This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase through our links, we may earn a commission.
Try my Spanish Chicken recipe and add a touch of Mediterranean flare to your dinners! Spanish paprika flavoured chicken thighs are braised in a rich and tangy tomato sauce along with white beans and olives. Serve with rice and a simple salad.
Or take a look at another reader favourite with similar flavours. Spanish Baked Chicken Thighs and Potatoes is a recipe that delivers the taste of Spain in a convenient one pan meal.
Spain is the country I think of when I’m in need of sunshine and happiness. Some of our most memorable family holidays were spent there.
We also love the food so much that we try to incorporate the Spanish flavours into our weekly dinners back home. This recipe for chicken thighs, braised in a rich tomato sauce with white beans and olives, is one inspired by our favourite holiday destination.
Spanish Chicken Recipe
This recipe is not an authentic recipe so perhaps I should call it Spanish-style chicken. But it does incorporate tons of gorgeous ingredients used in Spain. Do they ever come together in a recipe like this? I have no idea as it is my own creation.
The chicken thighs are rubbed with salt and smoky This is an affiliate link.Spanish paprika, then browned for a crispy exterior.
As soon as the chicken is browned, we make the tomato sauce. Then I mix in green and black olives, which add a delicious briny flavour to the sauce.
I also like to add beans to my braises. They add more substance and fibre to the meals. Beans are also a very authentic and frequent ingredient in the Spanish cuisine.
For the final step, the chicken thighs are braised in the sauce in the oven until they are crispy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth tender on the inside.
Bravas Sauce
Now let’s talk about the sauce, which is the real deal. And it comes from an iconic Spanish recipe called Patatas Bravas.
Bravas in Spanish means “fierce”, which will immediately give you an idea of the nature of this sauce. Nothing shy or understated. At first glance Bravas sauce will remind you of its Italian cousin, Marinara sauce as it’s called North America.
Although they are both tomato based, they are nothing alike. I am utterly in love with the bravas’ tangy, salty, sweet and spicy taste.
Patatas Bravas is a tapa that accompanies drinks in Spain. Essentially, they are deep fried potatoes, which are served drizzled with the sauce. Sometimes garlic aioli is added as well.
The sauce is so delicious, it’s a shame to only use it with potatoes. I decided to pair it with everyone’s favourite meat chicken. Braising chicken thighs in this tangy tomato sauce produces magical results.
Chicken with crispy skin and tender flesh that is falling of the bones. The sauce, mixed with olives and white beans, is deeply savoury and incredibly satisfying.
This delicious chicken recipe is a cross between a braise and a stew, and it’s so much better for it!
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Bone-in chicken thighs are going to give the most flavour to the dish and remain moist as it cooks in a way that chicken breasts just won’t. But other cuts of chicken will also work, even if they won’t be quite the same.
- Not all This is an affiliate link.canned tomatoes are created equal. If you can find them, Italian crushed tomatoes tend to be especially high quality, with just the right texture and plenty of sweetness. Since they are an important part of the sauce, it’s worth getting the best!
- I know that olives aren’t universally loved, but they do elevate a sauce like this by brining a salty, briny flavour that helps to balance the sweetness of the tomatoes. The variety doesn’t matter too much so use what you prefer or have available. I used a combination of green and black.
- Be sure to taste the sauce before serving. Add a bit of salt if you feel that it needs it.
Serving suggestions
With all that lovely sauce, you’re going to want to serve it over something to soak up all that lovely flavour. Often that is white rice, but I also love using air fryer or roast potatoes. A chunk of crusty bread is also perfect for this recipe.
I also love to serve a vegetable side dish next to a hearty main like this. For that, I’d go with lemon butter green beans, roasted cauliflower or a simple garden salad.
A sprinkling of fresh parsley can be pleasant touch, if completely optional, to add colour and freshness to the dish. Add it just before serving.
