My first thought when I tasted this was, “This doesn’t taste like Italian to me. Maybe French.” Jenn agreed. But her father, Lou — whose mother and six sisters were all born in Italy — said, “No, that’s what Italian tasted like when I was growing up.”
I cook tomato sauce with beef or sausage in it all the time. I don’t usually do it with chicken. But this, the ingredients and the method, is exactly how Nana, Sentina, Coca, Josephine, Bertha, Nora and Perrina used to cook.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (~6 pounds)
½ cup all-purpose flour (optional)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons butter
3-4 slices thick-cut bacon
12 ounces crushed tomatoes (pictured can is 28 ounce)
2 tablespoons Italian herbs (oregano, chives, parsley, etc.)
Directions
Before you start, make sure the chicken is completely thawed inside and out. I’ve thawed chicken before only to find there were still ice crystals inside the cavity. And take out the bag with the innards. No, that’s not stuffing. (Oh, and pre-heat the oven to 300°.)
You could prep this on a cutting board, but it will be much easier (and less messy) in a big bowl. Trust me on this one.
Coat the chicken liberally all the way around with salt.
Then coat with flour, and pat to make sure it sticks. (Skip the flour if you’re on a low-carb diet.)
Flip it over and do the other side.
Stand the bird up and tap to knock off the excess.
A note about chicken: Always use one hand to handle the chicken, and the other hand to touch everything else. Don’t touch anything after you touch raw chicken.
In a French oven (Usually this is called a Dutch oven, but when it’s made by Le Creuset, it’s a French oven.) melt the butter over high heat.
Brown the chicken top and bottom.
This should only take a minute or so per side.
Cover the breast with the bacon, pour the tomatoes around the sides, and add the herbs.
No, I’m not being really specific about the herbs. I did oregano and chives because I had them in the garden, and parsley because I had some in the pantry.
Cook, covered, at 300° for one hour. But at 20 and 40 minutes, turn the chicken over. Take the bacon off and place back on top each time you turn it over.
Here’s the bottom at the first turn.
We could already tell this was going to be good.
After one hour it was looking almost good enough to eat.
See that tear in the skin? That’s where I grabbed it with the tongs to turn it over. Try sticking the tongs inside the cavity so the skin still looks nice.
Now, take off the bacon and cook uncovered until the breast starts to get crispy — about another 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
You want the temperature to equalize from the inside to the outside before you cut it. If it’s still hotter on the outside, it will squeeze out a lot of juice when you cut, which looks great in commercials but leaves you with dry chicken.
While the chicken is resting, skim the excess grease from the sauce.
Oh yeah, we’ll be using that.
Split the chicken into eight pieces: two each breast, thigh, leg and wing.
Serve on top of pasta, or with the pasta on the side, with the sauce over it. If you’re on a low-carb diet, replace the pasta with garbanzo beans.
And that’s it.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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33 Comments
I am definitely trying this recipe out this week. Just looking at it was making my stomach growl..And I already ate!
This looks and sounds really good! Can’t wait to try it!
This sounds really good. Though when I first saw “potted chicken”, I thought you meant chicken meat in a jar. I have a potted chicken recipe for that sort of thing.
Any chance of getting some tips on how to split a chicken? I’ve never cooked a whole chicken before, and I find it a little intimidating.
Laura, I’ve got a variation on this that I’m going to be doing. I’ll try to shoot video of the disassembly.
Yum! I love roasted chicken, but I don’t think I have ever prepared with a tomato sauce. Thanks for the idea. I have that very same Le Creuset, and I love it because it cooks so evenly.
Drew, thanks! I’ve wanted to try for a while, but I haven’t worked up the nerve yet. It seems complicated, and boneless, skinless chicken breasts are so easy. But if I can figure out a whole chicken, it will be cheaper.
Looks delish. Mmm… Not surprised on the French vs. Italian tastes though, Northern Italy has a lot of food with French flair and vice versa, you know, because they are neighbors, etc. LOL
This looks really good. I am going to have to try it this week. As an owner and lover of Le Creuset cookware, something that immediately struck me was that you said cook the butter over high heat. High heat is one of the no-nos of Le Creuset. Should I just use medium heat and cook it for longer?
Nicola, Le Creuset warns against pre-heating an empty pan over high heat, but high heat is fine for short applications:
They have a bit more to say about grill pans:
That’s the official word. Check out this thread from Chow.com for lots of feedback from cooks who have used Le Creuset themselves.
What Le Cresuset is saying is that you don’t need high heat to get good results. If you use high heat, the pan will retain it and keep cooking long after you take it off the heat.
For this recipe, it’s only on the heat for about 3 minutes before going into the oven.
Thanks for the reminder, though. It’s always good to double-check the safety recommendations from our hardware makers.
WOW..looks awesome. I found this site by accident and I know IM going to enjoy it. Thanks for a new recipe
That looks delicious! I have absolutely no reason to cook a whole chicken: I cook just for one and I don’t like dark meat at all. But I might have to buy and cook the whole chicken.
This looks so good it’s going to make me cry.
I so, so wish I weren’t living with a vegetarian. D:
Allison, my only restriction is I can’t cook really spicy. At least I can still order it at restaurants.
