Little House On The Prairie Cinnamon Chicken
Little House on the Prairie cinnamon chicken lets you enjoy a version of the meal Laura made for Almanzo with no cayenne pepper in sight! This chicken recipe creates a wonderfully complex savory and slightly sweet main dish you’ll love.
I loved Little House on the Prairie growing up.
One episode in particular stands out, and that’s the episode where Laura tries to make a special dinner for Nellie and Almanzo.
Instead of using cinnamon, she coats the chicken in cayenne pepper, making both of them sick from all the spice.
My version of this recipe uses cinnamon and is perfectly seasoned to create a hearty blend of flavors that pair so well with potatoes, rice, and your favorite veggies.
What does cinnamon on chicken taste like?
Don’t worry if you accidentally put cinnamon on chicken, it can result in a delicious dinner!
In this recipe cinnamon adds a background of warming spice and a touch of sweetness accentuated by the honey in the marinade.
And yes there is garlic in the recipe, but the flavor mellows and adds savoriness to the sweetness for yummy results!
Ingredients
To make this, you’ll need:
- Apple cider– Use fresh cider that you can buy in or near the produce section
- Honey
- Lemon juice– Fresh or bottled
- Spices– Minced garlic, ground cinnamon, salt, and pepper
- Chicken– Large, boneless skinless breasts trimmed of any extra fat
- Olive oil – I prefer using extra virgin, but any olive oil will work.
How to Make
Making cinnamon chicken is very easy!
Just whisk the cider, honey, lemon, garlic, cinnamon, and salt pepper together in a mixing bowl.
Then, add the chicken breasts to a large ziplocking bag.
Pour the marinade over them and seal the bag to close, squeezing out any excess air as you do.
Refrigerate the marinaded chicken for at least 8 hours or overnight, flipping the bag several times while it’s marinating.
When you are ready to cook the chicken, pour the marinade out of the bag and into a large skillet.
Bring it to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat to medium.
Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes until it’s reduced by half, stirring occasionally.
Transfer the thickened sauce to a waiting bowl, and set aside.
Using paper towels, carefully wipe the still hot skillet clean.
Set the skillet back on the stove over medium heat and add the olive oil to it.
Once the oil is hot and shimmery, add two of the chicken breasts to it.
Brown them for 1-2 minutes on each side so that they sear, but don’t cook through.
Put the seared chicken into a 2 quart casserole dish.
Then repeat the previous step for the last two chicken breasts.
Pour the remaining marinade evenly out over the chicken.
Bake the chicken at 350°F for 30-35 minutes.
Reserve the juices to pour over the chicken when serving.
Serve the cinnamon chicken with your favorite sides.
Enjoy!
Storing Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Can I freeze leftover cinnamon chicken?
Yes!
You can freeze it all together or in single serve portions.
Just put the chicken in a ziplocking freezer bag with a bit of the marinade and freeze for up to 3 months.
Tips and Tricks
- Use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken is cooked to 165F before serving, if unsure.
- The show’s version does use some cayenne pepper- experiment at your own risk.
- Don’t be off-put if the marinade smells odd, or if your house smells confusingly liked baked chicken and cinnamon rolls when baking. The chicken tastes DELICIOUS.
Other Easy Chicken Recipes
Little House on the Prairie cinnamon chicken is a delicious dinner for anyone and so fun for fans of the show.
Make it and enjoy!
Looking for other easy chicken recipes?
Try these:
- Easy Crockpot Chicken Pho
- Mayo Parmesan Chicken
- Quick & Easy Greek Yogurt Chicken Curry
- Onion Crusted Herbed Chicken Breasts
If you’ve tried this LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE CINNAMON CHICKEN, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Little House On The Prairie Cinnamon Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups fresh apple cider
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts trimmed of fat (roughly 2 1/2- 3 lbs of chicken)
- 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Add the cider, honey, lemon, garlic, cinnamon, and salt & pepper to a mixing bowl. Whisk together until the mixture's smooth.
- Add the chicken breasts to a large ziplocking bag. Pour the marinade over them. Seal the bag to close, squeezing out any excess air as you do.
- Refrigerate the marinaded chicken for at least 8 hours, or overnight, flipping the bag several times.
