Go Back
–+ servings
a large oval casserole with roasted chicken with oranges and cranberries

Easy Orange Cranberry Roasted Chicken Recipe (video)

15 minutes prep + 45 minutes cook
4 servings
Easy and delicious orange cranberry roasted chicken recipe! Aromatic cranberry chicken with garlic, fresh herbs, oranges, onions, and more!

Ingredients 
US Customary - Metric

For Chicken & Seasonings:

  • 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, or drumsticks, chicken breast
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp seas salt
  • ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp thyme
  • 1 tbsp rosemary

For Roasting Pan:

  • 1 large onion
  • 5 medium mandarins, or 2 large oranges
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, or frozen (thawed)
  • 20 garlic cloves
  • 3 to 4 stems fresh rosemary
  • small bundle fresh thyme
  • 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken broth

Instructions

Preparing the Roasting Pan:

  • Start by preheating your oven to 400F.
  • Prepare the roasting pan ingredients. Slice the onion in half, then into wedges. Peel the garlic garlic cloves. Slice the mandarins in half or into wedges.
  • If using oranges, use a paring knife to slice 8 to 10 strips of orange zest. Peel the oranges, discard the white pith, and use just the fruit and zest for the recipe.
  • Layer the onion wedges, the sliced mandarins, garlic cloves, cranberries, and fresh thyme and rosemary into a large casserole pan. When adding the fresh herbs, strip them off their stems first. Save a little bit of everything for adding to the top later.

Seasoning the Chicken:

  • Drizzle olive oil or avocado oil all over the chicken and then massage it into the meat. Season each chicken thigh generously all over with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, thyme, and rosemary.
  • Season the chicken over the roasting pan so none of the seasonings are lost! Place the chicken skin side up for roasting. Arrange any remaining onion, orange, garlic, and cranberries in between and around the chicken.
  • Pour in the chicken broth last. Add just enough broth so that the chicken is not submerged but just barely touching the liquid.

Roasting Instructions:

  • Roast the orange cranberry chicken uncovered at 400F until the internal temperature of the largest piece reaches 165F; about 40 minutes to 1 hour. The timing will depend on how small or large your chicken thighs are.
  • If you’re using chicken drumsticks, chicken breast, or a whole spatchcock chicken, make sure to adjust the timing! Drumsticks will cook much faster, for about 30 minutes, while a whole chicken will take longer. If you want the chicken to have more color, turn on the broiler for a few minutes.
  • Once the cranberry chicken is roasted, it can been joyed right away! Enjoy it with my Mashed Sweet Potatoes, or my Buttery Mashed Potatoes; recipes linked above.

Nutrition

Serving: 2thighs | Calories: 605kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 168mg | Sodium: 2209mg | Potassium: 722mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 733IU | Vitamin C: 65mg | Calcium: 113mg | Iron: 2mg