée (a couple of good tablespoons)
  • Dried herbs
    • Dried thyme
    • Rosemary
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • Salt (to taste; can season both sides of chicken)
  • Black pepper (to taste)
  • Worcester sauce or Hendersons (added; amount not specified)

Equipment & prep

  • Oven preheat: 180°C
  • Tray / lidded tray or foil for covering
  • Pan for searing
  • Bowl for diced veg (celery, carrots, garlic, onion mix in the same bowl since they cook together)

Prep steps

  • Rinse lentils
    • Noted: they can stick together, so they get stirred/loosened once in the tray.
  • Dice celery and carrots to desired size (“big as small as you like”)
  • Defrost peas
  • Season chicken (salt; pepper mentioned later for veg mixture)

Step-by-step method (key timings/temps/technique)

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
  2. Dice and prep vegetables + aromatics
    • Dice celery, carrots, and onion; chop garlic.
    • Combine into a bowl (all will cook at the same time).
  3. Prep chicken
    • Season chicken (salt; chef notes you can season both sides).
  4. Sear chicken
    • In a pan: heat olive oil + butter (“flame on”).
    • Place chicken skin-side down.
    • Leave to get some color (perfect sear not required initially).
  5. Cook veg mixture
    • Lift off any chicken fond left in the pan.
    • Add onions, then carrots and celery.
    • Cook about 5 minutes.
    • Season veg with salt and black pepper.
    • Stir in dried thyme and rosemary (to rehydrate in the butter/oil mixture).
    • Stir in garlic.
  6. Develop tomato flavor
    • Add tomato paste/tomato purée (about a couple of good tablespoons).
    • Cook briefly to deepen flavor, then stir through.
    • Add Worcester sauce or Hendersons.
  7. Loosen/deglaze with stock
    • Add some chicken stock to pull flavor from the bottom.
  8. Assemble in the tray
    • Add lentils to the tray, stirring/loosening them (they stick together after rinsing).
    • Add the pan mixture into the tray and mix.
    • Pour in chicken stock (chef adds stock from the pan and then “the rest” in the tray; exact amount not given).
    • Nestle chicken thighs on top, keeping the skin facing up.
    • Expect a lot of fluid—lentils are meant to absorb it.
  9. Cover and bake
    • Cover with foil (or use a lidded tray).
    • Bake for 45 minutes.
  10. Uncover and finish
    • Remove cover after ~45 minutes.
    • Bake uncovered for another ~35 minutes.
  11. Add peas late
    • About 10 minutes before the end, stir in frozen peas, then return to the oven to finish.

Chef tips / what to watch for

  • Searing tip: A perfect pan sear isn’t necessary—covered then uncovered oven time helps the skin.
  • Lentil tip: After rinsing, lentils can stick together—stir/loosen them when assembling.
  • Texture goal: Keep chicken skin up for crisping after the uncovered baking.
  • Flavor build: Briefly cooking tomato purée/paste deepens flavor.
  • Gravy behavior: The dish ends up with a watery gravy that becomes soup-like as the lentils/veg cook down.

Serving / plating suggestions

  • Serve with mashed potato (mentioned).
  • Chef prefers crusty bread with it.
  • Notes: rosemary + thyme flavors are prominent; lentils melt into the dish.
  • Portions: chef suggests you can feed six easily.

Variations mentioned

  • Chicken option: use boneless, skinless instead of skin-on, bone-in (still the same tray-bake concept).
  • Sauce option: Worcester sauce OR Hendersons.

Sources / references

  • No external sources referenced in the subtitles.
  • Recipe is from Rick on Backyard Chef.

Original video