The dish pays homage to his Portuguese roots.
Key Points
- Emeril Lagasse shares a nostalgic one-pot Portuguese Chicken Thighs recipe from his childhood.
- The dish features chicken thighs, chorizo, olives, garbanzo beans, and a flavorful seasoning blend.
- Serve with pasta, rice, or bread for a comforting, protein-packed meal ready in under an hour.
We all have our favorite, nostalgic recipes that we ate as a kid. Maybe it’s a grandparent’s classic cookie recipe that you’ll pass down to the next generation—or maybe it’s a dinner you enjoyed as a child that you still make today.
Whatever it is, these recipes are special to us, and celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse knows that as well as anyone. As an addition to his “Sunday Supper” series, the acclaimed chef recently posted a reel to his instagram taking his followers along as he prepared one of his favorite recipes he grew up with—Portuguese Chicken Thighs.
View this post on Instagram
Described as “a staple in [his] house growing up,” the dish is a comforting meal that stems from his family’s Portuguese roots. “My mom would make this probably once a week,” Emeril says in the video.
The dish is fairly simple, combining juicy chicken thighs with a topping of chorizo, garbanzo beans, olives, tomatoes and more.
If you want to recreate the chef’s childhood favorite, start by assembling your ingredients. You’ll need Portuguese chorizo, olive oil, onion, garlic, a can of San Marzano tomatoes, pitted black and green olives, chicken broth, chopped fresh parsley, a can of garbanzo beans and, of course, a sprinkle of Emeril’s own “The Essence”—an all-purpose seasoning blend made up of paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, salt, pepper and cayenne.
He begins by placing the bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs—seasoned with the Essence blend—into a hot, oiled Dutch oven with the skin side down. After they’re evenly cooked, pull them out of the pot and add in your chorizo and chopped onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Next, you can place your tomatoes in and add the chicken back into the pot so it can soak up all the flavor from the other ingredients.
After a good stir, you can mix in your olives, chickpeas and parsley before braising everything together—adding your carton of chicken broth and covering. Let it come to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Then all that’s left is to plate it and garnish with a sprig of parsley. “There you have it folks,” Lagasse says, showing off a plate with a golden chicken thigh and the steamy chorizo and veggie mixture.
This delicious dinner comes together in just one pot, and with some protein from the chicken thighs, it’s a filling dinner that won’t eat up all your time or energy. Paired with a salad or another favorite side dish, this one-pot meal is dinner party-ready.
Emeril suggests serving the dish alongside pasta, rice or a few slices of crusty bread to help soak up all the tasty broth. We think it looks delicious on its own, but if you want to follow his advice (which is probably a good idea!) we think it would be tasty with a simple pasta dish tossed with a sharp Parmesan cheese or our slightly-elevated Mushroom Rice for a filling meal that’s sure to impress.
The next time you just can’t decide what to make for dinner tonight, give this recipe a try. You never know, it could become a generational staple in your own household as well.