A taste of the Mediterranean in one delicious baked chicken dish. This is a classic Chicken Mirabella recipe.

Prune and Olive Chicken

garlic,

prunes,

green olives

capers,

olive oil

red wine vinegar

bay leaves

oregano

salt and pepper

(3 pound) whole chicken, skin removed and cut into pieces

brown sugar

dry white wine

parsley,

In a medium bowl combine the garlic, prunes, olives, capers, olive oil, vinegar, bay leaves, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix well. Spread mixture in the bottom of a 10x15 inch baking dish. Add the chicken pieces, stir and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.


When ready to prepare, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove dish from refrigerator. Sprinkle brown sugar on top and pour white wine all around chicken.


Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, spooning juices over chicken several times as it is baking. Serve on a platter, pouring juices over the top, and garnish with fresh parsley.


I doubled everything, except the chicken. Used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. While chicken breasts tend to be dry, this recipe solves the problem. I chopped the olives and the prunes so the sauce would be a bit more uniform and more flavor would be infused in the sauce. I served with rice, which is why I made so much extra sauce - to soak up into the rice and share the goodness. Don't be afraid to serve this at a dinner party or special event without trying it before (we know we all do it) While you may get a few who snub their noses, I suggest you encourage them to try it before telling them what's in it.

This is def. classic chicken marbella.  Just like my Mom would always make for me.  Don't be scared of the ingrediants...I am NOT a prune fan, but this is the best chicken ever.  I always reserve the sauce it cooks in and serve it in a bowl on the table to dip the chicken in.  To me it is better when you add the brown sugar and the wine to the marinade instead of just sprinkling it over the chicken before it bakes.

We made this dish in a cooking class that I attended at Williams-Sonoma. It is supposed to be Matt Laur's (Today Show) favorite recipe. I can see why! It is a fabulous dish! I would never have tried it if it weren't for the cooking class. I've made it several times now at home.MMMMMMMM

We really enjoyed this recipe!  I have seen this recipe around other sites and it was constantly raved about, but I kept avoiding it because I hate olives, never had capers, and never thought of putting prunes in a chicken dish.

But I finally took the plunge and made this, only I used 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of whole pieces, and I pureed a whole head of garlic for the marinade, used Kalamata olives, and increased the other ingredients in the marinade as follows:

1/2 cup olive oil and vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 small jars capers
1 cup each olives and prunes
4 bay leaves

This was so easy to throw together and is perfect for company because all you have to do is throw the chicken into the oven and about 10 minutes before it's done, you can steam some rice or cook some couscous and steam some broccoli or asparagus, allowing you to spend more time with your family or guests.

This dish is also great cold as leftovers. Don't let the strange ingredients intimidate you!  It is absolutely delicious in its flavor and you can always push aside the items you don't like.

Who knew that these flavors would mesh so well? I doubled the sauce; the mixture (including brown sugar &amp; wine, but excluding bay leaves) got blended into a chunky puree, and I reserved some for adding at the table. I marinated about 3 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts in the mixture, plus bay leaves, overnight. In the morning, I threw it all in the slow cooker, cooked on low for about 8 hrs, &amp; voila! Tender, delicious, tangy; a perfect Mediterranean dish. Served with couscous and a green salad. Thank you!!

Incredible! I've made this up in freezer bags and stored the dinners for the future, thawing them overnight. Six different families did this with me and EVERYONE loved them. We used kalamta olives instead. Make this tonight!

I don't like prunes or olives... but I was told, to get the right taste I had to cook everything together. IT WAS AMAZING! I baked it all together (including sauce) in a dish for an hour and served it over Angel Hair pasta. It was quite possibly the best meal I have ever had. It wouldn't have been something I would have normally tried, but I am DEFINITELY glad I did!!!

Like peanut butter and jelly, the flavor combination of sweet, creamy and tangy prunes with salty, crunchy olives sounds insane until you try it.  It is a beautiful, elegant, yet unusual dish for company. It doubles very well.

Tasty chicken dish - my husband and kids loved it, too. You can use a little less brown sugar and it will still taste great.

