Lemonade-Glazed Chicken

Lemonade Glazed Chicken

If any drink says summer, it’s lemonade. A tall, icy glass of lemonade is the perfect refresher on a hot summer day. Lemonade is also fun to cook with, especially during the summer.

I’ve been making my own lemonade concentrate for some time now. It’s just lemon juice and sugar. Sometimes I use honey, instead. I keep some in the freezer so I can make fresh lemonade whenever I want it.

I find myself looking for other ways to use the concentrate. I ended up making this glaze when I wanted a sauce to use on  chicken. I really liked it.

I’ve tried this glaze on chicken a couple of times. I could see it going well with pork or even seafood. The sweet/sour nature of lemonade works well as a base for sauces.

I used homemade lemonade concentrate, but store bought is fine, too. Here is the recipe.

Lemonade Glaze for Chicken, Pork, Seafood

2 T. oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 t. minced garlic
12 oz. lemonade concentrate recipe follows
¼ c. red wine vinegar
2 T. hot sauce, or to taste
1 T. prepared mustard
3 T. honey
1 t. cumin
1 t. ginger
2 t. salt, or to taste

Heat oil in pan and cook onion until lightly browned. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute. Add remaining ingredients and cook until mixture has cooked down and thickened- about 10-15 minutes on medium high heat. Stir occasionally. You should end up with about 1½ cups of glaze.
To use: Brush on meat during last 15 minutes of cooking if baking or grilling. Add in last 5 minutes if cooking in a pan.

Here is the recipe for the lemonade concentrate.