I grew up seeing mangoes hang heavily from backyard branches. Their sticky juice ran down my dad's arms as he peeled them, and my mom turned their mashed pulp into mango bread. When I saw this Publix Apron's Simple Meals recipe for mango baked chicken, it reminded me of home.
The recipe as it's written has the chicken bake for 20 minutes covered plus 8-10 minutes uncovered at 425 degrees. I appreciate that fast is one of the goals of Publix Apron's recipes, but that cooking time felt overly optimistic to me for thick chicken breasts. I increased the time to 30 minutes plus 15 minutes, but I still thought the chicken needed more time. Plus, my coconut was a little overtoasted. Next time I make mango baked chicken, I'll do what I recommend here and bake it longer at a lower temperature.
Mango baked chicken is tropically delicious. I served it with fragrant rice and steamed green beans, but it also would be nice with a salad piled with avocado and sprinkled with a citrusy vinaigrette.
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8-ounce can pineapple rings in juice, drained
1 1/2 cups bottled mango smoothie
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon lime zest
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Arrange chicken in a baking dish and season with kosher salt. Top each breast with a pineapple ring. Pour smoothie over chicken.
Sprinkle chicken with coconut, almonds, and lime zest. Cover dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Serve chicken with sauce.
