Roasted Chicken Provençal

Recipe from Steven Stolman

Adapted by Sam Sifton

Updated July 20, 2025

Roasted Chicken Provençal
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Rating
5(14,893)
Comments
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This is a recipe I picked up from Steven Stolman, a clothing and interior designer whose “Confessions of a Serial Entertainer” is a useful guide to the business and culture of dinner parties and general hospitality. It is a perfect dinner-party meal: chicken thighs or legs dusted in flour and roasted with shallots, lemons and garlic in a bath of vermouth and under a shower of herbes de Provence. They go crisp in the heat above the fat, while the shallots and garlic melt into sweetness below. You could serve with rice, but I prefer a green salad and a lot of baguette to mop up the sauce. —Sam Sifton

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 4chicken legs or 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 2teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ to ¾cup all-purpose flour
  • 3tablespoons olive oil
  • 2tablespoons herbes de Provence
  • 1lemon, quartered
  • 8 to 10cloves garlic, peeled
  • 4 to 6medium-size shallots, peeled and halved
  • ⅓cup dry vermouth
  • 4sprigs of thyme, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

682 calories; 43 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 21 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 37 grams protein; 814 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 400 degrees. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Put the flour in a shallow pan, and lightly dredge the chicken in it, shaking the pieces to remove excess flour.

  2. Step 2

    Swirl the oil in a large roasting pan, and place the floured chicken in it. Season the chicken with the herbes de Provence. Arrange the lemon, garlic cloves and shallots around the chicken, then add the vermouth to the pan.

  3. Step 3

    Put the pan in the oven, and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, then baste it with the pan juices. Continue roasting for another 25 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken is very crisp and the meat cooked through.

  4. Step 4

    Serve in the pan or on a warmed platter, garnished with the thyme.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
14,893 user ratings
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Comments

BAJZ

I've made this about 5 times now, and it’s not much work relative to the super pay-off. I use a lot more garlic and shallots - like about 20 cloves of garlic and about 1.5 cups of shallots. I found a really good vermouth recently that blows the traditional Martini & Rossi away. The name is Dolin, and it's their blanc style. Found that it tastes great over ice too!
Brands of herbes de Provence that have a good amount of fennel seem to flavor this dish the best.

Margaret

Did you bake with chicken skin side down or up? It's not clear in the recipe.

Sam Sifton

These are some marvelous and helpful notes. They recall a couple of truisms about the kitchen. First, "a large roasting pan" means different things to different people. One with relatively high sides will yield more "juice" than one with low. Second, oven temperatures vary. Roasting chicken in a 400-degree oven for an hour should almost by definition yield crisp skin. No? Maybe 425 on your oven will yield true 400. Love the idea of adding some knobs of butter! Cook on!

SRose

I’ve made this dish, probably a dozen times, and it’s one of my go-to, really simple meals to put together. However, I struggle with a few things. First, there’s never enough liquid in the pan to start basting after the first 30 minutes, so I always have to add more in the second part. Unfortunately, it comes out a little bit too vermouth forward because I’ve added it in the second part of the cook. Second, I think I should be using the leftover liquid to make a gravy or some sort of roux. Lastly, I never find it seasoned enough. While I’m aggressive in my seasoning, I find that I could use more. I’d love to hear thoughts. Does anyone brown the chicken first? I never do because mine comes out very crispy, but I was wondering if people do Lastly, what do people like better, chicken leg or thighs?

Helane

@SRose pan size may be the issue. Use the smallest pan possible, not a sheet pan. I smash the lemon pieces before basting. Always enough sauce

OceanBeachSF

Great recipe. Worked well in a glass Pyrex dish using thighs. Try to nestle that garlic, shallot, and lemon in between the chicken pieces so it doesn’t burn. Served with small red potatoes (boiled until just tender) with the pan sauce poured over. Important to baste the chicken with the liquid as directed to ensure crispy skin at the end.

LMB

Hello, Although this recipe was an easy week night dinner, it was....boring and bland. Will not make again.

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Credits

Adapted from Steven Stolman

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