Thanks for sharing this excellent recipe. I consulted the "Silver Palate" and other sources, and made the following adaptations: I minced an entire head of garlic in my food processor, and added twice the prunes and olives, plus the capers and pulsed until it was a uniform mince......marinated for 4 hours and then slow cooked on low for 5 hours.....fabulous stuff! Served with green beans and ancini pasta with pesto.

I've made this about a dozen times now, it is that good and easy. I toss everything into a ziploc bag and then into the fridge.  The only change I made was to increase the sauce by half and I used skinless, boneless chicken instead of a whole chicken.  This recipe is pretty much the only reason why  I keep capers and prunes in the house.  One time I made this with dried apricots, I didn't realize that the bag of prunes on my shelf was empty (darn people putting empties on my pantry shelf!).

The sauce is so delish over couscous, but my son especially likes it over noodles, long slurpy ones.  Definitely a keeper and fancy enough to serve to guests!

Wow...really liked this recipe.  I did make some changes...doubled the olives, omitted the capers (didn't have any so I used juice from the olives), chopped the prunes rather than halved (same flavor, but no one noticed them as they kind of melted into the sauce), used cut-up chicken breast, didn't marinate and cooked it in the crockpot.  I normally wouldn't give five stars to a recipe that I tweaked so much, but I have every confidence that this recipe would have been just as good.  I wasn't forced to make changes due to inadequacies in the recipe, but rather for my own convenience.  I served it over rice and it was absolutely delicious.  Sophisticated flavor and great ethnic appearance.  Next time I will double the sauce as others have suggested because it is sooooo good.

I liked this dish, however, my family didn't feel the same.  They didn't think it was anything special. I might make this again, only adding more olives.

I tried this a different way the other morning...I did NOT marinate. I placed everything in a slow cooker in the morning...LOTS of prunes &amp; olives and probably 50% more wine! NO CAPERS for me. When I got home...to die for &amp; so most. I used bone in breasts, no skin. Let's just say VERY YUMMY and I will make it this way again and again. Too easy!

This recipe has joined my standard repertoire! A wonderful new taste experience and my husband loved it too!

I used 7.5 pounds of boneless, skinless thighs and tripled the recipe.  Baked it in two 9 x 12 pyrex dishes.  We had 19 people.  We also had a fish dish.  Everyone that commented on the chicken loved it and went for seconds.  Great dish.

I have had this recipe in my collection for months and have not tried it until today.  I actually marinated it for about 36 hours, and I dont really measure anything.  This was the MOST AWESOME chicken dish.  I used boneless skinless breasts and cooked them for about 30 minutes.  I cant believe how good this turned out.  I have now categorized it under favorites.

Sorry, I just did not like this at all. Maybe cutting the sugar in half would be an improvement, as I found it to be way too sweet.

It's way too sweet for me! If ever I'll cook it again, I'll omit the brown sugar.

I've been using this recipe for years.  Every time I make it for company, I get asked for the recipe. It is full of flavour.  It is a wonderful dish for company because all of the work is done ahead of time.  As many other reviewers suggest,  I also double the marinade.

I would change the title to Chicken Mirabella....Olive and Prune Chicken doesn't sound very appetizing!  This recipe  is awesome!! I followed some of the advice and put all the ingredients together and marinated for 36 hours. I did double the sauce as well and added green olives and kalamata olives....which I think, gave it a more earthy flavorful punch.  My company and husband and two young children wanted to lick their plates! Definately a keeper. Give this one a try.

A good recipe. Definetly increase the prunes and olives. I left the skin on and wish that I didn't. I think I will  use boneless pieces next time to make it easier to eat.

OMG!!!! I accidently came across this recipe and thought, "Prune and Olives??? YUCK!"...but after reading the reviews I decided to give it a try.  I made this last night for me and my 17 year old...and there is barely any left this morning. (I just had some for breakfast.) Will definitely double the sauce next time.  And I did put the prunes and olives in the blender along with the oil and vinegar.  Didn't use capers. I think I'll make another batch tomorrow.  TO ANYONE SEEING THIS RECIPE FOR THE FIRST TIME....DON'T BE PUT OFF BY THE INGREDIENTS!!!   IT IS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!!

