Sweet Tea Broiled Chicken
You guys wanna know one of my favorite things about visiting the South? They have an immense appreciation and respect for sweet tea there.
You can get it in gas stations. You can order it in restaurants. They don’t look at you like you’re cray-cray when you ask for it with no ice.
It’s not like that up here in the North.
The ‘sweet tea’ they sell in gas stations and grocery stores here isn’t real sweet tea. It’s not. I’ve been to the South. I know the difference.
Here, when I ask the waitress in a restaurant if they serve sweet tea, she gives me this blank stare and says something along the lines of, “Oh,um…we’ve have Lipton’s Lemon Iced Tea, but it’s not really sweetened.”
And then I just order water.
Don’t judge me, but the closest thing I can get to Southern sweet tea here is the stuff that they sell at McDonalds. It sure isn’t the real thing, but it’s better than the lemon Lipton tea most other joints serve. They do throw me major shade when I ask for no ice, though.
It’s as if they have a problem with someone who’s caught onto their little trick of filling the cup to the brim with ice so that they can skimp on the amount of tea they actually TRY to give.
Nope, nope Buttercup. I’m onto your game.
I was sitting at home one day really missing Southern sweet tea when I suddenly thought of how interesting it would be to try and cook with it. The way I saw it, a savory dish could really provide a wonderful counter to the sweetness of the tea with the right blend of spices- and the right protein, of course.
Since we are talking about a Southern drink, I thought I’d go with one of the main proteins that’s used in Southern cooking (also my go-to for affordability and ease): the chicken breast.
I’ve heard of sweet tea brined chicken that’s then deep fried, but for my rendition I thought that I would keep things here healthier and put my broiler to use instead. Plus, I think that this here marinade I’ve put together is pretty tasty all on it’s own without needing the addition of a greasy, crunchy skin coating.
Not to knock fried chicken, though. Fried chicken is always a winner. But this is too. Trust me.
I love when one of my harebrained ideas for the blog actually pays off, and this is really one of them. Broiling the meat here was just such a good move; soaking it in the tea then placing it underneath the heat of the broiler creates a thin, but slightly crisp, golden sweetened crust on the outside that opens to tender and moist white meat on the inside. Then of course, there’s the charred edges that have that perfect contrast of flavor that ‘almost’ fools you into thinking the meat was grilled.
If you do decide to make this dish (and c’mon, why wouldn’t you?) then don’t skip the step of step of setting aside the extra cup or so of marinade to make the sauce later on. Because the sweet tea sauce really is the star here. When I ate this dish for dinner, I drizzled some over my vegetables and was a VERY happy camper that night.
Maybe I should start bottling and selling it.
I didn’t make it to last week’s Fiesta Friday and even though I’m late this time around, I’ll still be there for Fiesta Friday #64 this week. Thanks to Angie for hosting, and Ginger@Ginger & Bread and Loretta@Safari Of The Mind.
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Sweet Tea Broiled Chicken
Recipe Courtesy of Jess@CookingisMySport
Ingredients
- 3 family sized tea bags (like Lipton Cold Brew)
- 8-9 cups water
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. Garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 5 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Directions
1. Place water in heavy pot and bring to a boil.
2. Remove from heat, then place tea bags in pot and allow to steep for about 20 minutes.
3. Add next 9 ingredients and place back over medium heat, allowing to come to a simmer for about 10-15 minutes to allow sugars to dissolve and flavors to combine. Remove from heat and completely cool. Set aside about 1 cup of the marinade to use for later.
4. Divide the chicken breasts between two gallon size plastic bags. Pour even amounts of the remaining marinade over chicken, seal bags and refrigerate overnight or at least one hour.
5. Preheat broiler and spray broiler pan well. Broil chicken until inner temperature reaches 160-165 degrees and outside is browned and slightly charred.
6. While chicken is cooking, pour the reserved unused marinade into a small saucepan and place over the stove over medium-high heat. Allow to reduce and thicken until it makes a sauce to desired consistency. Serve over chicken.
This looks soo damn good I must give it a try. An absolute must!
Thank you- I really think you’ll enjoy it 🙂
Genius idea!
Thanks Alisa!
