Barbara Costello’s Olive Bar Chicken Recipe

One of my favorite sections in the grocery store is the olive bar. It’s not all olives. There is always a dizzying assortment of marinated vegetables and cheeses. You could create a whole meal from items at that station alone. Sometimes I do! This chicken is my way of capturing all those delicious flavors. It’s so easy; there’s virtually no prep — just popping open jars. The braising mixture makes a flavorful sauce for the chicken, so don’t forget you can just pour it from the pan to the plate. It goes so well with pasta, mashed potatoes or toasted bread. Don’t love olives? Don’t fret; see the Babs Says note below.

Olive Bar Chicken

Serves 4 to 6

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 (7- to 8-ounce) jar oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced if necessary (about 1 cup)

3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (6 to 8 thighs), patted dry

1 tablespoon brown sugar or pure maple syrup

1 (12- to 14-ounce) jar marinated artichokes, quartered if necessary (about 1½ cups)

1 (12- to 16-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, thinly sliced if necessary (1 to 1½ cups)

1 (6- to 8-ounce) container mixed pitted olives, drained (about 1½ cups)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Dump the entire jar of sun-dried tomatoes (and oil) onto a sheet pan. Add the chicken and brown sugar, and toss everything together to coat. Arrange the chicken skin side up.

3. Add the artichokes (with their liquid), the roasted peppers (with their liquid), and the drained olives. Stir to combine with the other ingredients, making sure the chicken stays skin side up. Roast, carefully stirring the olive bar ingredients halfway through, until the chicken is cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve with the braising liquid poured over the top.

Babs Says: If you don’t like olives, pick up a jar of marinated mushrooms, pickled peppers or giardiniera. Anything with a nice briny bite will balance the flavors of the other ingredients in this recipe. Just make sure to drain them first, like you would have done with the olives.

​​Every Day with Babs by Barbara Costello. Copyright © 2025 Motherhood Media, LLC. Photographs copyright © 2025 by Dane Tashima. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.