Brown Sugar & Garlic Chicken

*UPDATE!  The second recipe in this post is way better, in my opinion.  :-)  (See note at bottom)

I love easy chicken recipes, which is why I tried this one.  So simple:

Ingredients:

Servings:
4

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
additional herbs and spices, as desired

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 450°F Line a baking dish or cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil.
2.  In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender.
3.  Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Add additional herbs and spices as desired.
4.  Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.
5.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes, or until juices run clear. Cooking time will depend on the size and thickness of your chicken.


I really liked the flavor of this dish, but I really wasn't a fan of using whole chicken breasts - it was too much chicken and not enough of the garlic and brown sugar flavor.  

While I was relatively happy with the meal, I really wanted to find a way to make it better, so I think that I'm going to try this recipe next:

Slow Cooker Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken
Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts (or thighs would work great too!)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda
2-3 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons water
Rice or noodles, cooked
Red pepper flakes (optional) 

Directions:
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken (I used frozen chicken, thawed chicken works great too) inside slow cooker. Mix together brown sugar, vinegar, soda, garlic, soy sauce, and pepper together. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. Take chicken pieces out of slow cooker (mine basically fell apart) and pour remaining sauce into saucepan. Place saucepan over high heat. Mix together corn starch and water, pour into saucepan, and mix well. Let sauce come to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, or until it starts to thicken and turns into a glaze. Remove from heat and let sit for a minute or two (it will continue to thicken as it cools down). 
Serve chicken over rice or noodles and top with glaze. Sprinkle red pepper flakes on top if desired.


I might even omit a couple ingredients, like the lemon-lime soda and the soy sauce.  (Though it would be interesting to try the recipe as-is!)   Because this recipe calls for you to shred the chicken, I think that there would be lots more flavor to it and I would probably like it better.  I will update when I try it!

*I tried this second recipe and liked it way better!  I actually made it exactly as it calls for and it was delicious!  And I recommend the red pepper flakes too - yum!