Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters with Vegetable Orzo - My Gorgeous Recipes (2024)
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Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters with Vegetable Orzo, a light and healthy dinner that is ready in well under 40 minutes. It's delicious, super easy to make, and it goes well with the whole family.
Can you believe that I have never cooked orzo before? It's a short-cut pasta shaped like a larger long-grain rice, so if you like both pasta and rice, you get to have them both in the same dish.
It cooks pretty fast, and for this dish I used one part orzo, and two parts chicken stock.
Since it was cooked with vegetables and I wanted the liquid to be absorbed when the orzo was cooked, but it you cook it plain, you can just drain the liquid if there's more left.
Orzo is so versatile, and can be cooked in endless ways, from salads, stews, soups or only with some good old tomato sauce.
But throw in some nice veggies, and have some roast on the side, and you have a complete meal without spending a fortune on it.
With the days getting colder, it's time we went back to some nice cooked food to keep us going. I can't believe it's October already. But hold onto those christmassy stuff yet, it's way too early still.
I have lots of healthy chicken recipes, from chicken breast, to chicken thighs, chicken wings but I don't usually go for roasted chicken leg quarters, for some unknows reasons.
They are beautifully tender, and the meat is tastier than chicken breast even. And they are actually quite cheap too. If you have leftovers, you can always used them for some niceHomemade Cream of Chicken Soup.
How do you make roasted chicken leg quarters?
Simply place the chicken leg quarters in a baking dish or tray, season generously with salt and pepper, and use any herbs or seasoning you like, I like the combo granualted garlic and paprika, it's simple, but super delicious.
Don't go crazy on oil, just a teaspoon or so will do, there will be some juices left from the chicken in the pan, in case you like to serve it with some nice gravy too.
Bake for 3-35 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit).
As for other sides, plenty to choose from, roast potatoes, garlicky green beans, or some nice chickpea salad. Quick, easy and so yummy!
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Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters with Vegetable Orzo
Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters with Vegetable Orzo, a light and healthy dinner that is ready in well under 40 minutes. It's delicious, super easy to make, and it goes well with the whole family.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit).
In an over-proof dish, place the chicken leg quarters, season with salt, pepper, garlic granules and paprika, and drizzle over a teaspoon of oil.
Roast for about 30-35 minutes until cooked through. You can turn the chicken leg quarters onto the other side half the way through roasting.
Meantime, peel and chop the onion, carrot and celery stalks, and add them to a pan together with the broccoli florets and the remaining oil.
Stir for about 5 minutes until they soften a bit, then add the orzo and chicken stock, and cook for about 15 minutes or so with the lid on until the orzo is cooked, and the vegetables are tender.
Add the cooked butternut squash, and garnish with parsley.
Serve hot!
Notes
If you don't have any leftover roasted butternut squash, you can use fresh squash, and cook it at the same time with the other vegetables.
I have gotten 40lb cases of 'fryer' quarters that had 48-54 pcs in them. I have also gotten cases of larger chickens quarters that had right around 40 pcs per case.
Those that are processed for meat are often just 6 to 8 weeks old. At that age, according to the USDA, the bones have not completely hardened, so “pigment from the bone marrow seeps through the bones and into the surrounding area.” This can lead to a dark or bloody-looking appearance.
The leg quarter is made up of the thigh, drumstick, and part of the back of the chicken. It's named a quarter because it consists of about a quarter of the whole bird. The dark meat takes well to roasting and yields moist and flavorful chicken.
As another answer points out, the liquid consists of the liquid contents of the chicken's cells. It is mostly water with some proteins dissolved in it. I think that your chicken was cooked enough. If the liquid is raw, it will look a lot like slightly watered down blood.
One of my favorite sales at my local grocery store is the 10lb bags of leg quarters. A leg quarter, for those that don't know, is a connected drumstick and thigh. Each bag has roughly 10 drumsticks and 10 thighs. I've gotten leg quarters as cheap as 49 cents a pound.
According to the USDA, meat and poultry are cleaned during processing, so further washing is not necessary. To remove blood, fat, or skin from any raw meat or poultry, Carothers recommends doing so on a clean cutting board, using a knife to cut away unwanted bits, and patting it down with a paper towel.
Since their bones have not calcified completely, pigment from the bone marrow can seep through the porous bones. When the chicken is cooked, the pigment turns dark. Freezing can also contribute to this seepage. It's perfectly safe to eat chicken meat that turns dark near the bone during cooking.
Consuming chicken blood in small amounts is generally safe. However, it's important to ensure that the chicken blood is fresh and has been properly cooked or boiled. Raw chicken blood can contain harmful bacteria, like Salmonella, which can cause food poisoning.
According to The Spruce Eats, in the case of chicken leg quarters, which consist of the thigh, drumstick, and some of the back of the bird, the price is lower than other parts of chicken because it hasn't been cut into separate pieces or had the bones or skin removed.
Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until a meat thermometer ($15, Amazon) registers 175°F (170°F for bone-in white meat and 165°F for boneless white meat).
It's an economical cut that comes with a considerable amount of fat and flavor. Best ways to cook them: Leg quarters are versatile and can be cooked whole, or the thigh and drumstick can be separated and cooked as desired. When left whole, the leg quarters are delicious when roasted or grilled.
The USDA says that as long as all parts of the chicken have reached a minimum internal temperature of 165°, it is safe to eat. Color does not indicate doneness. The USDA further explains that even fully cooked poultry can sometimes show a pinkish tinge in the meat and juices.
That's bone marrow, the color of blood. It dries when you cook the chicken right, and if you treat the chicken to temperature shock, it seeps out and looks ugly, but nevertheless safe to consume.
Liquid naturally comes out of all meats as they cook. If you're using high heat and a frying pan, you don't really notice it because it evaporates quickly. That brown stuff you see in a frying pan after cooking meat on high heat are the evaporated juices.
Chicken leg quarters can vary slightly in weight, but on average, each chicken leg quarter weighs about 0.5 to 0.75 pounds. Let's use an average weight of 0.625 pounds per leg quarter for this calculation. So, about 16 to 17 chicken leg quarters will equal 10.5 pounds.
If you have 20 pounds of quarters, this would be equivalent to 320 quarters. At a face value of 25 cents per quarter, the total face value of the quarters would be $80.00.
Most would quarter the chicken, 50 quarters or 13 or 14 chickens. Serve with at least 2 sides. More if people are allowed to serve themselves. As part of a dish, pot pie or casserole 14 or 15 pounds.
How Many U.S. Quarters Are in a Pound? There are 80 U.S. quarters in one pound. The weight of one U.S. quarter is 5.67 grams, and there are 453.59237 grams in one pound. When that number is divided by 5.67 grams, the weight of one quarter, it is equal to 80 quarters.
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