French Style Braised Chicken Recipe with Lemon, Garlic and Chicken Jus

This easy French-style braised chicken recipe makes the juiciest chicken with crispy skin from just seven ingredients – stock, olive oil, lemon, garlic, a homemade chicken seasoning, and butter. It’s a foolproof dish with little work required other than basting. Whether you cook it on high, go low and slow, or reheat it, the chicken remains succulent. Serve with chicken jus and sides of vegetables.

It’s been a busy week, so we’re cooking easy recipes this weekend, as you might have noticed from recent recipes we’ve shared – from our easy vinaigrette recipe (shaken, not whisked) to this speedy yet super tasty cucumber salad recipe, which piles crunchy cucumbers onto a creamy butter bean purée, and these Basque style snacks called pintxos for casual entertaining.

Our easy French-style braised chicken recipe couldn’t be easier – seven ingredients and it’s made in less than an hour – yet it makes one of our best chicken recipes: incredibly succulent chicken legs with crispy skin and full of so much flavour. If you enjoyed our Spanish style braised chicken with olives and capers or Italian roast chicken recipe with peppers and leeks, you’ll love this.

When we don’t have a lot of time to cook, we serve our braised chicken legs with easy vegetable sides such as these caramelised Brussels sprouts, blistered green beans or creamy mashed potatoes. With more time, we’ll make crunchy Hassleback potatoes. In hot weather, a simple fragrant herb salad or this radish cucumber salad with feta, rucola and fresh herbs.

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Now let me tell you more about our easy French style braised chicken recipe with lemon and garlic and chicken jus.

Braised Chicken Recipe with Lemon and Garlic and Chicken Jus

My super easy French-style braised chicken recipe makes the juiciest chicken with crispy skin, doused in an addictively delicious chicken jus made from the braising liquid and chicken juices. It’s made with just seven ingredients: a light stock, olive oil, lemon, garlic, chicken legs, seasoning, and butter.

Regardless of whether I think too many home cooks worry about the number of ingredients in a recipe, rather than the actual tasks required, it was with our busy readers in mind that I set out to create the most deliciously-simple braised chicken recipe that I could, with the least amount of ingredients.

I promise you that there’s very little work involved as far as this braised chicken dish goes, other than a little basting and sprinkling of seasoning, so it should take you no more than an hour. While the chicken is cooking, you can be prepping the vegetable sides, which is what I did yesterday.

But if you have a home to clean, errands to run, pets to feed, a garden to water, a teenage daughter to wrangle (I’m thinking of my sister here), then you can turn the heat right down, cook the chicken low and slow, and I guarantee you that it’s still going to be moist. That’s the beauty of the braise.

I tested this braised chicken dish a few times while developing the recipe, but on the day of the photo shoot for this post, I seriously mucked around with the temperatures and put the timings to the test. Not intentionally, that’s just how life goes in Southeast Asia, with our unpredictable wet season that changes our sky from bright blue and clear to cloudy and grey within minutes.

Halfway through cooking, as Terence was setting up tripods and reflectors, he assured me “you’ve got plenty of time” (as sunshine was streaming through the windows). Ten minutes later he’s telling me “we’ll be running out of light soon” (as ominous slate-grey clouds rolled in, darkening the whole apartment). Ten minutes later, it’s “take it easy, the light’s great” (as the sun came out again).

Which is how I found myself turning the oven heat down, then up and down again, and shifting the tray of braised chicken between shelves, while prepping the chicken jus and two other vegetable dishes for the shoot, choosing plates, napkins and cutlery, styling the table, and checking the weather apps. Yet still these chicken legs stayed super moist.

That’s the beauty of braising chicken, which cooks in liquid, as opposed to roasting chicken, which doesn’t. If you’re tight on time, you can make this meal in an hour. But if you need more time, you can turn the heat down and take it.

Braising Versus Roasting

Technically, braising is a two-stage process: first, you season meat and sear it in hot fat in a pan to crisp up the skin, then you partly submerge it in liquid to cook it low and slow in moist heat (it’s moist from the liquid), on the stove-top and/or in the oven (covered and/or uncovered). The technique is typically used to tenderise tough cuts of meat, which is why the chicken turns out so tender and juicy.

As this is a quick and easy braised chicken recipe and regular basting will get the chicken skin nice and crispy, I skip the first stage of searing, and simply slide the chicken in liquid into the oven. The chicken isn’t cooked all that slow and doesn’t need more than 50 minutes, as it’s just two chicken legs. Having said that, if you need to, you can cook it for longer on lower heat.

So if it’s only partly braising, why aren’t I just calling this a roast chicken recipe? Because roasting is a dry heat method – meaning the meat is not sitting in liquid – which is better suited for a whole chicken and big cuts of meat, such as a leg of lamb.

Tips to Making this French Style Braised Chicken Recipe and Chicken Jus

I only have a few tips to making my delicious seven-ingredient braised chicken recipe, which should take you no more than an hour.

For this French style braised chicken recipe and the Spanish and Italian chicken recipes we linked to above, we love using large plump chicken legs, which are essentially the chicken drumstick and thigh, because one chicken leg each is enough for us, and two chicken legs are much faster to cook than a whole chicken.

If you’re feeding more than two people, just double, triple or quadruple the number of chicken legs, but don’t do the same to the liquid, because you only want the liquid to go halfway up each piece of chicken. It should be partly immersed in the liquid, not drowning in it.

I do the chicken in a 30cm x 20cm/12in x 8in oven tray, which is perfect for two chicken legs. You could also use a Dutch oven. If you don’t have a Dutch oven yet, strongly recommend buying one. While the much-coveted enamel-coated Le Creuset Dutch oven has been partly responsible for the Dutch oven craze, the more affordable Lodge Dutch oven is a solid choice.

