Last updated on May 17th, 2018 at 01:58 pm
One Pot Chicken Drumsticks with Beluga Lentils – juicy chicken drumsticks with black Beluga Lentils, fire roasted tomatoes and zucchini, and lots of leeks and garlic.
I don’t even know how to start talking about this dish because I’m not sure I can capture all of the deliciousness that is happening in this pot. But I’ll try and do my best. A couple days ago, during my stroll through my local grocery store I came across these black Beluga lentils and, well you know me, I had to buy them and had to come up with a recipe for them immediately. I just knew I wanted a delicious stew like dish with chicken drumsticks and fire roasted tomatoes. If you don’t cook much with lentils, they come in different colors, red, green, yellow and black. Black Beluga lentils are said to resemble Beluga caviar because they tend to glisten when they are cooked. But black or any other color they taste pretty much the same, so if you cannot find Beluga lentils, any lentils you have, you can use them in this dish.
I cooked the drumsticks first in olive oil, just enough until they got a nice golden color, but keep in mind they will not be cooked through. I also decided to go with leeks here, because they are a bit milder, plus I love leeks and find that I don’t cook enough with them. I also used plenty of garlic, some nice Sauvignon Blanc, it gives the dish a nice rich flavor, fire roasted tomatoes and smoked paprika for that rich smoky flavor, and then added a large zucchini, just because it never hurts to have more veggies. I also added some heat with Sriracha but this is totally optional, especially if you cannot handle spicy food.
The lentils do take a while to cook, I cooked them on the stove top for a few minutes just to get the whole process going, but then I finished cooking the whole dish in the oven for about an hour just until the lentils were tender. The end result was incredible, so much flavor, and you can literally taste every layer of all the great ingredients that were used in this dish. These Beluga lentils are rich, savory, smokey and just perfect. While cooking they soaked up all those delicious flavors from all the ingredients. A masterpiece, if you ask me. Oh, and all in one pot!!
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One Pot Chicken Drumsticks with Beluga Lentils
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 8 chicken drumsticks skin on
- 1/2 tsp seasoning salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 cup leeks cleaned and sliced (about 2 large leeks)
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 cup beluga lentils
- 1 cup white wine I used Sauvignon Blanc
- 14 oz fire roasted tomatoes 1 can
- 2 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce (optional)
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 large zucchini cut in half then sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme for garnish
Instructions
- In a large Dutch Oven or casserole dish that can go from stove top to oven, heat 3 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat.
- Season the chicken drumsticks with the seasoning salt and red chili flakes, then add the drumsticks to the Dutch oven and brown on all sides, should take about 5 minutes. The chicken won't be cooked through, but we will finish cooking it in the oven. Transfer the chicken drumsticks from the Dutch oven to a plate and set aside.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the leeks and garlic. Stir around a bit and cook for about 3 minutes or until the leeks soften and become translucent.
- Stir in the smoked paprika, then add the beluga lentils, fire roasted tomatoes and white wine.
- Add the chicken broth, Sriracha sauce, stir everything together and taste for seasoning. Adjust with salt and pepper as necessary.
- Preheat your oven to 375 F degrees.
- Cook the lentils for about 10 minutes, they will not be cooked through. Add the zucchini to the pot, stir then place the chicken on top of everything.
- Place the Dutch oven in the oven and cook for about 1 hour or until the lentils are cooked through.
- Garnish with fresh thyme and serve immediately.
Jenn says
March 5, 2019 at 4:31 pmMade this tonight….so tasty! Used can of regular tomatoes as I didn’t have roasted, and instead of wine I just used a 28oz can of tomatoes. Love lentils and this showcases them so well!! Oh…served on a brown rice blend. Again…absolutely delicious!!
Leslee says
March 7, 2019 at 6:52 pmSimple recipe, but absolutely delish… I’ve made it twice this week with a few tweaks, so it’s a little bit different … we used black beans in a can and the kids scoffed it up. Thank you for a yummy one pot delight ❤️
Debi Sereda says
January 27, 2019 at 7:39 amI have made this delicious dish several times and I just love how all the flavours work together. The black lentils are hard to find but worth the trouble.
Joanna Cismaru says
January 27, 2019 at 9:48 amGlad to hear you loved this dish!
Debi says
January 21, 2019 at 5:28 pmWhat side dishes would you serve with this?
