Prune and Olive Chicken

Chicken slow-cooked with prunes, green olives, capers and herbs is a sweet-and-salty classic — the dish the world knows as Chicken Marbella. Its genius is the interplay of sweet fruit and briny olive, and it is gloriously easy.

Some dishes are built on contrast, and this is one of the best. Chicken braised with prunes, green olives, capers, garlic and herbs — the combination made famous as Chicken Marbella — works because sweet and salty are pulling against each other on every forkful. The prunes go jammy and dark, the olives and capers keep it savoury and sharp, and the chicken soaks up both. It looks like a dinner-party centrepiece and cooks almost by itself.

Why sweet and salty works

The olive is the anchor of the whole plate. Green olives bring a firm, briny, faintly bitter bite that stops the prunes from cloying, while the prunes round off the salt and give the sauce its dark sweetness. Capers add sharp little bursts, vinegar lifts it, a little brown sugar and white wine pull it together in the oven. Take the olives out and the dish collapses into something merely sweet; they are what make it grown-up.

The dish, step by step

Combine minced garlic, halved pitted prunes, green pitted olives, capers with a little of their liquid, olive oil, red-wine vinegar, bay, oregano, salt and pepper. Turn pieces of chicken through the mixture, then cover and marinate overnight in the fridge — this is where the flavour is won. Next day, arrange the chicken in a single layer, sprinkle with a little brown sugar and pour white wine around (not over) the pieces. Bake at around 175 °C for about an hour, basting with the juices now and then, until cooked through and glazed. Scatter with parsley and serve with the pan juices spooned over.

Which olives, and a make-ahead tip

Use firm green olives — a Spanish Manzanilla or similar — rather than soft black ones, which would break down and muddy the sauce. Pitted saves fuss, but whole olives hold their texture better if you do not mind warning your guests about stones. Best of all, this dish is made for getting ahead: the overnight marinade does the work, it scales up easily for a crowd, and like most braises it is even better reheated the next day.

Style	Sweet-and-salty braised chicken (Chicken Marbella)
Savoury anchor	Firm green olives — Manzanilla or similar
Sweet foil	Pitted prunes, a little brown sugar
Sharp notes	Capers, red-wine vinegar
Aromatics	Garlic, bay, oregano, olive oil
Method	Marinate overnight, then bake ~1 hr at ~175 °C

Tips & takeaways

• The olive is the anchor — it keeps the prunes from turning the dish sickly.
• Use firm green olives, not soft black ones that break down.
• The overnight marinade is where the flavour is won — do not skip it.
• Pour the wine around the chicken so the tops glaze.
• It scales up and reheats beautifully — ideal for a crowd.

Prune & olive chicken: common questions

What dish is this?

It is the sweet-and-salty braise widely known as Chicken Marbella — chicken cooked with prunes, green olives, capers, garlic and herbs, glazed with a little sugar and white wine.

What kind of olives should I use?

Firm green olives, such as a Spanish Manzanilla. Avoid soft black olives, which break down in the long cook and muddy the sauce.

Why prunes with chicken?

For contrast. The prunes go dark and jammy-sweet, and the briny olives and capers cut that sweetness, so every bite balances sweet against salty.

Do I have to marinate it overnight?

It is strongly recommended — the overnight marinade is where most of the flavour develops. A few hours will do at a pinch, but overnight is much better.

Can I make it ahead for a party?

Yes — it is ideal for a crowd. It scales up easily, the marinating is done the day before, and like most braises it reheats very well.

Drawn from the classic sweet-and-salty braised-chicken tradition.