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    Home » Family Meals

    October 11, 2021

    Super Simple French Roast Chicken Recipe (Poulet Rôti)

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    To a French woman, a Roast Chicken, or Poulet Rôti is the culinary equivalent to a little black dress. Quick to put together, chic to serve and versatile. This super simple French Roast Chicken recipe can easily be the main course for a special Sunday lunch with friends or a Tuesday night meal for the kids. A culinary rite of passage, every French woman has "her" recipe for Poulet Rôti.

    Le Chef's Wife with roast chicken

    I was always under the impression that a Roast Chicken was complicated to make. Sure, some recipes require a rather intricate basting and turning method (ahem, Julia Child!) but one day I observed Le Chef make a roast chicken in less time that it takes me to make a sandwich. He popped it in the oven and didn't touch it until it was time to take it out. The result was the most succulent, flavorful, crispy skinned chicken that looked like it belonged in a magazine.

    Working from home? Pop a chicken in the oven at 3pm and you will have the most delicious scent calling you to finish up your workday and set the table for a nice dinner with your family.

    What is a French Roast Chicken or Poulet Rôti?

    First and foremost - it starts with the chicken. Choose the best quality chicken you can find. Organic? Great! Free of antibiotics? Yes, please. Le Chef swears by D'Artagan Green Circle Heritage Chicken. They are more expensive than your typical fryer chicken, or the rotisserie chicken you find at large grocery stores but the end result is worth it. I try to keep a couple chickens in my freezer to defrost and serve when I am craving it or if we have an impromptu dinner party.

    roast chicken close up 2

    French Roast Chicken Seasoning:

    A few garden herbs, coarse salt, a head of garlic and olive oil are all you need to season this recipe. Like many of our family recipes, the main product is the star attraction. Start with a good quality chicken and you don't need to add a lot to it to make it tasty.

    How to Prepare a chicken for roasting:

    (You don't need to wash a chicken. Rinsing it in water does not kill off bacteria - cooking does! This is a very curious tradition that confounds Le Chef every time he hears of it.)

    1. Start with a whole chicken, about 3.5-4 lbs.
    2. Remove the insides. Your bagged chicken might have a neck and gizzards inside the cavity. Reach your hand inside and pull them out. You can wear a rubber glove if you prefer. Discard the neck and gizzards unless you are planning to make chicken broth with the carcass - in that case keep the neck to add to the bouillon for flavor.
    3. Pat down the chicken with a paper towel or clean kitchen towel. Removing the moisture helps to make a crispy skin!
    4. Set the chicken in a roasting pan greased with olive oil. I use a pan big enough with space around it for the potatoes (Roasted Chicken is always served with potatoes in France)
    5. Inside the chicken cavity, add Rosemary, sage and thyme for flavor as well as several cloves of garlic and a pinch of coarse salt.
    6. Using cooking twine, tie the legs together. (This is not necessary but a chicken does look more elegant with her knees together...!)
    7. Sprinkle coarse salt over the top of the chicken
    8. Drizzle olive oil generously over the chicken
    9. Slice a whole head of unpeeled garlic in half (width wise) and place each half on opposite sides of the pan (skin side down)
    10. Arrange the diced potatoes around the chicken and garlic.
    11. Add another generous drizzle of olive oil over the garlic and potatoes.
    12. Place 3 tablespoons of butter around the potatoes. (Using butter as well as olive oil on the potatoes makes for the most amazing crispy potatoes!)

    Voilà! Easy as that. Once you get the hang of it, the entire process (excluding the potatoes) takes 5 minutes. Add in potato chopping time and tossing a green salad and you have an entire fancy meal ready with less than 25 minutes of effort.

    Raw roast chicken ready for the oven with potatoes
    A mixture of olive oil and butter is ideal for crispy roasted potatoes!

    Chef's Tips for a Perfect French Roast Chicken

    How do you know when the chicken is done?

    The most reliable way is to check the temperature. Place the needle into the crook between the chicken's breast and thigh. The temperature should read 165 degrees Farenheit. Don't have a meat thermometer? Check to see if the skin has begun to pull away from the the drumstick - that is a good indication that it is done. I also like to pierce the thigh with a fork - if the juice that runs out is clear and not pink it is a good indicator that it is done

    How many people does a whole chicken feed?

    3-4 generally. For 6 people I will roast 2 chickens and keep the leftovers for chicken soup.

