Chicken Confit

Chicken Confit or olive oil roasted chicken is the most impossibly tender, moist, and crispy-skinned chicken you’ll ever have.

Chicken Confit is the easy chicken recipe you didn’t know you needed in your life.

Salted chicken pieces are roasted in olive oil with carrots, shallots, garlic, and lemons to create the most impossibly tender chicken.

This Olive Oil-Roasted Chicken with Caramelized Carrots was the main dish of our Alison Roman Night a couple of months ago. 

All of the recipes we made that evening were “OMG, this is amazing!” along with “Which recipe was that I need to make this again!”

So, without further ado, we’re going to chat Confit Chicken or Olive Oil-Roasted Chicken. 

What do you need to make Chicken Confit?

• Chicken pieces – I did a combo of legs and thighs
• Salt
• Pepper
•  Lemons
• Garlic
• Thyme or Oregano
• Carrots
• Shallots
• Olive Oil

I’m going to show you how to make a small dish for two or a large braiser dish for 8. 

First, you’ll salt and pepper each individual piece of chicken.

We’re dry brining the chicken the day before we cook it.

What is dry brining?

A dry brine actually draws the chicken’s natural moisture out of the meat. Then, the salt mixes with the chicken’s juices and is reabsorbed into the meat. This very concentrated brine breaks down the muscle proteins and prevents them from squeezing liquid out during the cooking process.

For 8 servings, place salted chicken pieces on a half sheet pan. 

Here’s what you’ll add next:

• Lemon zest
• Sliced garlic
• Fresh Herbs — I used thyme since my store was out of fresh oregano.

As far as herbs go, you can use almost anything. Thyme, oregano, dill, and rosemary would be just sublime!

And, because I can’t leave well enough alone I added slices of shallots on top.

Now, you’ll put this whole sheet tray into your fridge, UNCOVERED, for 24 hours.

The second step of this process is the roasting/braising part.

The next day, remove the chicken from the fridge.

Do not rinse your chicken pieces, y’all. No need!

Place them skin side up in a braising dish.

Let’s chat about braising dishes for a second…

This might be my new most favorite piece of kitchen equipment.

My lovely parents gave it to me for Christmas — and I use it almost every day.

It sits on my stovetop, and I use it to make all kinds of recipes.

This braiser is expensive! But, it’s a lifetime lasting piece, and I’m sure you will see it over and over!

So, nestle your chicken into your braiser, and tuck sliced carrots, shallots, whole cloves of garlic, and lemon slices all over.

You’re going to pour olive oil all over this, so all the items really flavor not only the chicken but the oil.

For the little one, add four chicken thighs, overlapping a tinge, and top with all the same things as above. (I ran out of carrots, so I used sliced yellow onions.)

Next, drizzle enough oil over the entire dish to really let the chicken braise.

For the little dish, it’s about half a cup of olive oil (good olive oil!).

The big braiser took about a cup of oil.

While the chicken cooks, it’s going to release some juice and make the liquid rise even more. Be sure your dish can handle that influx.

Yep! It’s a lot of oil, but you can save it and use it for all kinds of things:

• Pasta
• Making homemade croutons
• Roasting more chicken

I saved mine with the onions and garlic in it — so so good. 

You’ll roast your chicken at 325˚ for 55 – 65 minutes. During the last ten minutes, feel free to baste with the schmaltzy oil and really lean into the whole olive oil-roasted chicken business.

Serve directly from the braiser (another point of love for this kitchen item!), and be sure to let your guests dip their chicken pieces back into the oil. << It might be the best part.

How do you know the chicken is cooked through?

Using an instant-read thermometer, cooking the chicken until it’s 165˚. With it sitting in oil, it’s quite impossible to overcook this chicken recipe.

What can you do with the leftovers?

If you have leftovers — pull the chicken from the bone, and toss into a big bowl of pasta. Using the leftover oil, drizzle the chickeny-oil over everything. YUM!

Perfect Pairings – what you can serve with this recipe:

• Parmesan Zucchini
• Mashed Potatoes
• Chopped Iceberg Salad

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