Chicken with saffron, raisins & pine nuts

Name: Chicken with saffron, raisins & pine nuts
Prep time: 14 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 39 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 1.25kg Chicken; 2 tblsp Olive Oil; 3 cloves Chopped Garlic; Pinch Saffron; 125ml Dry sherry; 200ml Chicken Stock; 1 tbsp Thyme; 50g Raisins; 2 tbsp Pine Nuts; Handful Parsley

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Chicken recipe with Spanish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 43 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 39 min total

1.25kg Chicken
2 tblsp Olive Oil
3 cloves Chopped Garlic
Pinch Saffron
125ml Dry Sherry
200ml Chicken Stock
1 tbsp Thyme
50g Raisins
2 tbsp Pine Nuts
Handful Parsley

Step-by-step instructions

Heat a large frying pan on a high heat and season the chicken. Add the olive oil to the pan, then the chicken. Brown for about 5 mins on each side, remove onto a plate, then set aside.
Lower the heat to medium. In the remaining fat, fry the onions for 3 mins, then add the garlic and saffron. Cook for 3-4 mins more. Add the sherry, then simmer for 3-5 mins until syrupy.
Put the chicken leg pieces back into the pan, tip in the stock, thyme and raisins, cover, then gently cook on a low heat for 20 mins. Add the breast meat and any juices left on the plate. Simmer for 10 mins more until cooked through and the sauce in the pan has reduced.
While the chicken is cooking, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Scatter the pine nuts over a baking sheet, then roast for 10 mins until golden and toasted. Once the chicken has cooked through, season to taste, scatter with pine nuts and parsley, then serve with rice.

Why this works on a weeknight

Chicken with saffron, raisins & pine nuts lands at about 39 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Sheet-Pan Dinners collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Chicken with saffron, raisins & pine nuts actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍳 Sheet-Pan Dinners Chicken Spanish