I see how you get here. The keyword searches that bring you to this little blog of mine. Most of these keyword searches make sense, like “Beer recipes,” “Cooking with beer,” and even “The Beeroness.” This past year nearly 8,000 people came to my blog with the keyword “The Beeroness,” or it could have been just one guy searching for me eight thousand times. If that was you, thank you and you’re creepy.
Sometimes those keywords don’t make sense, like the person that found my blog while searching, “fun recipes for toddlers” or all those people looking for “healthy quick meals.” I am not the top pick for either of those catagories. But it’s post holidays, and we are in that ill fitting week between Christmas and New Years that feels like the calendar equivalent of the end of a loaf of bread and you all seem to want something at least semi healthy.
Me too, I did eat three cinnamon rolls yesterday in about 5 minutes. I could use a little not-as-bad-for-me one pot meal.
So here it is. One pot. Not completely unhealthy. Quick and easy. But for the “fun for toddlers” part you’re on your own.
Ingredients
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thigh filets
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1-2 tbs flour
- ½ cup sliced sweet white onions
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup brown ale, divided in half
- 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbs honey
- ½ tsp red chili sauce (such as Sriracha) plus additional if desired
Instructions
- In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat add the olive oil.
- Sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with salt, pepper and flour.
- Cook the chicken thighs until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove, and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, add the onions and caramelize over medium heat until golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic then add ½ cup brown ale, balsamic vinegar, honey and chili sauce. Simmer until reduced and thickened. Add the chicken back to the pan along with the remaining ½ cup brown ale.
- Cover loosely with a lid, lower heat to maintain a simmer and allow to cook until chicken is cooked through, about an additional 10 minutes. Turning once during cooking.

I highly recommend this cast iron skillet. I use my almost every day (affiliate link).
This sauce looks and sounds incredible!! My family would go nuts for this dish!!
I love this, Jackie! I have never really felt more ready this time of year for healthier food. I’m burnt out on sugar at the moment!
Beeroness, this looks like a great winter substitute for chicken on the outdoor grill!
Oh Jackie… this chicken is so so so going on our menu this week! I couldn’t love it more. Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year!!! xo
What an incredible dish- especially tasty with a nice brown ale! Yummmmm!
That looks absolutely ridiculous! Sooo bookmarking and trying, thanks for sharing 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
You make me look like a ROCKSTAR …. thank you!!!!
ALL of your recipes that Ive made have went over great!
It’s the least I can do,Bob. 😉
I’m going to make this tonight I think for my NYE meal. What did you serve with it?
I served it with rice. Some type of starch. You could also do potatoes or quinoa
This recipe is sooo delicious everyone liked their plates clean! I doubled the recipe and thank goodness I did !!!! I can’t wait to make it again…tomorrow!
Awesome! so glad you liked it 🙂
Wow, wow, wow! This looks absolutely incredible, Jackie. Can’t wait to try it!
Wow! This was WICKED good! Just made this tonight using Big Sky Brewing’s Moose Drool. should have followed the lead commenters and doubled the batch. Next time! Thanks for the recipe!
Just cooked this for dinner tonight (although with breasts instead of thighs). Perfect combo of flavours, thanks for the recipe 😉
This really was great ! Double or triple the sauce – it is that good !
Ha! I’m one of those people who google ‘easy chicken recipes’ and got to here! So glad I did though … I’m making this tonight and will try to remember to let you know how it goes. Doubling the sauce too, as others suggest!
OK, so here I am with my follow-up! I made this last night and, as others have noted, it’s definitely a keeper! I could’t find any sriracha sauce (I’m in Greece where they don’t really ‘do’ spicy) so added a splash of sweet chili sauce instead. I also cheekily added in a couple of squares of 70% dark chocolate just because I thought it might go well. You couldn’t really taste it but I think it might have added just a slight richness. Anyway, it was fabulous and pleased myself, hubby + a friend very much!! Thank you!
Hello ” Kelly ,, in the receips written ‘ brown ale ” Can I know what is it. ?
Brown ale is a medium/dark beer. Newcastle is the most common brown ale.
I’ve just found you. How do I receive recipes from you? What do I have to fill in?
If 1 guy did search you out 8000 times, it would be understandable. Unfortunately, or fortunately, as the case may be,, it wasn’t me. I just found you today. And I think this will be my favorite recipe site because I can’t drink alcohol anymore because of diabetes and I love a GOOD beer. But once the alcohol is burned off…
james, i always read the comments to gather good ideas and thoughts so i could not help but notice your diabetes share… science has been applied to that whole beer burn-off thing. a couple of universities got in on this topic in the nineties and found that 4-85percent of alcohol remains in almost all serves. here is an article i keep bookmarked for those in my classes that might help your journeys in the kitchen http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/11/alcohol-doesnt-really-cook-out-of-food-in-most-cases/ best wishes ~
On the menu tonight. Looking forward to it. What’s the best side dish to go with?
I served it with rice and roasted corn.
This was SUPER good, but it was much easier to brown the chicken first, remove to a plate, then make the sauce, and then add the chicken back to the pan to finish cooking. (My cast iron pan is way too heavy to struggle with tipping and scraping sauce out of it.) Also, didn’t use flour.
You are absolutely right. Just changed it, that makes way more sense.
i can’t wait to sriracha and balsamic my way around my kitchen. your images above sing to me. thank you thank you thank you 🙂
Is there any way to bake the chicken in this recipe and not lose the rich flavor?
Made this last night.One of the most satisfying meals I’ve eaten in awhile! Used New Castle brown ale and enjoyed it immensely! Third thing I’ve made from this site,seems I can’t go wrong! Way to go Jackie! Keep it going!
Thank you so much! That makes my night 🙂
I want to make this! BUT…I don’t have a cast iron skillet, can I just use whatever skillet I have? Do I need to change the cook time or heat level?
You can use whatever skillet you have 🙂 the sear probably won’t be as good, but it will work just fine!