Blood Orange, Mustard and Ginger Chicken

Dish of roasted chicken and blood orange pieces with sliced blood oranges pictured on the side.

This post was created in collaboration with Opies. Winter weeknight dishes call for something super simple, but packed with colour and flavour. It’s no secret that skin on, bone in chicken thighs are one of my favourite ingredients to roast up with something delicious, so today for a new addition to your weeknight rotation (it’s great with crispy potatoes and greens) we’re leaning on wholegrain mustard, seasonal blood oranges and both the syrup and ginger from a jar of stem ginger to make this simple recipe for Blood Orange, Mustard and Ginger Chicken.

Jar of stem ginger next to sliced blood oranges and a dish of chicken roasted with blood orange and ginger.

Opies Stem Ginger

Stem ginger in syrup is my secret weapon in this recipe to add a sweet, warming ginger flavour to the fatty chicken and tart oranges, as using ground ginger would make the dish a bit too in-your-face, and fresh ginger risks being too subtle – I use a piece of the ginger chopped for flavour, and some of the syrup to help make the sauce sticky and glossy. You can buy Opies stem ginger in pretty much every major supermarket, and you can also use it to make my Sticky Asian Ginger Chicken Wings, and the syrup is my secret to the best gingerbread men come Christmas time!

Portioned out ingredients to make Blood Orange, Mustard and Ginger Chicken.
Raw skin on, bone in chicken thighs in a mustard marinade with orange slices in a blue shallow casserole dish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I remove the skin of the chicken in this recipe?

Personally I love this skin even if it’s only about 75% crisp because it has been in a marinade, but J doesn’t unless it is super crispy so I usually remove the skin from his portion before tossing the chicken in the marinade.

This looks delicious, but can I take the skin off the oranges?

Again, this is somewhere where J and I are divided. I love eating sweet, sticky citrus peel that has been caramelised in the oven… but he does not. Squish the cooked pieces into the pan and remove them before serving if you don’t want to eat them, so you get the nice blood orange flavour in the sauce still without any bits.

Can I use regular oranges in this Blood Orange, Mustard and Ginger Chicken?

Yes, but you’ll be missing some of the signature tartness (as well as the beautiful look!) of blood oranges. But, outside of their season experiment with different types of orange – you can always add a splash more sherry vinegar to the dish if you think it needs it.

spoon lifting a chicken thigh out of a casserole dish of mustard and orange roasted chicken.

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spoon lifting a chicken thigh out of a casserole dish of mustard and orange roasted chicken.

Blood Orange, Mustard and Ginger Chicken

  • Author: Rachel Phipps
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 2
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Roasting
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

This easy, all-in-one recipe for Blood Orange, Mustard and Ginger Chicken yields juicy, tender chicken in a sweet, tangy sauce; delicious served with crispy potatoes and greens, or plenty of crusty bread for mopping the plate.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tbsp light oil
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • 1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1/3 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ginger syrup from a jar of stem ginger
  • 1 ball of stem ginger, finely chopped
  • 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt
  • 4 skin on bone in chicken thighs
  • 1 blood orange
  • chopped flat leaf parsley, to serve

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
  2. Measure all the ingredients except for the chicken, blood orange and parsley into the bottom of a medium shallow casserole or baking dish, and whisk until combined into a paste.
  3. Add the chicken and toss until coated, leaving the pieces skin-side up. Slice the orange into quarters, then half the quarters before nestling them amongst the chicken, a mix of skin-side up and skin-side down.
  4. Roast for 40 minutes until the chicken is golden, the oranges are charred and the pan sauce is sticky. Serve scattered with flat-leaf parsley.

Notes

If you’re not a fan of chicken skin, remove them before tossing the chicken pieces with the marinade.

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