Martha Stewart Chicken And Vegetables Parchment Recipe

When you cut open these packets at the table, the steam rolls out and the whole room smells like thyme and white wine. Martha Stewart’s Chicken and Vegetables in Parchment is a baked chicken breast recipe where you wrap chicken, baby bok choy, cherry tomatoes, and shallot in parchment paper and let the oven do everything at 400 degrees for 22 minutes.

I was nervous about folding parchment the first time but it is really just paper and pleats. This is one of Martha Stewart’s baked chicken recipes I come back to every spring because the whole dinner cooks inside the packet and there is almost nothing to clean up.

Try More Dinner Recipes:

• Baked Chicken And Onions
• Baked Chicken Thighs
• Roast Chicken

Why You Will Love This Chicken In Parchment:

• The chicken steams in its own juice: Because the packet is sealed, all the moisture from the wine, tomatoes, and bok choy stays trapped inside. The chicken breast comes out impossibly tender, almost poached in texture but with that roasted flavour from the oven heat. I have never had a dry breast from this method.
• Each person gets their own packet: You plate four individual packets and everyone cuts theirs open at the table. It feels like something from a restaurant but it took you 25 minutes to put together. I like serving these when I have people over because the presentation does the work for me.
• Cleanup is basically nothing: The parchment goes in the bin. The baking sheets barely need a wipe. I have made this on nights when I was too tired to even think about scrubbing a skillet and it saved me.

Chicken And Vegetables Parchment Ingredients

• 1 pound baby bok choy, trimmed and leaves separated
• 12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch thyme
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken-breast halves (about 6 ounces each), pounded 1/2 inch thick
• 1/4 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

How To Make Martha Stewart Chicken And Vegetables Parchment

1. Preheat the oven: Set it to 400 degrees with racks in the upper and lower thirds.
2. Cut and fold the parchment: Cut four pieces of parchment paper, each 12 by 17 inches. Fold each piece in half crosswise to make a crease, then unfold and lay them flat.
3. Toss the vegetables: In a large bowl, toss together the bok choy leaves, cherry tomatoes, shallot, 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves, and the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Build the packets: Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Divide the bok choy mixture evenly and place it on one side of the crease on each piece of parchment. Put a chicken breast on top of each pile and add 2 thyme sprigs per packet. Drizzle each with 1 tablespoon of wine.
5. Seal and bake: Fold the parchment over the chicken and vegetables. Make small overlapping pleats along the open edge to seal each packet into a half-moon shape. Put the packets on 2 rimmed baking sheets and bake until the chicken is cooked through, 22 minutes.
6. Serve: Put each packet on a plate and cut them open with kitchen shears at the table. Serve right away.

Recipe Tips

• Pound the chicken evenly: Martha says 1/2 inch thick and this matters. If one side of the breast is thicker than the other, the thin part will overcook while the thick part catches up. A few good whacks with a rolling pin between plastic wrap takes 30 seconds.
• Do not open the packets to check: If you break the seal the steam escapes and the chicken will not cook the same way. Trust the 22 minutes at 400 degrees. I peeked once and regretted it.
• Pleat tightly: The overlapping folds need to be snug or the packet will open in the oven and you lose all that trapped steam. I fold each pleat over the previous one like I am crimping a pie crust. It does not need to look perfect, it just needs to hold.

My First Attempt At The Pleats

I will be honest, my first packets looked terrible. The pleats were loose, one of them opened in the oven, and the bok choy on that one dried out. Now I fold them tight and fast and they hold every time.

The trick I figured out is to start pleating from one corner and work your way around in small folds. Do not try to do it in big sections or the paper fights you.

What Goes Well With This Chicken In Parchment

The packet already has protein and vegetables so I just add a grain. Plain white rice catches all the juice when you pour it out of the packet. A light risotto works on fancier nights.

In spring I sometimes make asparagus risotto alongside this and the whole meal feels like something you would order at a restaurant but took 45 minutes.

How To Store Leftovers

Take everything out of the parchment and store the chicken and veggies together in a sealed container. Fridge for 2 days. The juices from the tomatoes and wine make a sauce that gets better overnight.

I eat leftovers cold over greens the next day like a warm-weather salad. Reheating works too but the bok choy softens more so do it gently.

FAQs

• Can I use foil instead of parchment? You can but parchment is better because it does not react with the wine and tomatoes the way foil can. If you only have foil, it will still work, just make sure you seal it tightly and know the chicken might taste slightly different.
• Can I use chicken thighs? Yes. Boneless, skinless thighs work fine but they are thicker so add about 5 extra minutes of baking time. I have done it and the thighs actually taste richer because of the extra fat.
• Can I swap the bok choy for another vegetable? Spinach, asparagus, or zucchini all work. Martha uses bok choy because it holds up to the steam without turning to mush. If you use spinach, expect it to shrink a lot and add more than you think you need.
• Do I have to pound the chicken? Martha says to pound it to 1/2 inch thick so it cooks evenly in 22 minutes. If you skip this, the thicker parts might still be pink when you open the packet. I would not skip it.

More Dinner Recipes:

• Spatchcock Chicken
• Baked Chicken Nuggets
• Chicken Sausage Casserole

Nutrition Facts

(1 serving, serves 4)

• Calories: 290
• Total Fat: 10g
• Saturated Fat: 1.5g
• Cholesterol: 95mg
• Sodium: 450mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 8g
• Protein: 40g