I made this twice last week, once just for DH and me the other for New Year's dinner. The first time I used three boneless breasts, the second four. The first I marinated in all the ingredients, the second I added the sugar and wine before placing in the oven. I didn't notice any difference between the two. I don't think it needs to cook for the full hour, but that might just be my oven and the fact that I was cooking boneless breasts. I loved this recipe and intend on making it more often! It is easy for a week night and a very nice dish for company.

I marinated the chicken for 15 minutes.  I cooked the whole mixture in a pan on the stovetop.  I used a mix of green, black, and kalamata olives.  I didn't have a dry white wine, so I used riesling.  I substituted balsamic vinegar for red wine vinegar.  Despite all these changes it still tasted great.  Very forgiving recipe.

I love this recipe!  We use blsl chicken thighs and it is great every time.  I was originally just looking for a way to use up the giant jar of capers we got at the food warehouse but we make this about every other week.

Let me say WOW! I don't care for prunes or olives, but DH does.  Trying to use ingredients we have on hand this week without going to the store. So I reluctantly made some changes. Used 4 skinless chicken thighs. Was out of red wine vinegar so I used apple cider. The prunes I had were "lemon" essence from some other recipe my DH wanted to try a while back. The only olives we had were habanero stuffed (a little spicy).
I did screw up reading the recipe (oops) put all ingredients (wine &amp; sugar included) into the marinade. Marinaded for 8 hrs then baked as directed. Served with buttered orzo &amp; green beans. Fantastic! Plenty of sauce. The combination was delicious.
This is the only way I will eat prunes &amp; olives again!! Hubby enjoyed, but I don't think as much as I did. Would be perfect for serving to company too. Very easy! Thanks for a great recipe.

You can not imagine combining prunes and olives, sounds gross but "oh man"!!!  This would impress the heck out of any guest.  My family loved it and it was sooo easy to prepare and you just chuck it in the oven and let her go.  Highly recommended.

Tip: This is a fantastic recipe as is, but it can be improved as follows. Put leftovers in a ziplock bag, squeeze out all the air, and freeze. In a couple of weeks, defrost and heat. The flavors intensify, the meat becomes more tender, the aroma is heavenly.

This is a very tasty receipe and makes a great impression on your guests. We have made it for big crowds. We have also added dried apple slices.We used chickens quartered. Looks beautiful on a big platter. The juices can be made into a gravy. We've served with pesto mashed potatoes.

This is the best, easiest recipe when cooking for a lot of people.  I used a large disposable pan, so clean up was easy also.

If I could give half stars this would be 4 1/2.  I used boneless, skinless breasts, and I was afraid that the cooking time might be too long, but it came out perfectly moist.  The flavors blend very well together, but I might try cutting the sugar to only 1 TBS since I thought it was a little too sweet.  Before serving I reduced the sauce in a pan and poured over the chicken.  A simple and elegant dish!

This chicken was amazing....so flavorful.  My family and I loved it and I will definitely be making it again.  You wouldn't think that the prunes and brown sugar would go well with chicken but somehow it just does and it was great!!  Thanks for sharing.

This is delicious! I have made this recipe several times now for special dinners, and all my guests have raved.  I add extra capers, olives and prunes. I also use boneless chicken breasts.

I made this using all skinless drumsticks for a party and it turned out very well.  Several people asked me for the recipe.

This was wonderful.  Everyone raved.  I only had time to marinate the chicken for an hour, and it still tasted great!

Awesome recipe! I cook this whenever I want to impress my guests even though it's really simple to make. I usually use chicken breasts verses a whole chicken just because it's usually all I have. I don't always marinate it and it comes out just as good and I usually double everything except the chicken because the flavor's so delicious. I highly recommend this recipe, it's delicious!

I was excited about trying this dish after reading the reviews, but found it sadly lacking in flavor.  I don't know how it happened because the marinade was certainly aromatic, but the chicken just tasted flat.  Also, I think it has too much sugar for my taste.  I might toy around with it a little for future use.  The chicken did come out very moist.  I used skinless thighs.

