Main course American home cooking
Maple-glazed chicken thighs and butternut squash traybake
Meat & fish
Editorially prepared
Boneless chicken thighs and squash cubes roasted together in a maple yoghurt marinade. A final brushing of syrup gives the chicken a sweet glaze, balanced by a lemony yoghurt sauce.
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Ingredients
4 servings · metric units
For a larger batch, use another tray or roast in batches. Keep the chicken and squash in a single layer with small gaps between the pieces. Do not increase the roasting time in direct proportion to the quantity; check the chicken temperature and squash tenderness. Cooking in batches will increase the total time.
Substitutions
Substitute amounts are adjusted to your selected servings.
- Instead of butternut squashHokkaido squash
Use the same weight of deseeded flesh and cut it to the same size. You can leave on the thoroughly washed, tender skin. Hokkaido squash is usually more floury, so check its tenderness during the final roasting stage.
- Instead of maple syruprunny honey
As a fallback, use it in the marinade and glaze, starting with a slightly smaller volume. Honey tastes more floral and darkens more quickly, so watch the final roasting stage closely. The dish will lose its distinctive maple flavour.
- Instead of maple syruprunny honey
Add gradually, tasting the sauce before it touches the finished dish. Honey can taste sweeter than maple syrup.
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Optional ingredients and substitutions
You’ll need
Large shallow rimmed baking tray, approximately 40 × 35 cm · Oven · Baking parchment suitable for 220°C · Peeler, large knife and chopping board · Kitchen scales and measuring spoons · Two bowls · Tongs or a spatula and a pastry brush · Probe thermometer · Heatproof trivet · Four plates
Method
0/7 stepsPrepare the squash and oven
Set the oven to 190°C conventional. Line a large baking tray with parchment suitable for 220°C. While the oven heats, wash and peel the squash, remove the seeds and weigh out the flesh needed. Cut it into roughly 2 cm cubes. Allow about 18 minutes to prepare the tray and squash; the oven can continue heating while you mix the marinade.
Prepare the squash and oven Coat in the marinade
In a bowl, mix the marinade yoghurt, two thirds of the syrup allocated to the marinade and glaze, the olive oil, measured salt, marinade paprika, pepper and chilli. Keep the remaining glazing syrup in a clean container. Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper and open the pieces out flat. Coat the chicken and squash in the marinade, then spread them on the tray in a single layer with small gaps. Do not place squash underneath the chicken. Wash your hands and utensils that touched the raw chicken. Allow about 8 minutes for this stage.
Coat in the marinade Start roasting
Check that the oven has reached 190°C and place the tray on the middle shelf. Roast for 20 minutes from putting it in the oven. Meanwhile, make the sauce in the next step, leaving the chicken and squash roasting. By the end of this stage, the marinade should have set on the surface and the squash should be starting to soften. Cooking is not yet complete; move on to glazing and the final roasting stage.
20:00Start roasting Mix the yoghurt sauce
During the first roasting stage, wash and dry the parsley, then chop it finely. Reserve half for finishing. In a clean bowl, combine the sauce yoghurt, sauce syrup, lemon juice, sauce paprika and the other half of the parsley. Season with salt. The sauce should be thick but easy to spoon. Allow about 8 minutes to prepare it. Cover and refrigerate until serving; cover the reserved parsley as well.
Mix the yoghurt sauce Glaze and finish roasting
After the first roasting stage, remove the tray and increase the oven to 220°C conventional. Turn the squash pieces with a spatula. Brush the chicken with the reserved glazing syrup and scatter over the thyme leaves. Return the tray to the oven and roast for about 12–18 minutes from this point, including the time the oven takes to reach the higher temperature. Start checking after 12 minutes. The glaze should be golden brown and the squash tender when pierced with a fork. Use a clean probe to check the thickest parts of several chicken pieces: they must reach at least 75°C for 30 seconds. If the chicken or squash is not ready, roast in further 3–5 minute intervals and check again. If the glaze darkens too quickly, reduce the oven to 190°C. You can transfer fully cooked chicken to a clean plate if the squash needs longer.
15:00Glaze and finish roasting Rest the chicken
Once the chicken has reached the required temperature and the squash is tender, remove the tray and set it on a heatproof trivet. Leave the chicken uncut for 5 minutes from this point. Do not cover tightly, as this would steam the glaze.
05:00Rest the chicken Serve with sauce and parsley
Divide the chicken and squash between plates. Stir the chilled sauce and spoon it over part of the chicken and squash, leaving some glaze visible. Scatter over the reserved half of the parsley and serve straight away.
Serve with sauce and parsley
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Tips
- Use a large, shallow, rimmed baking tray. A crowded, deep dish encourages steaming rather than browning.
- Spread the thighs flat without folding the edges underneath. Pieces of a similar thickness will roast more evenly.
- Keep the syrup reserved for glazing in a clean container, away from the raw chicken. Do not use raw marinade as a serving sauce.
- If the squash needs longer than the chicken, remove only chicken that has reached the required temperature and continue roasting the squash. Do not set aside partly cooked chicken for storage.
Storage
Divide the fully cooked chicken and squash into smaller portions, cool promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours of finishing cooking. Keep in a sealed container for up to 2 days, with the sauce stored separately. Freeze the chicken and squash without the sauce for up to 2 months; thaw in the fridge. Reheat only once, until steaming hot throughout and the centre of the chicken reaches 75°C for at least 30 seconds.
Timing
Hands-on: 43 min · Cooking: 35 min · Resting: 5 min
The total allows for tasks done in parallel. The individual times can overlap.
