The best baked chicken in walnut marinara made easy

This delicious oven-baked chicken marinara in the walnut sauce is sure to be your next favorite dish. This recipe makes the perfect tender and buttery chicken dish with a sour-sweet flavor. This comfort food is simple, healthy, and irresistible for all seasons and occasions.

My family is a big fan of walnut, and we love to snack on them. No wonder this recipe is my family’s favorite, and we make it every season. With a few simple ingredients put together, this mouth-watering delicious dish is ready to serve in no time.

Plus, this homemade recipe is healthy in comparison to all fried chicken in tons of palm oil; Remove all the chicken skin and fat and replace it with grounded walnut. The oil in walnut will do the trick and make chicken taste delicious, with no need to add additional fat. Walnuts are full of polyunsaturated fat like Omega-6 and Omega-3. A heart-healthy superfood with antioxidant properties. You can read more about benefits of walnut.

Find more simple delicious nutritious chicken recipes:

• Lime orange sheet pan chicken
• Grilled chicken in the oven
• Baked chicken with raisin & rice

Jump to:

• Dish variations
• Cooking methods
• Tips
• Substitutes
• How to freeze the sauce
• Side dishes
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Notes
• Pin it for later
• Recipe

Dish variations

This dish can be very versatile. You can make it completely vegan by substituting chicken with chickpeas, beans, or your favorite legumes. Or keep it half chicken and half legume. Peanut, cashew, or pecan are all great substitutes for walnut. Sesame seeds work wonders if you are allergic to nuts. The next choices are sunflower, pumpkin, chia, or flax seeds. Through in any vegetables you have on hand. Use sweet potato, carrot, corn, or winter squash to sweeten it up.

This recipe is a great way to get your kids to eat their protein without a fuss. My kids can not get enough of this marinated chicken in walnut sauce and always ask for more. They get to eat their vegetables without knowing it. This dish is our first pick meal for our guests, and they all have fallen in love with it.

Cooking methods

I have added my twist to this recipe many times and cooked it using different techniques. First, I baked whole chicken stuffed with walnut marinara. Next time, I poured chicken pieces into a pot, added water and marinara, and made stew on the stovetop. I even switched chicken with red meat and fish. All came out delicious!

Tips

1. It is impossible not to get this recipe right! Be confident that you will end up with a delicious dish.
2. Use half walnuts and grind them in a food processor. Half walnuts taste better and are fresh.
3. Use white onion. It has more water content and purees easily.
4. Mix both ground walnut and puree onion. Blend them in a food processor until it has a creamy consistency.
5. Add pomegranate molasses to the mixer and blend away. Other substitutes are pomegranate juice with honey, lemon/lime juice with honey, balsamic vinegar with honey, and Cranberry juice with honey. Taste the sauce and adjust to your preferred sweet-sour balance.
6. Ad sweetness to your taste as needed. Honey or sweet vegetables are great choices. Always taste the sauce before adding to the chicken.
7. Season chicken with salt and pepper to your liking.
8. Marinate chicken with marinara. Make sure to distribute all over the chicken evenly. I use my hand to do this.
9. Leave the marinated chicken in the fridge for a few hours. This will let the chicken build flavor before baking.
10. Walnut burns easily. Make sure to start cooking at a lower temperature.
11. Use cast-iron skillet. Cast iron skill adds another level of flavor and texture to the dish and darker color to the finished dish.
12. Serve it with whole wheat bread or over rice or quinoa.
13. Any vegetables are a great side dish. I served it with steamed broccoli and sauerkraut.

Substitutes

1. Substitute chicken. Red meat and fish are great alternatives.
2. Make it vegan. Leave chicken out and add your favorite legumes like chickpeas, beans, lentils, etc.
3. Substitute walnut. Peanut, cashew, or any other nuts.
4. Substitute nuts If allergic to nuts. You can easily substitute nuts with sesame seeds: sunflowers seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, and flax seeds. Just make sure to puree them well.
5. Substitute pomegranate molasses. Other substitutes are Pomegranate juice with honey, lemon/lime juice with honey, balsamic vinegar with honey, and cranberry juice with honey. Taste the sauce and adjust to your preferred sweet-sour balance. Add honey or sweet vegetables if needed.
6. Be creative, add your favorite vegetables, and make it even more nutritious—a complete dish with healthy fats, Carbohydrates, and proteins.
7. Omit honey; use sweet vegetables like carrot and corn instead.
8. Use the stovetop for cooking instead of the oven. You need to add some liquid and cook it low to avoid burning walnut.

How to freeze the sauce

I often do myself a favor and save time by making a double batch of sauce. Transfer the sauce to an airtight Ziplock and flat it. Then freeze it and use it within six months. Just thaw the frozen sauce over your kitchen counter and add it to your chicken. And bake! Easy!

Side dishes

• Sauteed vegetables are a great side dish; I served it with steamed broccoli, sauerkraut, and rice. A seasonal spring salad is another choice.
• Serve it with whole wheat bread, rice, or Quinoa. I served it with rice.
• Serve it with my ultimate easy bread recipes:
  • easy sourdough starter tortillas
  • stovetop sourdough bread.

Ingredients

You will need:

• 2 cups of half walnut
• One large onion
• 4 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
• 3 lb chicken, I used a whole chicken and removed all fat and skin, cut into medium-sized pieces.
• Salt and pepper to taste. I used 3 teaspoons of salt

Instructions

1. Measure 2 cups of half walnuts and grind them using a food processor until a smooth paste forms.
2. Peel one large onion, slice into a medium chunk and puree it.
3. Blend the ground walnut with puree onion until cream consistency achieve. If the marinara was too tick, add a couple of spoons of water. And mix them well.
4. Then measure four tablespoons of pomegranate molasses. Add it to walnut and onion mix and blend them using a food processor.
5. Taste the marinara to adjust the sweet-sour flavor to your taste.
6. Remove chicken skin and fat. Season chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper as needed and place them in a cast-iron skillet.
7. Pour marinara over chicken pieces and rub it all over the chicken. I use my hand.
8. Cover the skillet with a piece of aluminum foil.
9. Leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours to build more flavor before baking. (optional)
10. Preheat the oven at 370 °F and bake it for 45 minutes in the middle rack .
11. Then increase the oven temperature to 400 °F and bake it for an additional 45 minutes.
12. Remove the foil and bake it for 10 minutes or until golden on top. Serve it with your favorite side dishes. ENJOY!

Notes

• When removing the foil, watch out closely since walnut burns easily. I cooked it at a lower temperature of 350 °F and then increased it to 400 °F. When baked in a cast-iron skillet, this dish tends to be dark in color and delicious.
• Adjust for a cooking time depending on the type of cookware you use!
• Feel free to adjust the amount of walnuts and other ingredients. You will end up with a delicious dish no Mather what!
• I used a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.

What did you substitute? How did your family and kids like it? Let me know in the comment below your favorite combination.

Find more simple delicious nutritious chicken recipes:

• Lime orange sheet pan chicken
• Grilled chicken in the oven
• Baked chicken with raisin & rice

Pin it for later

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