I had this with brown rice. Next time I will not use any oil since the chicken exudes a lot of fat. My chicken didn't brown right, so I'll leave off the brown sugar too which made it too sweet.

My daughter wanted a homemade Mediterranean dinner for her birthday. All I knew about Mediterranean was hummus and couscous, so I turned to allrecipes for help and found this. FABULOUS! Everyone loved it and the birthday girl was very happy. We served it with couscous and roasted artichoke hearts (frozen bag) drizzled with balsamic vinegar &amp; a bit of olive oil, salt &amp; pepper. To tie the artichokes in with the main dish, I threw in a few handfuls of golden raisins for the last 10 minutes of roasting. When storing the leftovers, we put the artichokes right in with the chicken and that was very tasty too. And instead of birthday cake, she had Baklava (again from allrecipes). Thank you, Theresa for this recipe and to Neonwillie for the Baklava. Thanks to allrecipes and you, I was able to make my daughter's special day that much better.

Brilliant! Made this for a party. Folks were hesitant to taste b/c of the olives and capers, but once they did they loved it. I used skinless breasts, and doubled the amount of sauce, and added a pinch of red pepper to balance the sweetness. Really easy recipe, too; will definitely make again. 



very delicious - and smells great when marinating.  I made this for a teacher's luncheon.  Surely not their usual fare for teacher's luncheons!  They loved it.  I made it that night for my family.  It was great, but kids were reluctant to eat the prunes - not the most appealing appearance.  I will make it again, though, for sure.

It was good, but WAY too much oregano. My kid spat it out, and he'll generally eat anything.  I tried it again with 1 TEASPOON of oregano and that made all the difference.  Good recipe otherwise.

very good recipe.  I've made it twice now and each time there is no leftovers.  Very easy to prepare and bake.  The longer you marinade the chicken the better it tastes!!

This was very easy to make and had a very nice flavor. My one-year old loved it, too!

Awesome!  Had to replace the white wine with sherry and it turned out just as good.  Will make this in the future!

Everyone at my holiday party loved this recipe. Will make this recipe again.  Not being a big prune fan, I used raisins instead of prunes.

if at first you say, prunes &amp; olives......yuk! Don't worry, as it turns out they work marvelous together!

the chicken had a good flavour, but i was alittle disappointed with the sauce...there wasn't any!  the chicken was alittle dry too, so i guess next time i won't cook it for the whole one hour; and i'll also chop the prunes (instead of halving) to disperse the flavour and so that you don't get these giant mushy bites of prune.  and definately add more olives and capers.

This is a wow!  Ten minutes after it was in the oven the whole kitchen smelled wonderful.  I used boneless, skinless thighs and baked at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.  Juicy and tender.  The only other change I made was to eliminate the brown sugar.  Can't wait to make this one again.

We took this recipe (already cooked and refrigerated) to "Creation" which is a Christian festival geared toward teens and 20 somethings.  We (as youth leaders) took 20 kids from our church.  As we were camping without electric we brought a grill and a camping stove.  We put the cooked chicken into heavy disposable aluminum pans and put it on the grill to heat it.  Cooked Minute Rice over the burners of camp stove.  Gourmet dining in the great outdoors.  You know how some meals you eat and then have a strong craving to have it again.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Just wanted to let you know in case you're into camping, tailgating or just for a nice dinner in the comfort of your own home.  Enjoy!!

This recipe is reallllllyyy Good, the chicken melted of the bone, I added potatoes to the recipe, I precooked the potatoes and then added them to the tray as the chicken was cooking slowly in the over. It was delicious.

This is fabulous, very impressive for a dinner party, although you will have a few people that pile the prunes on the side of their plate...

I had to change this recipe slightly as no one in my family likes olives. I used dried apricots instead and deleted the brown sugar because the dried fruit is sweet enough. I also (by mistake!) put the wine in the marinade so the fruit soaked it all up after 12 hours. Before baking added 1/4 cup of chicken stock and 1/4 extra cup of wine. I used 2 chicken breasts cut up into pieces which took about 30mins to cook. This dish is VERY VERY yummy and heartwarming. I urge others to give it a go!