I saw this recipe this afternoon and decided to try it tonight for dinner. I used chicken legs, thighs and a breast (and adjusted the cooking time a little) because I didn’t have a whole chicken thawed out and served the tomato sauce over spaghetti. My family LOVED it! I cannot wait to try it with a whole chicken.
Thank you for another great recipe!
Natalie, I was actually planning on going the other way. I’m going to have the butcher quarter the chicken for me so I have less cutting to do when it’s cooked. I’ll still use the whole chicken, though. And of course it has to still have the skin on.
It seems like every recipe you present is one that “just has to be made” and eaten. I noticed that the thick sliced bacon you’ve shown in the photo is world’s better than anything I can get in Texas.
Really enjoy all the “old time” recipes. Have you done one with Mixed Greens?
Amen to the big bowl tip! I’ve tried just about everything in the way of seasoning meat with the ensuing mess… and the giant bowl has been the splendid answer!
Chicken Cacciatore is similar???
Tiffany, most of my greens come in salads. And the only one of those that I cook is the wilted spinach salad.
Barbara, cacciatore is similar, but most recipes include mushrooms, or white wine, or capers, and nearly all of them have garlic. The fact that this version doesn’t have any of those is why my wife and I didn’t recognize it as tasting Italian.
Italian food in America today has become synonymous with garlic. I’m not saying there’s no reason for that, but not all traditional Italian dishes are dominated by garlic.
Made this last night for two families. The kids (who can be picky) loved it!! My Dutch Oven couldn’t be found when I needed it, so I used a stone baking container. I did make a few changes I had to brown the chicken in another pan, since the baking container can’t go on the stovetop. I also used Spaghetti sauce I had leftover instead of the crushed tomatoes. In my garden I had oregano, basil and chives. I used more than the 2 TB you suggested, more like 1/2 cp. My family loves crispy skin, so I cooked it without the top for double your time.
My husband rated it ‘Excellent’, which is high praise from him! The kids all loved it. It almost reminded me of Chicken Cacciatore. It was really easy! I may add a bit more sauce next time. Regretfully there was none leftover so we couldn’t try it the next day. I be it would be even better!
I totally agree to flouring the chicken in a bowl vs. a plate. Also, serve the chicken in some sort of bowl as it can be juicy and make a bit of a mess if served on a plate.
Thank you so much for this recipe! A real winner!!!
Thanks for your response. I must not have read over the whole recipe because I did not notice that you only put it on high heat for 3 minutes. Le Creuset is such an investment that I try to be careful with mine.
I made this a few days ago. My oh my was it good. The sauce had a deep, delicious flavor and the chicken was delicious too. The store I went to didn’t have a great variety of herbs so I used parsley, thyme, and chives. I was very happy with this combo of herbs. Thanks for another winner.
This is a WINNER! As a single mom of 2 growing boys I appreciate this recipe as being flavorful and economical. A whole chicken often goes on sale, besides stuffing and baking, I hadn’t done much else with them. I have fresh herbs from Ma’s garden and frozen homemade Roasted Tomato and Green Pepper sauce (as I made a huge batch when Ma’s tomatoes came in) I’ll get exactly 4 slices of bacon from the meat counter…Yes, definately going to make this one next week, I will let you know how much we enjoy it! Feel free to check out my blog as it has many family friendly recipes! Happy Cookin!
I love that about going to a butcher. Try to get four slices of bacon at the grocery store. “Uhh, you want what?”
hey Drew! and me with a freshly dressed chicken AND bacon… hum…
not to be over nosey.. but why is it called “potted” chicken? i thought potted meat was kinda like shredded liverwurst cooked in small containers??
btw. its not wrong to be emotional over a pan. i’ve made pilgrimages to the le Creuset outlet stores…
I call it that because that’s what my great-aunt (I think that’s who it was) called it on her recipe card. It is cooked in a pot, which is somewhat unusual for a whole chicken that isn’t going to be soup.
gotcha
i think i love your great auntie.. and what a treasure to have her recipe cards! i have some from my grandma – i love to see her handwriting.
happy friday!
It tasted GREAT! I do think I will try it next time with chicken parts, trying to flip the whole bird over a few times was hard. It was well worth it!
I agree that flipping it over was hard. I’ve thought about doing parts, too, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
What size is your Le Cruset? I am one of your sad readers who LOVES READING the recipes, but alas, has trouble boiling water. Today I am making my first attempt at cooking a chicken (instead of running down to my grocery store and picking up a roasted chicken for 5.99) and I find I’m already struggling. I think I burned the butter – how many slices is a tablespoon? I was handed down a Le Cruset (much to my joy!!) yet I believe it is FAR too small…it’s a 22 (at least that’s what the lid says on the inside). Needless to say, I am finding my reality is not reflecting your well-documented experience. Any advice or should I simply stay out of the kitchen?
Cathleen, mine is a 5-1/2 quart. If you’re using sticks of butter, there should probably be lines on the side showing tablespoons. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time. Just adjust and try again. Either turn the heat down or get it off the heat faster.
Is there a way to cook this without a dutch oven or similar type dish? Would a Turkey dish work?
Do you mean a roaster? That should work. Anything with a reasonably tight fitting lid that isn’t too much bigger than the bird you put in it.
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[...] is a variation on the potted chicken with tomatoes that I did for the Aetna Healthy Food Fight. Actually, I should call the tomato recipe the [...]