    How to make broth with the chicken carcass?

    Pick the carcass for leftover meat. Set aside. In a large soup pot, cover the carcass with water. Add 2 branches of celery, 2 carrots, 2 cloves of garlic (skin on), and 1 chopped leak. Season with rosemary, thyme and sage as well as a whole clove and a star anise (Le Chef's secret ingredient!). Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for 45 minutes. Strain out the liquid and you have your delicious broth! Perfect for freezing to add to a multitude of recipes or use as the base for the most delicious chicken soup with your leftover chicken meat!

    Do I need to rotate the chicken while cooking to keep it juicy?

    Nope! Keep it simple. No rotating or standing a chicken on its head while cooking is necessary. Try it, you will wonder why you have been making your roast chicken perform oven acrobatics.

    family lunch with roast chicken

    What to Serve with French Roast Chicken?

    You can make the French Fall Dinner Party Menu below

    When my friend, Cheryl Norris of Bakes By Brown Sugar and I devised a fancy yet simple 4 course dinner with Gougères as an apéro, Butternut squash soup as a starter, this Roast Chicken as the main course and Cinnamon Apple Crêpes as the dessert. Que du bonheur!

    • Gougères by Bakes By Brown Sugar
    • Creamy Butternut squash Soup with Crispy Sage
    • Apple Cinnamon Crèpes

    or else pair with any of the delicious side dishes I have shared over the years on this blog:

    French Asparagus Recipe with a Champagne Citrus Vinaigrette

    La Salade Mentonnaise - A fresh fennel and citrus salad that pairs beautifully with French Roast Chicken

    Le Chef's Mashed Potatoes

    Buttery mashed potatoes
    Le Chef's Mashed Potatoes

    Fresh Fig & Goat Cheese Salad

    Macaroni Gratinée

    Confit Bayaldi - a showstopper Ratatouille!

    Confit Bayaldi
    Confit Bayaldi by Chef Sébastien Giannini

    Wine Pairings with French Roast Chicken or Poulet Rôti

    Roast Chicken and baguette

    I personally love drinking a crisp, dry Provençal Rosé with roast chicken, all year round. The light florals pair beautifully with the chicken.

    A lighter bodied red wine such as a Pinot Noir is also incredible with this dish. Avoid going for a full bodied red as it will overpower the delicate flavor of the chicken.

    If you enjoyed this recipe you might also like some of my other French family dinner recipes:

    • Petits Farçis Niçois
    • Foolproof Eggplant Lasagna Recipe
    • One pot cheesy chicken and orzo
    • Easy Branzino with Vierge Sauce

    Did you make this recipe? Let me know by rating the recipe and leaving a comment! I love to hear from you.

    Au plaisir,

    Le Chef's Wife

    Print
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    close up roast chicken and potatoes

    Super Simple French Roast Chicken Recipe (Poulet Rôti)

    ★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
    • Author: lechefswife
    • Prep Time: 15mins
    • Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
    • Total Time: 2 hours
    • Yield: 3-4 people 1x
    • Category: Dinner
    • Method: Roasting
    • Cuisine: French
    Print Recipe
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    Description

    How to make the most succulent, flavorful, crispy skinned chicken that looks like it belongs in a magazine. This Super Simple French Roast Chicken, or Poulet Rôti, recipe is so easy to make! You will want to make this recipe for your next dinner party with friends, Sunday lunch with the family or Tuesday night dinner for the kids!


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 1 Whole 3.5-4lbs chicken
    • 6 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into cubes. Skin on or off - it is completely your preference. Make sure to rinse the skin well if you are leaving it on
    • 1 head of garlic plus 3 cloves for inside the chicken, peel on
    • 2 tsp of coarse salt
    • ½ cup of olive oil
    • 2 tbsps of butter
    • 3 branches of thyme
    • 5 leaves of sage
    • 2 branches of rosemary

    Instructions

    (You don't need to wash a chicken. Rinsing it in water does not kill off bacteria - cooking does! This is a very curious tradition that confounds Le Chef every time he hears of it.)

