Sweet Tea-Brined Roast Chicken
Published April 30, 2024
- Total Time
- 6 hours 40 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 35 minutes, plus 6 hours for brining
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2quarts store-bought or homemade sweet tea
- Juice from 1 lemon
- ¼ cup Cajun seasoning
- 6chicken leg quarters or a mix of legs and thighs (about 3 pounds), excess skin trimmed
- Neutral-flavored oil (such as canola oil) or nonstick cooking spray, for greasing the pan
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
263 calories; 21 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 17 grams protein; 184 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
To a large pot or bowl, add sweet tea, lemon juice and Cajun seasoning; whisk to dissolve. Submerge chicken in the brine, cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 24.
- Step 2
When ready to cook, heat the oven to 425 degrees, and grease a rimmed baking sheet with oil or nonstick cooking spray. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.
- Step 3
Place chicken skin-side up on the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until the chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees, 35 minutes. (If you find the skin is getting too dark, cover with aluminum foil.) Serve warm along with pan juices.
Private Notes
Comments
This was not particularly flavorful. Disappointed, because the brine itself was very tasty and appropriately salty. We ended up with good roast chicken thighs, but really couldn't find any meaningful sweet tea or Cajun flavor. I will not be making this again.
I used Tony Cachere's creole seasoning and it was very salty and flavorful.
The seasoning sank to a sludge in the bottom of the pot. Very little flavor went to the chicken although the marinade was thoroughly mixed. Perhaps a poor choice of Cajun spice mix? All in all, definitely not worth the trouble.
I do not think the sweet tea brine did any thing special for the chicken. I like to use black tea in cooking - I think it works great with winter squashes and lentils etc - so my hopes were high. It just tasted bland. Won’t bother again
Very disappointing and pretty flavorless. I even bought the tea it called for and will probably never use all of it.
Fantastic. I went heavy on seasoning and left the lemon rinds a couple of black tea bags in the brine. Came out perfect, moist and the tea flavor stood out. Going to try this on my smoker next fast and hot…
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