Storage and leftovers
Leftover Spanish chicken can be stored in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. If you want to keep it for longer, it will store in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Reheat on the stove top or in the oven with a splash of water to loosen the sauce and prevent it drying out. A microwave can be used in a pinch, but it can lead to a tough or rubbery texture so it’s not an option that I recommend.
Make sure your reheated chicken and bravas sauce has reached a food safe temperature before serving.
More recipes with Spanish flavours
- Easy Spanish Rice with Chicken and Shrimp (Paella)
- Mediterranean Sausage Casserole
- Breakfast Casserole with Sausage, Chorizo and Eggs
- Spanish Meatballs (Albondigas)
Spanish Chicken in Bravas Sauce
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Cast iron casserole dish
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
- 8 chicken thighs
- salt
- 1 tsp This is an affiliate link.smoked paprika
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 red pepper, sliced/red bell pepper in the US
- 1/2 tsp This is an affiliate link.smoked paprika
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried thyme
- 400g / 14oz chopped tomatoes, canned
- 1/2 cup / 125ml water
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- salt to taste
- 240g / 1 cup white beans such, as This is an affiliate link.cannellini or chickpeas, canned
- 90g / 1/2 cup green olives or black olives, any kind
- 2-3 sprigs flat leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Sprinkle chicken thighs with Spanish paprika and salt on both sides and brown in a skillet until golden but not cooked all the way through. Cook in batches to avoid overcrowding. Remove from the pan and set aside until needed.
- To the same pan add the chopped onion, sliced red peppers, sliced garlic and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Add the smoked paprika and thyme (leaves only) and cook for 5 minutes longer.
- Pour in canned chopped of whole tomatoes, water, red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt, turn the heat up and bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes until it’s thick. Stir in olives and white beans.
- Next put chicken on top of the sauce and bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve over rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve used this recipe numerous times everyone loves it
thank you
You’re my fave cook and this one is magnificent. I batch cook and it freezes perfectly into portions and makes my colleagues envious when I turn up at work with something so tempting to eat.
Hello Julia,
We are vegans so I used extra firm tofu instead of chicken and coated it in the paprika and cornstarch to make the tofu firmer. The rest of the recipe was exactly as yours. Turned out amazing! I have shared this recipe so many times with your name and website. Thank you.
I am thrilled to hear you’ve turned this recipe vegan and it worked well, Brad. Thank you for leaving a review.
This dish is amazing
Thank you. Glad you liked it, Heather!
Do you use the same sauce for the other chicken breast? I wasn’t sure if putting it back in the oven again would affects the sauce.
Hi Kay, I am not sure I understand your question. The recipe uses chicken thighs and they are cooked in the sauce.
So, I was meant to have short rib massaman tonight, which I cooked yesterday and chilled for tonight. However I realised the chicken I had bought for this recipe was out of date yesterday, so the massaman is still chilled and will get it’s moment tomorrow. This is the fourth dish I have cooked from your collection and it was absolutley delicious, i love patatas bravas so this was right up my street. I made it almost word for word only adding a sprinkling of gochugaru at the sauteing onion, red pepper stage and added a little more vinegar prior to letting it rest for 10 minutes before dishing up, served with rice as suggested and drizzled a little aioli on top. My new favourite recipe website.
I am so thrilled you are enjoying my recipes, Wayne. I love the addition of gochugaru for some spice!
I made this while visiting Spain with friends recently and it was a huge hit with everyone. There was leftover sauce so the next night we added some beautiful shrimp we got at the market that day. Loved it.
Thank you for your lovely review, Mary!
Ala!!! Muy Bien! Haven’t made this but, taking me back to Spain. Will be making this weekend!
This has become a family favourite so easy and tasty .
Amazing! I am thrilled you love it, Becky!
Just finished putting it together ams in the oven. So simple and fast. Thank you for that! I made a few changes for my picky eaters here who are used to ALOT of spice and heat. I added a whole sliced jalapeno, crushed red pepper flakes and a pinch of cayanne to the pot. I also preferred to slice the onion , used chicken broth instead of water and added more diced tomatoes to the party. Thanks again for the great, fast weeknight chicken recipe.
