Roasted Chicken Provençal Recipe (2024)

I've made this about 5 times now, and it’s not much work relative to the super pay-off. I use a lot more garlic and shallots - like about 20 cloves of garlic and about 1.5 cups of shallots. I found a really good vermouth recently that blows the traditional Martini & Rossi away. The name is Dolin, and it's their blanc style. Found that it tastes great over ice too!
Brands of herbes de Provence that have a good amount of fennel seem to flavor this dish the best.

Did you bake with chicken skin side down or up? It's not clear in the recipe.

These are some marvelous and helpful notes. They recall a couple of truisms about the kitchen. First, "a large roasting pan" means different things to different people. One with relatively high sides will yield more "juice" than one with low. Second, oven temperatures vary. Roasting chicken in a 400-degree oven for an hour should almost by definition yield crisp skin. No? Maybe 425 on your oven will yield true 400. Love the idea of adding some knobs of butter! Cook on!

Am a bit confused. Should you cover both sides of the floured chicken with the olive oil? And do you cover the chicken when baking, or cook it uncovered?

Used 4 skinless bone-in thighs and 2 skin on, bone in breasts. Didn't have flour so subbed almond meal. Used enough oil to cover pan bottom so it ran freely. Cut the lemon in 1/8's, tucked 1 or 2 between each piece of chicken. Added the chopped shallots &garlic all over the place. Added about a cup of Vermouth &seasoned chicken liberally with the herbs. I turned the chicken over about half way through cooking it. Set oven at 425 and baked about an hour. Came out amazing.

Great recipe...have given it out to people more times than I can count. Adding to some of the other comments: 1) double the liquid at least. More vermouth, stock, white wine...doesn't matter but 1/3 cup is not enough. 2) I've found that 425 works better than 400. 3) if you live in the boondocks and can't get shallots, red onions work in a pinch.

Absolutely the best chicken ever! Very easy too. I added artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and Kalamata olives.

I've made this dish quite a few times. I would not omit any of the ingredients called for with the exception of using white wine instead of vermouth since I don't keep vermouth in the house. What I find the most important aspect is to not crowd the chicken pieces. Each piece should have its own space which will aid in the crisping of the skin. I crowded a pot once with 8 large pieces. The taste was as it always is but the presentation was not as the skin that was crowded was a pale white.

I have made this three times and every time it turned out perfect. This is one of only two recipes I make that my partner rated a 10/10. I have a convection oven that I put on roast, put the chicken in a large iron skillet and it gives the chicken an absolute perfect browned skin. The herbs and seasonings are the perfect combination. This is the best roasted chicken out there if you are looking for a recipe that has a great combination of full seasonings and tender flavorful meat — amazing.

I thought that, too, going into the testing process. But the chicken skin renders fat in the oven, so it self-bastes to some degree and the result is deliciously crisp. Not getting that way? Your oven may be "low," meaning it's not delivering a true 400 degrees. In which case: Turn it up to 425.

Delicious, easy. I've made this several times. Use the vermouth; add more if you need more liquid. I use 2 lemons. I also double the shallots and garlic: they melt down to sweet wonderfulness (the garlic is great on the baguette). I've made this with bone-in, skin-on breasts, too, and they work great (you may need to adjust cooking time). Dish also reheats perfectly (skin won't be crisp). Dish can be assembled earlier in the day, covered, and refrigerated; add vermouth just before cooking.

I make this with 4 skin-on bone-in chicken breasts. Leftovers, if any, make a great chicken salad. It's leaner with the breasts, just as tasty. Used the convection on the oven @ 375, makes the skins brown and crispy.

Excellent, easy, delicious! However, like several of other posters here, I increased the olive oil a bit and used a little over ½ cup of Vermouth. Also, as the skin didn't appear to be too crisp, I finished the dish under the broiler (low setting) for the last 5 minutes or so. BTW, you can't have too many garlic cloves or shallots in this dish!