DH really liked it! I thought it was just (barely) okay. Made as directed, marinated 24 hours.

Excellent! I used a full chicken cut-up as I believe the bones add to the flavor when long cooked.  No doubt I was correct as the juices flowed when we took it out of the oven, flavor, flavor, flavor!

This is an excellent chicken dinner.  Will make this dish at least once a month.

This smells so tangy cooking that I was suprised at the sweetness of the dish.  My husband loved it.  I substituted salad sliced green olives for whole ones because thats what I had on hand.  Next time I'll used even more olives!  Good side dishes are herbed rice and green peas.

This recipe was incredible! I have to say I was a little concerned about how it would turn out with all the unique flavors combined, so I didn't make it for company.  Now I wished I had because it was absolutely wonderful!  It was a little sweet for my husband, but perfect for me!  I did double the marinade and served with couscous! Thanks for the great recipe!  I will be making this for dinner guests from now on!

This is a great recipe and would be great for company.  It looks really beautiful. I used black figs instead of prunes, b/c I already had them on hand (I was also afraid of the recipe being too sweet so I figured this was ok) and increased the garlic amount. Chopped up all the sauce ingredients in the food processor and marinated for 18 hours or so. Served w/ coucous cooked in chicken stock. It's perfect. I loved it, my sister loved it, my husband liked the chicken, but not the sauce. He rarely likes meat and fruit together. Still, I plan to make it again - maybe for girls' night. 

Love it!
I had something quite similar at a wonderful restaurant (Gower Street Bistro) in Cannon Beach, Oregon.
I was very happy to find this.  I had a hard time finding it, though.  Retitling the recipe as Chicken Marbella would be helpful. 
I agree with the other reviewers who doubled the sauce.
THANKS!

Not bad but oddly sweet, next time I'll use fewer prunes. I followed the advice of several reviews and: doubled the sauce, omitted the sugar, used chicken breast instead of a whole chicken, cooked on the stove top and not the oven, and forgot the white wine. Served over Israeli couscous that had been cooked in chicken stock and it was tasty.

I only marinated for a few hours, but it was AMAZING!

My favorite recipe for company...easy prep...can be done ahead of time. I have used chicken breast or  w/ the bone &amp; skin on...I also add more olives &amp; capers to my recipe...so no one has to fight over them!

This recipe is simple and delicius my 4 year old and 1 year old love it.

Made this recipe and my family RAVED about it.  I chose to use boneless chicken breasts and used all ingredients (including wine and brown sugar) to marinate overnight.  It was perfect!  I also baked the dish covered for 45 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes.  Very tender!  Severed with Cous Cous. Will make this regularly.

This was so delicious! Definitely my new favourite way to make chicken.  Try using the garlic stuffed green olives for an extra kick!

This was a great change from the usual. It doesn't seem to keep well for the next days lunch. You'll enjoy this the most the night it's made.

Wow! This was great. I"m not much of a prune or a green olive person, (I'm for black olives) however, this was extremely delicious. The flavors mixed well together and the brown sugar seemed to be just the right amount for me. Great recipe!

We loved this recipe,  but I agree, doubling the sauce makes it work even better.  Have made with and without the capers and we didn't miss them.  Can go either way on that.  I'm a bit generous when measuring the olives and prunes, also. Thanks for sharing this!

I just HAD to try this, since I love interesting combinations of flavors.  It was good, but had some sharpness to the taste I didn't like (maybe the capers?)  The leftovers seemed to mellow and I liked it better then.

Delicious. The whole family enjoyed it. I served it with mashed potatoes. I will definitely make this again. Left the sugar out as we need to watch our sugar.  I have a very picky family and they loved it.

Wonderful dish for a crowd... fed even the pickiest eaters. Wondeful flavour.A keeper

Yuck, ick, blah. Time consuming and tasted gross. My husband didn't think it was THAT bad, but agreed it was something we will never make again.

