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I used to be one of those that was surprised when people said, “I don’t have time to cook.” To me, cooking and shopping for ingredients, which take the better parts of my days, has always been a pleasure for me rather than a burden. However, now I get it. Making dinner after a long day at work can be a challenge. In France, people don’t get home from work until 7 or 7:30pm, and not everyone wants to put on a kitchen apron when they get home and get moving on dinner.

Even during the lockdown, when we found ourselves having more time around the house, I was busier than ever. It was a challenge tracking down ingredients, and cooking all the time led to lots of dishes. I was also doing my best not to let anything go to waste, which meant that instead of tossing radish leaves, I made radish leaf soup. A bag of lemons that started looking past their prime became jars of lemon curd. And a compunction to update older blog posts (and photos) as I revisited them during the lockdown, from French Chocolate Mousse Cake and Carrot Salad to Cosmopolitans, it’s no wonder after the lockdown ended, I felt like I needed a vacation!

Until that happens, this Caramelized Shallot Chicken is a low-stress dinner and very easy to make for this recipe adapted from French Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Herrmann Loomis, a friend who teaches cooking classes in France. The only real work is mincing a few shallots. Everything else is done in the oven. Even better, there are hardly any dishes to wash afterward. You just toss chicken pieces in olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and shallots in a baking dish, season with salt and pepper, and pop it in the oven. While baking, the shallots get crispy-sweet and caramelized, and since it only takes about 45 minutes to bake, you have time to mix yourself a drink, like a Sidecar or a French Manhattan.

One thing to know if that the French generally cut a chicken into eight pieces, not six. The breasts are cut in half crosswise (not lengthwise) and the wings are left on the tips on the breast pieces, as shown below. If you buy a whole cut-up chicken, I recommend cutting the bone-in breasts in half with a chef’s knife or asking the butcher to do it.

Although it wasn’t in the original recipe, I added a splash of soy sauce, which is one of the secret ingredients in many dishes, even in French cooking. At a restaurant in Lyon that is widely known for their ‘top-secret’ salad dressing, I ate there with a chef friend. The first thing we said after we tasted it?—Soy sauce.

So I added a bit to the sauce, which gives this dish a savory-salty umami taste—which in French, I believe, is called je ne sais quoi. Feel free to change around what vinegar to use. Balsamic may not be sharp enough, and perhaps too sweet (although if you like it, you could certainly give it a try), but apple cider vinegar would be nice, as would be sherry vinegar, which is often my vinegar of choice for a vinaigrette.

Aside from its utter simplicity, the other great thing about this dish is that aside from the chicken, you likely have the other ingredients in your pantry. If you don’t keep shallots around, you might want to reconsider that. Because once you taste it, you’ll want to be able to make this at a moment’s notice, as I often do.

Roast Chicken with Caramelized Shallots

Adapted from French Farmhouse Cookbook (Workman) by Susan Herrmann Loomis I use a whole chicken cut into eight pieces; two legs, two thighs, and I cut each breast piece in half, crosswise, keeping the wings attached. You could also just use eight of your favorite chicken pieces. The shallots I used were about the size of an unshelled walnut. The total weight of the four shallots is about 6 ounces (170g.)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 4 large shallots, peeled and minced
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • One whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
  • one generous handful of coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC.)
  • In a large baking dish, one which will hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer, mix the olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, shallots, and some salt and pepper.
  • Toss the chicken in the mixture so they’re completely coated with the shallots. Turn the chicken pieces so they are all skin side up.
  • Roast the chicken until it starts to brown on top, about 20 minutes. Turn the pieces of chicken over. Scrape any juices and shallots over the chicken that may be clinging to the pan, and bake for another twenty minutes, or until the pieces of chicken are cooked through and the shallots are well-caramelized.
  • Remove from oven and toss with the chopped parsley.

Notes

Serving: Serve with roasted or steamed vegetables, potatoes, rice, pasta, or a green salad.

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192 comments

    • Kathleen

    My mouth was watering at the first photo. Going to make it this week. Merci!

    • witloof

    Ohhhh, caramelized shallots are so wonderful! I made Alison Roman’s caramelized shallot pasta this week and could have eaten the whole pan of shallots before I added the rest of the ingredients.