This dish is stunning. I added additional vermouth, not a lot just some; it needed it. I also an additional half of a lemon. I cooked 9 thighs (the 10th would have overcrowded my roasting pan). At the half-way point I added French green beans to the pan. Pushing some of them gently into the sauce, they were just right at the end at about the 1hr point. I served with quinoa (1.5 cups dry). For four. Everyone said, "Wow." It was the recipe!

Really, really good; one of the best chicken recipes ever, and SO SIMPLE. I love recipes that also teach a new technique you can use often. Thanks, Sam, I've pre browned chicken for the last time. The technique of dusting with flour and basting half way through gives the crispest skin ever. Basting is the key step - baste generously.

I made this last night for a small dinner party. Ahhhhmayzing. Heed the notes of increasing the amount of olive oil and vermouth. Used bone-in breasts and bone-in thighs. I had a cup of chicken broth at the ready and used the whole cup as the liquid in the pan cooked off quickly. To finish I removed the chicken from the pan and broiled them separately in a sheet pan. Cotes Du Rhone was a terrific wine partner here.

Good enough for company but easy enough for weeknight cooking. The herbs make the whole house smell amazing! Delicious as written. Yum!

This has been my go-to recipe whenever I crave something delicious. It is incredibly easy - just follow Mr. Sifton and, voilà!, you are going to have an extraordinary meal. I usually follow recipes with precision. Since my husband does not like herbs - when he sees them :-) - the only thing I did different was not to sprinkle his share with them. Try to tuck the garlic cloves and shallots very tight in between the chicken pieces. This would be my advice. Crisp and delicious result guaranteed!

Love this simple quick concept! Will be doing this one again and again with variations!!!! Next time we will cut back to 1/2 cut up lemon and add a touch more Vermouth.

Do not miss out on spreading the shallots on some good crusty bread

Wow!...yes, this is it.

Made this last night. It’s good but I added too much vermouth with 2/3 cups and it overpowered the flavors. Next time I’ll follow the recipe. The shallots are wonderful.

This is delicious. I followed the recipe + some insights from the notes: used 6 drumsticks (what i had on hand); 1 Cup vermouth + splash of white wine. 8-10 medium-sized cloves of garlic, 6 med-large shallots cut into large chunks. Used a medium roasting pan with high sides. Roasted @ 425 for 20 minutes, Basted and added 1/2 cup of veg stock. Then reduced to 400 for 25 minutes until chicken was very crispy. Plenty of juice and nicely cooked chicken. Pair with a medium-body Burgundy.

But it wasn’t. Chicken was bland. Not sure what I did wrong but followed the directions and even added more garlic, shallots AND vermouth. Was definitely lacking salt/acid. Will try again.

I made this for New Years Eve dinner for six last night with three chicken legs. It was a huge hit. I made it exactly as written, in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish, which worked perfectly. Chicken was perfect combination of moist inside with a crispy exterior.

I have been making this dish for at least seven or eight years, and my wife and I love it. I've made some modifications to simplify and improve...I no longer dredge in flour. I pierce the skin of the chicken thighs to render as much fat as possible for crisper skin. Rub salt and pepper into the thighs. Let rest for about ten minutes. Then I very lightly oil a carbon steel pan and place the chicken thighs, skin side down, into the cold pan. Turn the pan up to medium and set your timer for fift

I am making this right now for 30th time, at least. Everyone loves it. I would make no changes except add more shallots because I love shallots and a little extra butter doesn't hurt. My oven runs low, so I turn it up 20 degrees higher. Don't forget to add the fresh thyme sprigs at the end--the oil from the leaves flavors the hot chicken. I notice it when I forget that bit. People are so impressed with this and it's quite easy to make, with a delicious result.

I have been making this delicious recipe for a number of years since I first found it in the NYT magazine. It is fast and easy to make and is delicious! I make it in my iron skillet.Follow the recipe and enjoy.

Note on getting the skin right:To achieve the perfect golden crunch, always orient the skin toward the heat. If you’re pan-frying, that means skin down. If you’re roasting, especially with the addition of liquid, it’s critical to keep the skin facing upward and out of the liquid, which insulates any submerged ingredients from the intense heat needed to caramelize the chicken skin.

Great recipiues, got rave reviews.