It sounds like this chicken just travelled from Spain to Mexico!! I am glad you adjusted the recipe to your personal preference. Enjoy!!
I used smoked Paprika and Hungarian Paprika. It was so good, such good flavors. I was a little nervous about the ingredients but it was very tasty
So glad you enjoyed it Patty!!
I made this with leftover chicken. I followed the recipe and in the last 30 minutes added my chicken. It is now going in the family favorite box. It tastes different from my usual leftover recipes and it was so easy to do. Thank you!
Thank you for your review, Nancy!!
This was delicious. It’s in my favourite recipes book!
This was great! Even my super picky 13yr old liked it. I used boneless chicken breast since that’s what I had on hand but otherwise prepared this exactly as written. I can’t wait to make it again with thigh!
I am always so happy when the recipe is kid/teen approved!! Thanks, Mo!
“One red pepper sliced.” Which red peppers do you mean, given that red peppers run from sweet and mild to extremely hot? Not to be critical, but I see this all the time in recipes. It seems to me that a pepper recommendation should be based on either flavor or heat, relative to the recipe. “Red pepper” tells me only about the color.
Hi David, while I can understand your confusion, I am not sure what my description is lacking. I live in the UK where red peppers are called “red peppers”. That is what they are labelled as in our supermarkets. They are what Americans would call “red bell peppers”. The hot peppers you are mentioning are chilli peppers. If that is what was needed for my recipe, I would’ve absolutely indicated that. There are no other types of “red peppers”. You can also see from the process photos in the post that the pepper I am using is large, so not a chilli pepper. I also would like to mention that this recipe is inspired by Spanish flavours, not Mexican, so this dish is not spicy. I hope this helps!
Can you use boneless skinless thighs? If so, does cooking time change?
Hi Valerie, yes I would reduce the time in the oven by 10 minutes.
Hi Erica, the only red chilli that exists is the spicy kind. Red bell peppers also known as “red peppers” are a completely different variety. They are also included in this recipe but listed under ‘for the chicken” section of the ingredient list.
I know this post is old but I’m only seeing the “for the bravas sauce” but I don’t see a “for the chicken section”. Am I just missing it? This recipe looks so incredibly good too! I guess I could improvise if I don’t get a reply to this comment! That could be a disaster so I’m hoping for the best:)
Hi Jamie, I am not sure I understand what you mean. The full recipe, including the instructions for chicken, is in the recipe card.
Your tapas night sounds just perfect! 🙂 Love this chicken, the bravas sauce sounds mouth watering!
Thank you, Laura!
A tapas night where you and your husband cook together while sipping on wine and catching up on each other’s day sounds amazing! I know exactly how you feel regarding the kids. . so hard to go out to eat with them. . but then amazing recipes like this one are inspired and come to life!! LOVE this spanish chicken so much!!! looks so good!
Thank you so much, Alice for your sweet comment! As they say, “necessity is the mother of invention.” 🙂
I love the addition of beans to the dish! Beautiful pictures!
White beans are my absolute favourite, they even bumped chick peas off the top for me! Thank you, Marina. 🙂
Snap! It is clearly THE day to post one-pot meals. I even bought a ‘cook it slow’ cookbook (because you can never have too many cookbooks. In the end I may give them the house and move out). I love the sound and look of this dish – definitely one to make soon.
I am so with you here. I don’t think I will ever feel like I’ve got enough cookbooks. Your stew looks absolutely delicious, Lucy!
This is my kind of chicken, it looks and sounds incredible. Hot smoked paprika is one of my favorite spices, and I love that you added the beans to this, it makes it a complete one pot meal!
I absolutely loved the smell of Spanish paprika in that recipe, it made it so fragrant. Thank you, Sue!