Cranberry Sauce Chicken Healthy Recipe

Here’s a yummy recipe that the whole family & guests will enjoy! It’s not perfectly “clean” but it’s a better (“good, better, best”) alternative to the pizza before the kids run out the door for trick-or-treating.

Taking traditional recipes you loved as a kid and changing a few ingredients is a great way to take small steps to a healthier life for yourself or your family.

I substituted the regular Russian dressing & onion soup mix from a popular recipe for better ingredients.

Cranberry Sauce Chicken Healthy Recipe

Recipe by Julie GettyDifficulty: Medium

Servings

5

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Get this recipe and try it this Christmas to impress your family and guests. Everyone will love it. The sauce is a special addition with this recipe to make it even more yummy. It will give you a nice dose of protein.

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs/breasts

• 1 (16 ounces) can of Whole Foods 365 Organic Whole Berry Cranberry

• Sauce

• 1 (8 ounces) bottle Annie’s Natural’s Organic Russian dressing

• 1 packet dry Simply Organic, French Onion Dip Mix

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350º degrees.
• Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, combine the cranberry sauce, salad dressing, and soup mix and mix well. Coat chicken pieces with this mixture.
• Cover dish and bake at 350º degrees. for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Remove cover for the last 15 minutes of baking time.

Notes

• Cranberries are a good source of vitamin C, which studies show may have mood-elevating effects!

If you want to further substitute for healthier ingredients, use onion powder, garlic powder, salt & pepper, instead of using the soup mix, and make your own cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries and fresh orange juice – see below.

Ingredients
• One 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• ½ cup honey
• ½ cup water
• 1 tsp zest of medium orange
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
1. Rinse and drain cranberries.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, honey, and water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have popped and the mixture has thickened to your liking, about 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the orange juice, zest, and cinnamon.