You are so creative, Jess! The chicken looks incredible. Usually when I have creative ideas, they don’t turn out so well. Yours sure looks like it did. I have a question. I have not seen sweet tea bags. Is that something you get at the regular grocery store? Thanks for sharing your delicious recipe with us!
Thank you Shari! Oh snap, that’s actually a recipe typo; I used regular Lipton cold brew family style tea family sized bags. I’ll fix that now, thanks for pointing that out 🙂
I didn’t realize that was a mistake!. I was ready to go buy them!:)
I don’t think I’ve ever had real Southern Sweet Tea, do you make it? I have to look it it up, I have had in restaurants but after reading this I bet it’s not the real deal. Your chicken dish is making me really really hungry, it looks so good. Sweet tea chicken, not thats amazingly creative and it looks beyond delicious.
My grandma makes it from scratch Suzanne- it’s DELICIOUS. In this recipe, I used a regular iced tea then added brown sugar to it, but I’ll have to get her recipe from her to put up on the blog because there’s NOTHING like ‘real’ sweet tea. Thank you 🙂
Reblogged this on My Meals are on Wheels.
Wonderful idea. The chicken looks so moist and the glaze has such a nice deep color.
Thank you!
Welcome to FIesta Friday Jess. It’s never to late to pop in especially since you’ve brought such a great dish. Wow! I’ve lived in the south, but never really did try the sweet tea, guess I just was used to drinking my tea the old-fashioned British way :). The dish intrigues me, what bold flavors, with the tea bags, orange juice, brown sugar etc. This is sure to please everyone’s palate. 🙂
Thanks Loretta- my goodness, you MUST get yourself some real Southern sweet tea. It’s always one of my must haves when I go back to visit. Thank you 🙂
I don’t think I had real sweet tea.. To be honest I thought that the reason they call it sweet tea is b/c you just add sugar😚 great recipe and I love the deep color. Nice job!
Well that is kinda it actually. It’s much sweeter than normal iced tea and most times, it comes without the lemon flavor. But when done correctly, it’s wonderful. Thank you!
The chicken looks extremely tender Jess and the color is gorgeous 🙂
Thank you very much 😉
Wow! That sounds and looks amazing 🙂 great work!
Thank you Elaine, I was pleasantly surprised which is always nice 😉
This sweet tea sounds intriguing – must try it some time! Creative idea with the chicken too 😀
Thank you!
I know you know that this is totally up my alley Jess!! I vividly remember the first time I had Southern Sweet Tea. I had just arrived in South Carolina and my hubby and I hit up Bojangles, hehe…ah, what great memories. This looks juicy and amazing! And although I love a good piece of fried chicken, to not fry here is definitely commendable…definitely saved to my recipe file!! 😉
I gotta be honest Bonnie, I WAS hoping you’d see it and give your input since you’re like, the resident tea expert here. It means a lot to me that you like the look of the recipe. Thanks 😀 <3
Oh my Jess… that chicken looks fantastic!! I LOVE sweet tea… I honestly think I was born and am living in the wrong part of the country… I need to be in a place that appreciates a delicious sweet tea!! This marinade sounds so good, I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Amanda- sweet tea lovers should really love this chicken 🙂
Very clever. Love this idea.
Thanks Hilda 😀
This chicken looks wonderful! I will be saving this one. Being from the south I so understand your story on iced tea. There is nothing like good ole’ southern iced sweet tea! It is funny because years ago I was in Boston and I tried to order iced tea numerous places. I was always told (after a blank stare) that they didn’t have tea with ice. They only had hot tea in a cup. I would always have to ask if they could just put the hot tea in a glass of ice. LOL …funny stuff. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe. Enjoyed reading your story …I can so relate!
Thanks Arlene- glad to see I’m not the only lover of Southern Sweet Tea and that there’s someone else who understands the struggle 😉
You had me at “sweet tea” 🙂
Anybody has me at sweet tea Lori lol, thank you!
This chicken looks so good and juicy–what a great idea!
Thank you Nancy!
Excuse me while I wipe the drool off the floor 😊
No problem, I got the towel riiiiight here for ya lol Thank you 😀
You’re such a pal! Lol 😊