The chicken stock we use is technically not a ‘stock’, which is made by gently simmering bones, vegetables and aromatics. Our simple clean chicken ‘stock’ is essentially the liquid we poach chicken breasts in, which has little else but aromatics: a few bay leaves, maybe lemongrass or ginger, depending on what we plan to do with the chicken and the ‘stock’.

You could do the same (we pull apart the poached chicken breasts and use the shredded chicken meat in chicken salads, noodles and congees) or you could use your own homemade chicken stock, store-bought chicken stock or chicken stock cubes.

I’ve been sneaky and included ‘chicken seasoning’ as one ingredient, because you can really use whatever seasoning, spices or herbs you wish. Even Maldon sea salt and freshly cracked black Kampot pepper will make you a flavourful braised chicken. But try my chicken seasoning the first time you make this. Next time, start with my seasoning then add your own herbs and spices, perhaps ground paprika or maybe dried thyme.

I like this mix of salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and white pepper for this braised chicken recipe, as it reminds me of an Australian takeaway shop seasoning that we grew up with in the 1970s called Chicken Salt, which flavoured the fried chips wrapped in butcher’s paper sold with roast chicken. SAXA Chicken Salt is the closest thing to it.

Using a salt shaker for your chicken seasoning might be more convenient and result in more even distribution, but I prefer to mix it together in a small bowl, as I’m careful to only use a pinch of the stuff each time I baste. I don’t want to risk ruining my beautifully braised chicken by making it too salty.

Basting every 15 minutes is important, as that’s what gives your chicken crispy skin. But don’t be concerned by that: it doesn’t take long to baste. Just a minute to spoon the liquid over the chicken, then sprinkle on a pinch of seasoning. We love intense flavour but if you’re concerned that might be too much, keep your seasoning to one or two bastes.

When the chicken is a golden colour (probably around 45 minutes based on our tests), slide the tray out of the oven and poke a digital kitchen thermometer into the widest part of the chicken pieces to check the internal temperature. Chicken is cooked at 74°C (165°F).

Give it a final baste and sprinkle, then, so you don’t break the skin, use a fish slice to carefully transfer the chicken legs to a flat oven tray. I use a tray without sides so the lower parts of the chicken that were immersed in liquid get more colour. Return the tray to the oven for another 5 minutes. If it’s not golden enough for you, put the tray on the top shelf or under the broiler or griller.

Lastly, make your jus while the chicken is finishing: pour the liquid from the baking tray into a saucepan to reduce over high heat; when it’s reduced, add the butter and stir. Plate the chicken, pour the jus over the pieces, and serve with sides of vegetables or a salad.

Braised Chicken Recipe with Chicken Jus

Easy Braised Chicken Recipe with Lemon and Garlic and Chicken Jus

AuthorLara Dunston

This easy French style braised chicken recipe makes the juiciest chicken with crispy skin from a handful of ingredients – chicken stock, olive oil, fresh lemon, garlic, and a homemade chicken seasoning. It’s a foolproof dish with very little babysitting required; cook it low and slow or reheat it and it still remains juicy. Serve with chicken jus and sides of vegetables.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Australian, European, Mediterranean

Servings made with recipeServings 2

Calories 1014 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 120 ml chicken stock
• 125 ml olive oil - preferably extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon - juice of half, remainder sliced
• 4 small garlic cloves - peeled, pounded
• 2 chicken leg quarters - around 300 g each
• 1 tsp chicken seasoning - ¼ tsp each of sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, ground pepper
• 40 g butter

Instructions

 

• Heat the oven to 220°C (430°F).
• To a baking tray just large enough to hold the chicken legs, pour in the chicken stock, olive oil and juice of half a lemon, add the lemon slices and pounded garlic cloves, and give it a stir. Lay the chicken pieces down in the baking tray and spoon the liquid onto the chicken.
• In a small bowl or empty salt shaker create your chicken seasoning by stirring the sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and white pepper to thoroughly combine, then shake or sprinkle a pinch of seasoning over the chicken pieces.
• Slide the tray onto the middle shelf of the oven to bake for 50 minutes, setting a timer for every 15 minutes to baste the chicken with the liquid and sprinkle on another pinch of seasoning.
• At 15 minutes, when you do the first basting, reduce the heat to 150°C (300°F). Continue basting every 15 minutes.
• When the chicken is golden coloured (around 45 minutes), slide the tray out of the oven and poke a digital thermometer into the widest part of the pieces to check the internal temperature. Chicken is cooked at 74°C (165°F).
• If the chicken is cooked, give it a final baste and sprinkle, then use a fish slice to transfer the pieces to a flat oven tray (one without sides so the chicken parts immersed in liquid get colour) and return the chicken to the oven for 5 minutes. If not golden enough, put the tray on the top shelf.
• Pour the baking tray liquid into a saucepan and reduce over high heat to create a jus. When reduced, strain the jus, and return it to the sauce pan, add the butter, and stir.
• Plate the chicken, pouring the jus over the pieces, and serve with sides of vegetables or salad and crusty bread to mop up the jus.

Nutrition

Calories: 1014kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 26gFat: 98gSaturated Fat: 25gPolyunsaturated Fat: 12gMonounsaturated Fat: 56gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 186mgSodium: 330mgPotassium: 471mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 653IUVitamin C: 31mgCalcium: 54mgIron: 2mg

Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our easy French style braised chicken recipe as we love hearing how our recipes turn out for you.