You would never think that these flavors would go well together, but they are incredible!  No wonder it is a classic!  My children and husband love this dish...and they are not fans of chicken.

This is great as is.  I double the sauce and serve it over couscous with green salad.  We love it!

Make this for people and don't tell them what is in it.  It is a crowd pleaser.

I cut up boneless, skinless, chicken breast instead of using a whole chicken.  It was excellent!

This is the best chicken ever. I've made it twice now and the best part of the chicken to use is the thighs. It is so tasty and flavorful.  Easy to make.

Prunes and olives...sounds pretty weird, doesn't it?  I like prunes and olives, so I figured, what the heck...  This dish is unusual, but surprisingly, everything works together well, and it is pretty good.  However, I can't eat a whole lot at once or several times in a row.  I don't like capers, so I omitted those.  I like how the sweetness of the brown sugar and prunes blends with the sourness of the olives.

Very good blend of ingredients, cooking it @ 350 deg for 1 hour is not enough to make it tender-- with the rack in the middle of the oven, give it at least 1.5hrs, if you want it more tender, maybe an extra 15mins. add a good amount of salt, i used 1 tsp but it's lacking a pinch at every bite. don't disregard this recipe so easily, my husband devoured 3 servings of it, and he's been on a strict diet prior :)

Very easy and a crowd pleaser! I used 2lbs of chicken breasts.

This is very good, I make it often now. I add a whole can of olives and have made it without all the marinating and it still turned out wonderful.

Great recipe.  Instead of the whole chicken I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  I also added the brown sugar and white wine to the marinade.  The aroma was fantastic and this dish tasted very good.  I will definitely make again!

My 4-year-old and 6-year old love this recipe. The combination sounded weird to me at first, but it's great. It's become a standard on my dinner menu. I never have capers on hand, so I have never made mine with capers.

Awesome chicken recipe. I made some modifications. I loved this recipe and so did my family.  Thank you so much for adding this!

I doubled the marinade ingredients and used thighs.  It was wonderful! I can't wait to try it again.

This was terrific. I used chicken pieces with the skin on. I mixed the sugar into the marinade and added a tad bit more to the chicken before it went in the oven. Very nice company dish.

It is with great pleasure that I'm writing this review, because quite simply this chicken is fabulous.  I served it with mushroom risotto and roasted butternut squash, this will be a staple in our home.

This is my "food for thought" that I bring to friends in need of a meal. It is so easy, and always delicious. We serve it with angel hair pasta and steamed baby spinach. Fabulous!

Incredible flavors.  I was reluctant to make this recipe because I knew my husband would balk at the prunes.  I decided to go ahead, chop the prunes up and not tell him.  I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of the whole chicken and it was just as good.  Even my husband loved it...even after he realized he just ate prunes!

Pretty darn tasty! Did not use wine, just water instead and turned out still very flavorful. Would be nice to add some veggies to it. Goes well over rice or pasta.

delicious!  chicken is moist and there is SO much flavor in this dish!!!!!  Love it!

Awesome and unusual dish! I would triple the sauce recipe. Great dish for company.  I will make again.  Takes a bit of prep time, but marinading over night was worth it!

I took this to a monthly faculty luncheon and got raves. I found that you must be selective with the bay leaves. I chose ones too large. A little bay goes a long way. I will go for smaller leaves in the future. I also think I will try Kalamata olives next time.

OMG!!!  This has to be my all time favorite!!  Wasn't sure about the prunes at first, but now I won't make that mistake again.  I would make this the night before because the longer it marinades the better!!  ;-)

We were introduced to this recipe in another venue under the name "Chicken Mirabella."  It is a very easy dish that is incredibly sophisticated.  Don't be intimidated by the prunes...or the olives.  I marinated the chicken overnight in a ziploc bag--I just used chicken breasts too and used 4 prunes and 6 olives per breast.  Excellent!!

The first time we've had Greek recipe, We loved it. and it's so simple.

prune and olive chicken

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hours

Total: 9 hours, 15 minutes

Servings: 6

Author : Teresa

Ingredients

Instructions

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