The recipe
A Sweet-Savory Chicken Dish with Prunes, Olives and Capers
Chicken Marbella is built on contrast: tender chicken, tangy red wine vinegar, briny green olives and capers, sweet prunes, oregano, garlic and a generous shower of brown sugar before baking. After an overnight marinade, everything cooks together until the chicken is deeply flavored and the fruit, olives and pan juices become part of the sauce.
It is the kind of savory-sweet combination that feels unexpectedly bold for a community-cookbook main dish. The prunes soften into the cooking juices, the olives and capers keep the sweetness in check, and the final parsley or coriander garnish adds a fresh finish before serving.
Why it matters
Why This One Is Worth Bringing Back
Chicken Marbella stands out because it refuses to stay in one flavor lane. The marinade brings together vinegar, garlic, oregano, prunes, olives, capers and bay leaves, then brown sugar pushes the finished dish toward that distinctive sweet-savory balance.
That contrast is exactly what makes it worth bringing back. It feels dinner-party worthy without requiring a complicated technique, and the overnight marinade does most of the flavor-building before the pan ever goes into the oven.
For another savory main dish already in the fall runway, see Sticky Pork Ribs with Sweet Potatoes. You can also browse more recipes preserved from 75 Years of Caring and Sharing.
Modern kitchen notes
If You're Making It Today
These are modern editorial suggestions, not changes to the archived recipe. When a variation comes directly from the original source, we will say so.
Plan for the overnight marinade
The source has the chicken marinate overnight with garlic, oregano, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers and bay leaves. This is not a same-hour recipe, so build that resting time into your plan.
Preserve the source inconsistency
The printed ingredient list gives 1 cup white sugar, but the method calls for white wine around the chicken and does not give a wine quantity. The preserved recipe keeps that discrepancy visible rather than silently correcting it.
Note the chicken wording
The ingredient list specifies boneless chicken breasts with skin on, while the method refers to chicken quarters. That mismatch also belongs to the source record, so follow the preserved card with that context in mind.
Recipe card
The Preserved Recipe
Chicken Marbella
Ingredients
- 3½ lb. boneless chicken breasts skin on
- 1 head garlic peeled, finely chopped
- ¼ c. dried oregano
- ½ c. red wine vinegar
- ½ c. olive oil
- 1 c. pitted prunes
- ½ c. pitted green olives drained
- ½ c. capers with bit of juice
- 6 bay leaves
- 1 c. brown sugar
- 1 c. white sugar
- ¼ c. fresh coriander leaf finely chopped; or use fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F.
- Combine chicken, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers with juice, and bay leaves. Cover and marinate overnight.
- Arrange chicken in shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over evenly.
- Sprinkle chicken with brown sugar. The printed method also directs the cook to pour white wine around the chicken.
- Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with pan juices, until chicken is done.
- Transfer chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Moisten with pan juices, garnish with parsley or coriander, and serve remaining pan juices separately.
Notes
Give Something Back
Help preserve the community behind the cookbook.
This recipe traces back to a Jersey County community cookbook created in the spirit of sharing, service and local connection. If you’d like to carry that spirit forward, consider supporting the Jersey County Historical Society and its work preserving local history for future generations.
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Nostalgic Foodie is not affiliated with the Jersey County Historical Society and does not receive any portion of donations.
From the archive
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