Cajun Sticky Chicken {Grain & Gluten Free}

My slow-cooked Cajun sticky chicken just may be one of the most tender and flavorful dishes that you've ever put into your mouth, y'all. Quick-marinated chicken thighs, set aside while the Cajun trinity and roasted red peppers brown in the skillet. Then, the thighs get introduced to the pan, and cook down until just lightly seared on both sides. Finally, chicken broth is added to the pan, and the fire is lowered until the chicken and veggies become one with the broth. Using just a few common ingredients and your favorite cast iron skillet, the flavors and textures of this recipe are totally true to the classic south Louisiana dish, and super easy to incorporate into your grain and/or gluten free diet. Yep and yay...

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It's Like This & Like That....

There are many dishes in the Cajun culture that are very, very similar, yet are still unique enough to be considered separate creations. Examples of this are mainly found in south Louisiana stews and gumbos, where just a change of a few ingredients, and more or less broth or water added, is significant enough to make two pots of almost-the-same-thing taste completely different.

Well, Cajun sticky chicken is no exception, y'all. It's a flourless classic Cajun recipe that uses boney chicken pieces, veggies, broth and seasonings to create an eyes-rolling-in-the-back-of-your-head plate of food out of simple, ordinary ingredients. 

And, it's sort of like Cajun chicken fricassee and a kind of like Cajun chicken stew. But not really...Because these two dishes both start off with a roux. Then to make a fricassee you use boney chicken parts, broth and seasonings. On the other hand, to make the stew you cook down veggies with usually boneless chicken, roux and broth. So, while fricassee and stew are really similar, they are also very different.

The boney chicken pieces in fricassee make a more flavorful dish that emphasizes the meat and gravy. And, the veggies in the stew balance the boneless chicken pieces, creating a rounder, more robust meal with simultaneous complementary and contrasting flavors. Oh, and even if you use boney chicken for stews, you are still going to end up with the meat/veggie flavor juxtaposition. So, it's always going to be a bit different than a fricassee no matter what kind of chicken you have on hand. 

Yet Has A Taste & Texture All Its Own, Y'all...

Well, while you do use bone-in chicken thighs for my Cajun sticky chicken, there's no roux involved. So, the gravy is a lot thinner, which makes the chicken and veggie flavors and textures much more pronounced than a stew. It's actually much silkier, y'all. And it 'melts' right into rice. So much so that the Cajun sticky chicken gravy becomes 'one' with the rice. 

This dish is super amazing, y'all. I grew up on it, and my Mom makes one of the best versions that I've ever tasted. But recently I realized that Mark's never had it. So, I came up with my own naturally grain and gluten free version of it so he could see what it's all about.

Well, I'm happy to report that Mark gave his plate an 11 out 10, y'all!! (And I think that he may have licked his plate nonchalantly on the way back into the kitchen.)😊

He literally couldn't believe that I've kept them from him for more than 6 years now. I'm glad that he finally got to try it. I love it, he loves it, and I'm sure that if you try it then you will love it just as much as we do. Indeed.

How to Make Cajun Sticky Chicken Grain & Gluten Free

Start the Cajun sticky chicken by stirring all of the chicken marinade ingredients together in a bowl: 

And then coating the chicken with it: 

Now, brown the Cajun trinity of onion, green bell pepper and celery in your favorite deep 12-inch cast iron skillet or Dutch oven: 

Then, when the veggies are about halfway browned, add the roasted red peppers: 

And cook down until the veggies are really soft and slightly browned: 

Now, add the marinated chicken thighs to the pot, and brown lightly on both sides: 

And then turn down the fire, and add the broth to the pot:

Finally, simmer for another 1 ½ to 2 hours. Or, until the Cajun sticky chicken is fall-apart tender and about half of the broth has reduced. 

And that's it y'all!

My grain and gluten free Cajun sticky chicken is super easy to make. But, yes it does time to fully flesh out the deep, rich taste of the gravy. And to get the chicken to the must-have, fall-apart tender texture. The combination of the flourless gravy and the amazingly tender chicken texture creates the collective 'stickiness' of the dish.

This is definitely one to come back to when you have a little time to make your own south Louisiana-style masterpiece. This dish also keeps well in the fridge for a few days. So, it's perfect for weekday meal planning, as well.

It's just soooo incredibly finger-licking good, y'all! The gravy is what every other gravy tries to be but just ain't!! For real. It's light and luscious. But, still substantial enough to transform rice or cauliflower rice into its own side dish casserole of sorts. 

And the chicken! The quick marinade gives each thigh a flavor bomb injection that makes each piece straight melt in your mouth. And the browned Cajun trinity veggie pieces meld to the 'sticky' chicken texture. So, each bite starts off with fall-off-the-bone chicken pieces. And then ends with a browned veggie kick that's just as satisfying as it is scrumptious.

Share this unforgettable Cajun sticky chicken with those whose love for you is a beautiful, ever-changing little bit of this and little bit of that. And see y'all on the yum side...