Chicken Thighs With Sour Cherries and Cucumber Yogurt Recipe (2024)

I've done this with sweet organic cherries and they work beautifully with the added bonus of no added sugar. (Cut down on the pickling sugar as well, or just use a white balsamic vinegar.)

I used regular cherries, still great. Adjustments - cut the sugar down to 1 tbd (at the beginning). Used bone in leg quarters. Browned in leftover bacon fat and then mixed in the onions and followed the rest of the steps. Will make again for sure. Hope to find some sour cherries, but very pleased with what we had!

I make this with dried Michigan cherries that I buy online in 4 lb boxes. Good year round.

It’s too hot to turn on the oven so I used a cast iron skillet. Heated the skillet on high, and then added the ingredients. Kept on medium for about 5 minutes until the thighs browned, turned them over, lowered the heat to low and put a lid on for about 20 minutes. Worked for me.

I made with frozen black cherries. Delicious! I added some red vinegar and cut the sugar a bit to get the right zing to the cherries. I also used convection for the last five minutes, which resulted in a nice caramelization. Definitely a repeatable.

Amarelle or Morello? Any particular cherry?

we used bone in, skin on thighs- pan seared skin side down before assembling. Used dried tart cherries, soaked in in hot water for 15 minutes in place of fresh cherries. Super delicious recipe.

Made basically as described. Novel and delicious combination of flavors. Height of cherry season here in mid-Atlantic, so was able to find sour cherries at a nearby orchard market. Bought enough to freeze for later since they are so good and hard to find. Chicken, red onion, cherry combo was a delight. Served the cucumber/yogurt mix on the side rather than the sheet pan, which made it easier to reheat leftovers without heating the yogurt mixture. Will definitely make again. Delicious!

I have a tart cherry tree, is that similar to sour cherries ?

There were only sweet cherries available, so I used half as much sugar in each of the steps. Very tasty 10/10 will make again

This works beautifully with cranberries, too.

These cherries look like sweet Bing cherries not the paler looking sour cherries that are more expensive and do have a very short season. So please clarify you r choice.

I think that any sour cherry variety (more than 300 varieties of amarelle and morello types show up in farmers markets during the brief season) would work here, but the popular montmorency, an amarelle-type favored for pie, would no doubt be great.

This is fantastic. I switched to broil for last 3 minutes to give the cherries and chicken some slight color.

Try your Farmers Mkt for fresh ones. The season is short so look for them now (I'm in Cherry country and we are at the 3rd week of the season.) If you can't find them, I would look for frozen pie cherries or make the sub and use fresh red grapes instead.

What changes would you make with frozen cherries. Would u defrost them? And, if so, would u add the remaining juice?

If using frozen cherries would u defrost them 1st? Would u add the leftover juice?

This was so delicious! During the brief time they were available I used sour cherries from a farmer's market. Next week I will use frozen sweet cherries I recently discovered in the freezer based on the suggested modifications and enthusiasm in some of the comments.

A friend made this for our group of 8 and it was so delicious! Will definitely make it myself. Full fat yogurt recommended.

Straight to the top of the favorite list. So easy, and the flavors and textures come together beautifully. No need to tie this to finding scarce pie cherries--I used canned (in water--NOT pie filling!) Wonderful!

Cooked this last night and though it looks beautiful I'm afraid it just isn't for me. The chicken felt a bit bland and the depitting the cherries made my kitchen look like a crime scene.

Made this with a combination of dried and fresh cherries and boneless, skinless chicken breasts. it was wonderful!

We have a seasonal superabundance of bing cherries, but they are not sour. Would they work if one reduces the amount of sugar?

Great flavor. I used bone in thighs and they worked well, but I think I’ll try a cast iron skillet instead of the sheet pan for my next attempt. The syrupy cherry juices spread out on the pan and burnt instead of staying saucy.

So good! Made it almost exactly as written, but couldn't find fresh tarragon so substituted with 1 tablespoon dried and then used some torn fresh basil as a garnish. Will make this over and over during sour cherry season!

Joy on a pan!

I was invited to pick cherries from my neighbor's tree, and made this for dinner the same day. Really, really good! (I think the dish stands on its own without the cucumber yogurt.)

Just picked 2 quarts of tart cherries off my little tree in front yard. Very happy to find this recipe, which is just great tasting. Agree with others that a different and also good version would be to use less sugar.

Husband not a chicken fan so cooked with salmon. Started onions first for 10 minutes and then turned oven down to 350 when I added salmon and sauce to the pan. Delicious. Would be good as a warm sauce over grilled salmon. Onion nice but not necessary. Cucumbers with yogurt a nice flavor addition. Think I will use Greek yogurt instead of whole milk next time.

We had an abundant sour cherry harvest this year and used some cherries to make both a chicken and a vegan tofu version (minus the yogurt for the vegan version) of this recipe. Both were great and I will make again. I used bone in, skin on thighs because, well, it’s just better than the form in the recipe.