    • Joe

    It appears in the pictures of the finished dish, that the chicken was cooked skin side down first then finished, skin side up for browning. Is that not the case?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      The chicken parts get tossed in parsley in the last step so the picture of the finished dish shows pieces of chicken in different angles and places.

      • Sarah G

      I wanted to make this as soon as I saw “carmelized shallots”. I didn’t have a whole chicken, just wings, thighs and legs, so I used those. Added halved Brussel sprouts for the last 15 minutes of cooking, since my daughter wanted a green veggie to go with the chicken. This was fast, easy and very delicious. Thank you!

    • Patricia Davis

    Looks yum! I am 70 and my husband is 72, we are still in lockdown in Kansas—our choice now—after the lockdown crazies are out and about paying no attention to the the “new rules” of masks and social distancing. We’re lucky that a a farmer and butcher have teamed together to make a delivery service of local /regional organic produce. The chicken breast are gone fast. Most people don’t want to deal with the whole chicken. I roasted one this week.Next time I’ll add the shallots. Agree about the soy. I sometimes use fish sauce for the same purpose. Would love to know the Lyon restaurant with the secret recipe! I hope to live long enough to get back there. Such lovely food memories. And yes, washing dishes can be a bitch. There have been days I slapped a ham sandwich on a paper towel (back when we had those!) and told my husband be glad someone made him lunch. At those times, he did do the dishes!! (haha)

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      At the outdoor market today, now that they are open, most people were wearing masks (because it’s mostly people over 30-35 at the markets) but few, if any, were practicing social distancing, with is 1 meter (3ft) in France, which doesn’t give a lot of leeway. It was quite stressful shopping and I didn’t stay long…

    • Sally

    Looks great. Will definitely try. Question: Does 4 large shallots mean 4 sections of one shallot or 4 entire shallots? I am always confused by this. Any help appreciated. S.

      • Jean

      Four large shallots means 4 entire shallots. If they are attached, that’s two (or more) shallots. In the recipe headnote David gives a size for each shallot and a weight for the shallots in total which is extremely helpful.

        • Barry

        I made a half-recipe, but perhaps my shallots were small (though they seemed a normal size to me), as 4 only weight just over 1 oz. I doubled the number of shallots, still falling short of the recommended weight. But it was sufficient for a very satisfactory meal.

    • Sarah G

    I wanted to make this as soon as I saw “carmelized shallots”. I didn’t have a whole chicken, just wings, thighs and legs, so I used those. Added halved Brussel sprouts for the last 15 minutes of cooking, since my daughter wanted a green veggie to go with the chicken. This was fast, easy and very delicious. Thank you!

    • Leah Butler

    I saw this the day you posted it and I thought “I know what I am making for dinner!” It was absolutely delicious. I added carrots when I flipped the chicken and served it with rice and salad. Definitely making this again soon.

    • Pat leyland

    i’ve made this recipe of yours many times ,it’s hard to beat for simplicity and ease thx from yrs ago again lol

    • Valerie

    220 ° during 40 minutes seems a whole lot of heat. Wouldn’t that only be be for the first 20 minutes ?
    Also, I am always wondering whether the temperatures of ovens in recipes are meant for traditional ovens or convection (chaleur tournante) ovens ? It would be nice to specify :-)

    • Vivian

    David — an earlier version of this from your column some years ago has become a go-to recipe and everyone loves it.

    Shallot tip: If you put them in a sieve and pour boiling water over them, they will be much easier to peel.

    • Rachel

    As I already said, I love this and many of your recipes, including zhug. Unfortunately, the last time I tried to make this, I dropped one of the shallots on the floor and my dog ate it.
    Next I’m going to try to make the poilane bread, which is a reach for me, but I think will be good. I got fresh yeast from whole foods, bc there is no dry yeast anywhere in America, apparently

    • Jo-Ann Langlois

    I saw this recipe yesterday and made it today only with thighs. We really loved it. It is absolutely the easiest chicken dish ever.

    • Annie – NSW

    Hi David
    I use Worcester sauce in my Vinaigrette – a lovely addition…
    not as much required as you have of Soy…

    • Annie

    I made it today with 8 chicken pieces. I didn’t have shallots so used a spanish onion instead. It was so delicious! I can’t believe such common ingredients can yield such a tasty meal.

    Thank you David! You are a hero in our house – mostly for ice cream, but now for dinner too!

