Pickle Marinated Chicken with Dill Cream Sauce – A Great Way to Use Up That Pickle Juice!

Wait! Don’t toss that pickle juice until you try my pickle marinated chicken with dill cream sauce. Ok, it might sound a little strange, but the pickle juice works like a brine that you find on a Thanksgiving turkey and does wonders to keep that chicken perfectly juicy.

In fact, pickle juice has a lot of potential. Not only is it a great marinade for chicken, but apparently it can work wonders for hangovers and for marathon runners to get those electrolytes back up. Similarly, it keeps this chicken nice and hydrated during the cooking process, which today is a breading and air frying to perfection. I hit it with a creamy and delicious dill sauce because every pickle needs a dill and the results is fun and a little different chicken dinner.

I like to make my pickle marinated chicken with my smashed potatoes because the dill cream sauce is reminiscent of sour cream and onion potato chips. I also simply steamed some broccoli, which also played very well with the dill cream sauce.

All and all it was a well rounded chicken dinner that had a fun connotation and was bursting with flavors. So next time you find yourself at the bottom of a pickle jar, throw some chicken in there and make this family friendly meal loved by all.

Serves 4

Suggested Wine Pairing:

The pickle and dill flavors pair nicely with a chenin blanc.

Tools Needed:

I am using an air fryer, but you could also make this in the oven. I would top a baking sheet with a wire rack for the utmost crispiness of your pickle marinated chicken.

Ingredients:

4 small chicken breasts, trimmed and pounded thin, about 1/2 inch thick.

1 – 32 ounce jar of pickle juice

1 egg beaten

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs

Salt, pepper, and white pepper to taste

For the Dill Cream Sauce:

2 tablespoons of fresh dill, chopped

2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese, shredded

1/2 cup of cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Marinate your trimmed and pounded chicken breast in the pickle juice as long as possible, or for up to 8 hours. I add them to the pickle jar to reduce washing another bowl.
2. Once the chicken has marinated, set up your breading station with one bowl with the egg, one with the flour, and a final bowl with the panko crumbs. Season the flour with a little salt, pepper, and white pepper.
3. Preheat your air fryer or oven to 400F. Meanwhile, dry the chicken and dip in the flour, then the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs so that it is completely covered by the breadcrumbs. Repeat the breading with all of the chicken breasts. If you have a few leftover pickle chips, you could also add them to the mix.
4. Place the chicken in the air fryer tray or basket and spritz a bit of olive oil atop. Air fry for 20 minutes, turning halfway through.
5. Once you flip the chicken, start your cream sauce by adding the cream and dill to a saucepan over medium low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste and cover. Once it simmers, stir it and reduce the heat to low. The mixture should reduce by half by the time the chicken is done. Add in the parmesan cheese and stir to combine.
6. Serve the pickle marinated chicken with the dill cream sauce drizzled over the top.