    1. Preheat your oven to 350F - use the convection setting if you have it.
    2. Start with a whole chicken, about 3.5-4 lbs.
    3. Remove the insides. Your bagged chicken might have a neck and gizzards inside the cavity. Reach your hand inside and pull them out. You can wear a glove if you prefer. You can discard the neck and the gizzards unless you are planning to make chicken Soup with the carcass - in that case keep the neck to add to the bouillon for flavor.
    4. Pat down the chicken with a paper towel or clean kitchen towel. Removing the moisture helps to make a crispy skin!
    5. Set the chicken in a roasting pan greased with olive oil. I use a pan big enough with space around it for the potatoes (Roasted Chicken is always served with potatoes in France!)
    6. Inside the chicken cavity add the Rosemary, sage and thyme for flavor as well as several cloves of garlic and a pinch of coarse salt.
    7. Using cooking twine, tie the legs together. This is not necessary but a chicken does look more elegant with her knees together...!
    8. Sprinkle coarse salt over the top of the chicken
    9. Drizzle ¼ cup of olive oil generously over the chicken.
    10. Slice a whole head of garlic, skin on, in half (width wise) and place each half on opposite sides of the pan (skin side down)
    11. Arrange the diced potatoes around the chicken and garlic.
    12. Add the remaining olive oil over the garlic and potatoes.
    13. Place 3 tablespoons of butter around the potatoes. (Using butter as well as olive oil on the potatoes makes for the most amazing crispy potatoes!)
    14. Place your roasting pan on the middle rack of your oven. Set the timer for 1 hour 45 minutes
    15. Halfway though, take the roasting pan out of the oven and give the potatoes a stir so that they brown on all sides. Spoon some of the liquid at the bottom of the pan over the chicken to keep it moist. Set the chicken back in the oven and leave it alone until time is up!
    16. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest in the pan for 20 minutes before serving.

    Notes

    To test that you chicken is done - use a meat thermometer

    The temperature should read 165F. If you don't have a meat thermometer, a good indication that the chicken is done is that the skin has begun to pull away from the leg bone. Prick the thigh with a fork - the juices should run clear. If the juice is pink, put the chicken back in for 10 minutes or until the juice runs clear.

    One chicken easily serves 3-4 people (each person gets either a breast or a leg) . If you are serving 6 people I recommend roasting a second chicken. Simply add a second chicken to your pan if it is big enough or set a second pan in the oven - your cooking time will be the same.

    How to Make Chicken Broth:

    Pick the carcass for leftover meat. Set aside. In a large soup pot, cover the carcass (and the neck if you kept it) with water. Add 2 branches of celery, 2 carrots, 2 cloves of garlic (skin on), and 1 chopped leak. Season with rosemary, thyme and sage as well as a whole clove and a star anise (Le Chef's secret ingredient!). Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for 45 minutes. Strain out the liquid and you have your delicious broth! Perfect for freezing to add to a multitude of recipes or use as the base for the most delicious chicken soup with your leftover chicken meat!

    Keywords: Roast Chicken , French cooking, french food, chicken, poulet roti

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @lechefswife on Instagram

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    French Fall Dinner Party Menu »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mary Dunn says

      October 13, 2021 at 1:05 am

      This is just terrific. Thank you so much! Merci beaucoup!

      Reply
      • lechefswife says

        October 15, 2021 at 12:09 am

        Thank you so much for your comment, Mary! Much appreciated. Let me know how your roasted chicken turns out!

        Reply
    2. Louise says

      February 19, 2022 at 7:19 pm

      Making this tomorrow for our Sunday supper, 1/2 way of cooking I will add some artichoke heart! I will post a picture ♥️

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    3. Suzanne says

      March 03, 2022 at 4:46 am

      I am sold! I have turnips and rutabagas on hand and will use them instead of potatoes. Thank you!

      Reply
      • lechefswife says

        March 06, 2022 at 6:04 pm

        Let me know how it turns out! I made it with carrots and turnips the other day and it was perfection!

        Reply
    4. Cheryl says

      December 04, 2022 at 8:05 pm

      Hi Anina Belle
      Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I've roasted chicken for years, but I appreciate this technique that you've shared for a fuss free, perfect dish.

      Reply
      • lechefswife says

        December 05, 2022 at 9:56 pm

        Thank you so much Cheryl for your kind comment! I am so happy you enjoy the recipe! Bonne soirée, Anina Belle

        Reply

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    Bonjour. If you are looking for French Recipes, made simple, you are in the right place! I translate the fancy cooking of my French Chef husband into easy-to-follow recipes that busy people with no culinary training, like me, can cook. From French Baguettes to French Riviera classic recipes, I invite you to learn French cooking with me.

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