Everyone knows at this point that I love all things fall. Scary movies, apple cider, pumpkin patches, etc. So when we got our Traeger smoker this year, I knew I wanted to try out some smoked fall dishes. So, for my first official smoker recipe here at Growing Up Garlicky, I made these delectable cran-apple smoked chicken breasts. These chicken breasts are the PERFECT representation of autumn flavors. If you’ve got a pellet smoker, this recipe is a must this year!
Special Equipment or Ingredients Needed:
Equipment:
So obviously the most important piece of equipment you’ll need for these cran-apple smoked chicken breasts is a pellet smoker of some sort. We have a Traeger, which we really like. There are several models, but I highly recommend one that’s wifi compatible because it can set a timer on your phone. It’s also able to let you know when it’s preheated or shut off. Traeger is an amazing brand for smoking. This Traeger is the model we have.
It’s also a great idea to have a basting brush, tongs, mixing bowls and a whisk of some sort to help with creating the marinade and brushing the glaze on the chicken during cooking.
Ingredients:
As far as ingredients go, there are a couple main ingredients in the marinade and glaze that you’ll want to be aware of:
- Cran-apple juice – For this, I just used Ocean Spray regular cran-apple juice. If you can find a small bottle, that’s likely all you’ll need, but a big jug of juice is okay too!
- Whole berry cranberry sauce – The reason I mention this is that it may be harder to find outside of the fall season. Feel free to substitute the cranberry jelly sauce stuff too, but I like the whole berries in mine!
- Apple butter – This may be a bit harder to find than the other two ingredients depending on where you live. But, it’s crucial to the glaze, so don’t skip it!
Pictures of Cran-apple Smoked Chicken Breasts
Now, I didn’t get a ton of pictures of these while they cooked because you really don’t want to let out any more heat than is necessary by opening up the smoker. By keeping the smoker closed for as long as possible, the temperature will stay more constant. You’ll also get the chicken to absorb more of the smoke flavor.
Recipe:
Cran-apple Smoked Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
Cran-Apple Marinade
- 1 cup cran-apple juice, such as Ocean Spray
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped finely
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped finely
- 2 large chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise to make 4 thin breast pieces. You can also use 4 thin chicken breast cutlets
Cran-Apple Glaze
- Remaining marinade after following steps 1 and 2.
- 1/4 cup cran-apple juice
- 7 oz whole berry cranberry sauce (1/2 can)
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Marinade Instructions
- Mix all marinade ingredients except chicken in a medium sized mixing bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture and pour the rest into a gallon sized baggie.
- Place chicken in the baggie with the marinade and seal, tossing well to coat. Marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least one hour or longer. We marinated our chicken for about 8 hours. Flip the baggie around every once in a while to help ensure all chicken is coated.
Glazing Instructions
- After chicken has marinaded, remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. While the chicken is coming to room temp, preheat your pellet smoker to 250° using applewood pellets.
- When smoker is preheated, place chicken carefully on the grates of the grill. Smoke for 30 minutes with the lid closed the entire time. You want to keep the lid closed as much as possible to maintain your heat and get the chicken to take on as much smoke as possible.
- Brush the glaze on the chicken. Smoke covered for an additional 25 minutes.
- Flip the chicken, glaze the other side and smoke covered for 20-25 minutes.
- Flip the chicken again, apply another layer of glaze and turn up the temperature of the smoker to 400°. Cook with the lid closed for 10 minutes. Flip, apply more glaze, and cook covered another 10-15 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160°.
- Serve and enjoy!
And there you go! I hope you enjoy this recipe and that it turns out well for you! Also, if your smoker has a hard time maintaining heat, or if you prefer the glaze to be more sticky or browned, you can always toss your chicken breasts under your oven’s broiler after smoking them too. Regardless, these chicken breasts were to die for and will definitely be on our fall menu for years to come!
If you enjoy this recipe and want to see more, feel free to check out my recipes page or any of the recipes linked below. I also love to hear your feedback so please make sure you leave a comment if you try this recipe! And as always, make sure you subscribe for delicious recipes every Friday. Thanks everyone!
Lazy Sausage and Kale Soup
Lazy Day Chicken and Dumplings
