This delicious French roast chicken recipe follows from my interview of Nathalie, from Les Toques en Culottes Courtes. It is her go-to easy family dish so much so that she calls it her “poulet du samedi midi”, her Saturday lunch roast chicken.

I have made it several times now and it is delicious. The fact that she cooks the chicken at low temperature and turns it up side down half way through cooking keeps the chicken breasts very moist. The salt on the skin results in a beautiful golden and crispy skin. 

I add little potatoes and carrots half way through cooking as she suggests. 

Once cooked, I cut up the whole chicken and place the pieces back in the dish with the sauce in my oven, still warm but turned off, waiting for everybody to be ready to eat. 

Finally, I reserve all the bones in the freezer to make chicken broth at a later date. 

 

French roast chicken SQ

French roast chicken

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: French
Servings: 4 people

This French roast chicken recipe is a keeper. Well seasoned, moist flesh with a crispy golden skin and potatoes slowly cooked in the juice... yum!

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Ingredients

  • 1 l chicken stock (homemade or made with 2 stock cubes)
  • 1 organic whole chicken (1.4kg)
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 bunch thyme

Instructions

  1. Warm up your chicken stock.

  2. Pre-heat your oven to 150°C.

  3. Place the chicken in an oven dish and "paint" it with mustard. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place thyme in and on the chicken. Pour a ladle of chicken stock in the dish. 

  4. Cook in the oven as per below:

    After 15 mn: pour some stock over the chicken

    After 30 mn: pour some stock 

    After 45 mn: pour some stock + turn it up side down + add little potatoes and/or sliced carrots around the chicken

    After 1 hour: pour some stock 

    After 1 h 15 mn : pour some stock 

    After 1 h 30 mn : turn the chicken back in its initial position and finish cooking until golden.  

  5. Enjoy!

This is an adaptation and translation of Nathalie’s initial recipe. You can find it in French in the savoury recipes section of her blog.