- Pour the marinade out of the bag and into a large skillet. Bring it to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat to medium. Stirring occasionally, continue to let the mixture simmer until it's reduced by half- about 10 minutes.
- Transfer the thickened sauce to a waiting bowl, and set aside. Using paper towels, carefully wipe the still hot skillet clean.
- Set the skillet back on the stove over medium heat and add the olive oil to it.
- Once the oil's hot (shimmery) add two of the chicken breasts to it. Brown them for 1-2 minutes on each side so that they sear, but don't cook through.
- Transfer the pan seared chicken to a small 2 quart casserole dish, and then repeat the previous step for the last two chicken breasts- until all are pan seared properly and in the casserole dish.
- Pour the remaining marinade evenly out over the chicken.
- Bake the chicken at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. Reserve the juices to pour over the chicken when serving.
- Serve the cinnamon chicken with/over steamed white rice or creamy mashed potatoes.
Notes
- Use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken is cooked to 165F before serving, if unsure.
- The show's version does use some cayenne pepper- experiment at your own risk.
- Don't be off-put if the marinade smells odd, or if your house smells confusingly liked baked chicken and cinnamon rolls when baking. The chicken tastes DELICIOUS.
Nutrition
I’m making this cinnamon chicken fthe first time and the house smells amazing! can’t wait to try it@
Hi Meaghan, I am
Marie! I came across this recipe and can’t wait to make it! I remember this episode of LHOTP! I have wanted to make Cinnamon chicken for years! Thank you for posting this recipe! I will let you know how it turns out! Sounds delicious! Happy 😊 cooking!
sounds delicious
💓Love Love Love this recipe 💗!!! Definitely gonna cook again. Thank you so much for sharing this. Like you, I also grew up watching Little House on the Prairie, and that was one of my favorite episodes.
I am taking to a Super Bowl party. Could I use tenders instead of whole peices?
Absolutely! Just keep in mind they’re thinner and will cook much more quickly.
The Little House episode was on the other day and it made me wonder what Cinnamon Chicken was about. I found this recipe and it was a hit! I made it exactly as the recipe stated. SO GOOD! I served with mashed potatoes, skillet apples and asparagus. Huge hit at my house! Relatively simple, delicious and comforting. Thank you!
Great recipe. My mom and I loved the chicken, and I’m saving this one to use again!!
Just watched the episode: The cinnamon chicken didn’t make Almonzo and Nellie sick. The extra cayenne pepper made the dish hot and spicy which is why they were drinking water like crazy….
Right. And It was no accident. Laura did it purposely to sabotage Nellie’s wooing of Almanzo.
This is one of the worst flood blogs I’ve ever ventured upon, and that’s saying something. Not to mention acting as if cinnamon in savory foods, especially meat-based, is at ALL unique or strange. It’s used in Indian, Moroccan, Greek, etc… It has always been paired with savory food. Bizarre.
Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine. First off, thank you so much for your evaluation of my job- good thing you aren’t my targeted audience. Secondly, nowhere did I say using cinnamon on chicken was unique or even something I came up with. What I did say to my MOSTLY AMERICAN audience is that there’s nothing odd about the pairing, because here it isn’t widely used in savory dishes at all. Thanks again though for your inflammatory and unnecessary opinion.
Your response to the “ray of sunshine” made my day! As a side note, I keep my spices alphabetized. Once I carelessly grabbed the cinnamon and added it to a spicy corn casserole recipe by mistake. I had meant to grab the cayenne. I could not remove all of the cinnamon. It definitely altered the taste of my established recipe but it was delicious! I now purposely add both cinnamon and cayenne to that particular recipe. Thank you for posting this recipe. I can’t wait to try it!
Anything I could sub for lemon juice? It’s awful hard on acid reflux. Thanks.
Can I double this recipe?
Absolutely, but you may need to bake it in two dishes if it won’t fit.
can I substitute apple cider with something else my son is allergic to anything apple
While I haven’t tested this myself, if I couldn’t use anything apple I’d try it using pear juice since it’s still sweet and a somewhat similar flavor fruit profile.
Looking at LHOP right now and Almanzo mentioned that he liked Laura’s Cinnamon Chicken better than her chicken with tarragon.
I’m thinking of making your recipe with boneless chicken thighs 😃!!!
Love the show! And chicken thighs would be delicious and are always more tender than the breasts. Let me know if you do!