Inspired by a recipe I came across a year ago and another one more recently with a balsamic pomegranate reduction sauce, I finally got the motivation to make my sauce for this grilled chicken. I had never made a reduction sauce before unless you count gravy or berry syrup, so this was something new for me and it was a cinch. I loved the flavor of the sauce and how it went well with the sautéed mushrooms and leeks I decided to put on top of the meat. My family enjoyed the sauce and veggies on top too, well except the picky one. If you haven’t tried leeks before they are a wonderful vegetable that taste like onions but much more sweet and mild. I told the picky little one they were leeks when he accused me of putting onions on his meat and he at least tried them and said they weren’t bad, which I thought was a step in the right direction. Maybe I need to start re-naming the veggies he doesn’t like so he will try them again ;). If you are not a fan of either of those vegetables then by all means just make the sauce and serve it over the chicken it is a lovely flavor of balsamic vinegar plus sweetness from honey,brown sugar and pomegranate juice.
Grilled Chicken with a Balsamic-Pomegranate Reduction Sauce
Ingredients:
6 boneless skin-less chicken breast portions (about 5 oz. each)
2/3 cup bottled Italian salad dressing
1/2 8 oz. package of fresh mushrooms cleaned and sliced, use whole pkg. if you like
1 leek washed and sliced thin up to the dark green part
2 T. olive oil
1 T. butter
1/3 cup chicken broth or stock
3/4 cup of pomegranate juice (found at most grocery stores)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 T. honey
2 T. brown sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
Directions:
Step 1: In a gallon zip-loc bag put chicken frozen or thawed in with the Italian dressing and close. Marinate chicken for 4-5 hours in the refrigerator.
Step 2: Make the sauce at least half hour before grilling chicken so it has time to reduce. In a small saucepan put the chicken broth, pom juice, vinegar, honey, sugar, salt, cornstarch and dried herbs. Stir all together and cook on medium heat until it boils then turn heat to simmer stirring occasionally letting the sauce reduce by about a 1/3, it should thicken slightly when cooled.
Step 3: Now that the sauce is finished slice mushrooms and leeks, then saute on medium-high heat with 2 T. olive oil and 1 T. butter, add salt and pepper to taste. Saute until tender and browned a little about 5-6 minutes, keep warm.
Step 4: Grill the chicken by heating the grill hot, medium-high. Put chicken on the grill then close lid and turn down the heat to medium. Grill on each side about 4-5 minutes. If you have whole chicken breast it will take longer as well as if you have bone in chicken. I like to buy the boneless skin-less breast portions because they are small and perfect for grilling quickly. If you do use the bone in chicken or larger portions grill on a lower heat for longer period so the meat does not dry out.
Step 5: When chicken is done set on a platter and put the warm veggies on top of meat then drizzle the balsamic-pom sauce over the top. The sauce makes plenty so don’t pour it all on top, it can be refrigerated and used for another time. Enjoy!
Serves: 5 or 6
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Oh this looks like a really good combination of flavors! Thank you for sharing 🙂
I love that you added pomegranate to this meal! It’s the perfect fall flavor 🙂
You are using a new recipe format. I love it. The chicken looks good. Anything with balsamic vinegar is right up my alley.
Wonderful looking dish. Love the idea of using leeks. Printed and pinned ☺