    • Sabrina

    Made it today for my family. Didn’t have shallots (i never been in the presence of one) so used yellow onions. And it was delicious anyways. Thank you!

    • Helen

    Made this for lunch yesterday – delicious and wonderfully straightforward, Thank You!

    • Randy Francisco

    This was so easy and tasty! I let the chicken marinate four three hours beforehand.

    • Heather & John

    We didn’t have shallots, but we had an onion and 6 bone in chicken thighs. It was absolutely delicious, simple and satisfying. We did not do a cocktail, but drank a California Zin with it La Storia 2015. Last week end we made the radish leaf soup from our garden radishes…and it was superb. Who knew? I had ordered Drinking French right before lock down started here in Socal and we have made several cocktails with Chartreuse and Lejay creme de cassis. We love our summer trips to France and we are sad not to be going this year, but we will be trying more recipes and cocktails in the meantime. Bientôt on va avoir les abricots et je voudrais bien une recette pour un clafoutis ou une glace pour servir avec les abricots. Merci mille fois David. :) et Salut à Romain aussi!

    • Mquinn

    Thank you David, this was so good. We will be making this one again. We really appreciate your food and drink recipes.

    • PZ

    My kids made this for dinner this week with a (roasted brussel sprout potato medley). It was easy and delicious. They were disappointed that there were no leftovers.

    They will make this again. I love it that they are developing their own recipe catalog.

    Thanks so much

    • Kari

    I’ve made this many times in the last few years, both for family dinner and parties and it is always a huge hit. It’s amazing how simple it is, yet what a huge flavor. Thank you for the recipe and the inspiration.

    • Georgeann Brown

    This was wonderful and super simple. I did have about 1/4 cup of sauce left and used it the next day with zucchini noodles. Perfect lunch.

    • Chip

    Always keep shallots at the ready!!!

    • mumbie

    Absolutely delicious, your recipes are fabulous.. thank you xxx

    • Anne

    I made this with chicken thighs for my brother and sister, her husband and my husband. We LOVED it. Had I known my brother liked drumstick, I’d have done that too.
    Super easy recipe but definitely has the wow factor!
    Thank you.

    • Pamela Jackson

    Made this last night, here on Vancouver Island, and it is indeed a winner. So easy, so delicious. I am sharing the recipe with friends and plan to make it often for company. Mine did not brown as much as in your photo but it was memorable for
    the depth of flavour. Thank you David.

    • Angela

    A late comment, but I just wanted to say that you need to put a warning on this recipe. I made it last night, and seriously could easily have finished one chicken between two (with me eating most of it). It is sooooo good. I cook chicken a lot, but this was the tastiest most moorish dish I’ve had in a long time. Can hardly wait to make it again!

    • Grace

    I made it twice and is sensational ! I used 8 chicken thighs. Next time I will use one less tablespoon of vinegar and add a chopped up preserved lemon.

    • Maura

    This was so, so fabulous. I had some fresh thyme I needed to use up so I added several sprigs to the roasting pan – definitely didn’t hurt! My partner said its her new favorite chicken recipe.

    For those subbing onions, I have no doubt your dish turned out yummy, but as Anthony Bourdain famously said, “The reason food tastes better in restaurants than when you cook at home? Shallots.” Always have them on hand!

    • Monica K

    I want to say when I took my 6 yr old daughter to Dordogne part of France last summer, she discovered the rich distinctive flavor and texture of French chicken. I still chuckle at the video I took of her devouring the chicken leg.
    I will be making this recipe using the French shallot and Bell and Evan chicken this weekend. Thank you.

    • Rick Jones

    I don’t know what kind of chicken you’re using, but if I bake chicken legs for 40 minutes at 425F, they are way, way overdone.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I’ve made this many times and never found the chicken pieces overcooked. (I’ve made it with free-range “farm” chickens as well as standard, grocery-store chickens.) I did check some recipes from reliable (i.e.; well-tested) recipes from around the web and saw Simply Recipes has a recipe for cooking roast chicken pieces at 400º 30 mns, then 350º for 10-30mns and Mark Bittman, who roasts pieces at 450º for 30mns. The idea here is to get the shallots caramelized and the sauce reduced, but if you wish to bake it for less time, you are welcome to. (Food safety experts recommend cooking chicken until the internal temperature reaches 165º.)

A

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