Nicole Beaulieu says
January 22, 2019 at 10:45 amI would serve some nice greens like a salad, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or asparagus.
Jen says
January 8, 2019 at 5:35 pmThis is a fabulous recipe. I’ve used it many times when I have friends over for dinner and they always love it! Plus it’s so easy to prep and get in the oven, leaving plenty of time to tidy up and set the table. I have made it with both french and black lentils, and always use 4 bone-in chicken thighs when serving 4 people. This is such a great dish for entertaining! And it’s so delicious and savory! The reward to effort ratio is off the charts – a total winner for me.
Jas says
September 2, 2018 at 4:14 pmThis looks like a great base recipe for what I want to make – a lentil, chicken and veggie dish. I’ll be subbing out onions for leeks because that’s what I have, and upping the spice level with some more complex flavors (I’m leaning towards using some oh my mom’s garam masala mix) but it’ll be a great place to build from I think!
Sylvia says
February 24, 2018 at 11:07 pmThanks so much for sharing, it was not only delicious but easy to make, super healthy and the smell of nice food while it was cooking was so soothing!
Even my 5 and 2 years old boys asked for seconds and had all their veggies and lentils!
Only one tip, crush the garlic, don’t slice, and let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes before adding to the cooking, by doing so the garlic will retain all its goodness just let me if you were eating it raw!
Cheers from Auckland, NZ
Joanna Cismaru says
February 24, 2018 at 11:16 pmSo happy you liked this because this is one of my favorites, my kind of food that I make on a regular basis at home.
Katie says
February 20, 2018 at 11:35 pmYum! I adapted this for my instant pot tonight and it was delicious. Stirred in a tablespoon of red vinegar after cooking and served with a garlicky yogurt sauce. Thank you!
Joanna Cismaru says
February 21, 2018 at 10:29 amGlad you liked this and great idea with making it in the IP.
Ann says
March 11, 2018 at 9:02 amKatie, please tell me what your IP settings and time are.
Ruthie says
February 27, 2017 at 12:12 pmThis turned out fantastic, I did use French lentils since that was what I had. Will definitely make again.
Fenne Kieken says
February 27, 2017 at 2:22 pmSo glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it.
Catherine says
January 4, 2017 at 11:44 amHi Jo. I am wanting to use the skinless,boneless chicken breast instead. Will the cooking time be less than an hour and will it be at the same oven temp at 375?
Fenne Kieken says
January 4, 2017 at 12:07 pmYes the cooking time would be less but the temperature would be the same
Elaine says
July 13, 2016 at 8:43 pmCould you use a red meat instead of chick for this dish? If so which meat might be best?
Joanna Cismaru says
July 14, 2016 at 8:16 amYeah you probably could, probably some stew meat would be best.
Ann says
June 9, 2016 at 10:39 amI want to try this but cook it in one of these new crockpot casserole dishes. How do you recommend doing this?
Joanna Cismaru says
June 9, 2016 at 2:35 pmOh I bought one of those too, but haven’t really used it much. I would still brown the chicken first, just so you get that golden color, then I would add all the ingredients to the crockpot, with the chicken on top and turn the crockpot on. Now I haven’t cooked lentils in a crockpot before so I couldn’t really tell you how many hours it would take, and it depends if you do it on low or high. If you give it a try I would love to hear how it turns out.
Ann says
June 9, 2016 at 3:46 pmWiil do.
Todd N. says
June 6, 2016 at 1:49 pmIs the dutch oven covered or uncovered in the oven?
Joanna Cismaru says
June 6, 2016 at 2:45 pmI kept it uncovered Todd.
Gary Varnum says
June 6, 2016 at 9:09 amJo, this sounds like it will be fantastic. But I have a question about using leeks. Do you just use the white portion of it, or do you chop up the green parts, too, like when using green onions? My ex is Korean and she used to call green onions “leeks” and used the whole thing in her dishes.
Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
Joanna Cismaru says
June 6, 2016 at 10:46 amI use both white and green parts of the leek, I usually trim the ends off, then wash it and slice it up. Sometimes you’ll notice there’s still dirt left so I usually take all the sliced leeks and put them in a bowl with cold water and rinse them off.
Gary Varnum says
June 6, 2016 at 10:48 amMultumesc!
Florentina says
June 6, 2016 at 1:33 amgreat dish… I cann’t wait to prepare it. It has lots of proteins and looks really tasty…