This mouth-watering roasted tarragon chicken features a deliciously moist chicken with crispy golden skin, cooked in a rich tarragon and mustard cream sauce. To make it, you’ll need a whole chicken, olive oil, garlic, heavy cream, fresh tarragon, Dijon mustard, and white wine.
This dish is easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner but just fancy enough for a special occasion. This is my favorite take on Julius Roberts’ Epic Tarragon Roast Chicken recipe. It is baked over a bed of veggies plus loads of sliced leeks that melt in your mouth and add so much flavor to the pan sauce. It can definitely pass for a one pan meal but I love to serve it with some rice or even mashed potatoes, or crusty bread to enjoy with all the pan juices. Double carbing is essential sometimes ;)The chicken is baked uncovered making the skin nice and golden and lightly crisp on top. The cream not only helps bathe the chicken in more fat creating a more golden colour but it also helps this chicken stay super moist and tender. It also helps create that delicious braising liquid which reduces down to a delicious sauce. It may look like a lot of pan juices but it does thicken up and you won’t regret having that much sauce to enjoy!
Roasted Tarragon Chicken Ingredients
- CHICKEN: You will need about a 4 lb whole chicken. If it’s a little larger it’s ok you will have to bake it a little longer. We spatchcock the chicken for this recipe. It is quite simple to do – you can do it yourself (detailed instructions here) or get your butcher to do it for you.
- OLIVE OIL: This is to toss the veggies with and rub the chicken with.
- SPICES: Apart from salt and pepper I like to rub the chicken with dried thyme – it a complimentary spice for the tarragon.
- FRESH HERBS : Fresh tarragon is what we use for this recipe – I use approximately ½-¾ cup loosely packed tarragon leaves roughly chopped. Tarragon is a mainstay in French cooking and has a milder fennel /anise-scented flavor. It is mild and fresh and is great in this chicken dish. If you don’t have tarragon but might want the same flavor notes you could use fennel fronds or chervil, those might be more obscure though depending on where you live. You can use other flavors though like basil and fresh oregano or thyme and rosemary too – keep in mind that these fresh herbs are much stronger in flavor so you might want to adjust amounts to taste.
- VEGETABLES: This recipe includes red potatoes or you could use Yukon gold potatoes, carrots, celery and leeks.
- BROWN SUGAR: This is optional but recommend as it helps the leeks caramelize and helps the flavour really meld together. You could use honey instead if you prefer.
- CHICKEN BROTH: This is to help the veggies cook – they will roast up fine but the broth helps keep everything moist and from drying out.
- GARLIC: I like to leave the cloves whole but smashed. They are just such delicious morsels. You can either mash them into the pan juices or enjoy as is. They are super soft and pick up all the flavours form everything in the pan. Some recipes say to cook unpeeled and smashed then squeezed out before serving but I like to peel them before.
- WHITE WINE: Feel free to see any white wine you like and have on hand. I like using a dry white wine but any white wine will be nice in this recipe and really enhances the flavors of the pan juices.
- HEAVY CREAM: Along with the tarragon this is a signature element to this dish so I don’t recommend using anything lighter than heavy cream in fact it’s even better if you use double cream for a richer thicker sauce. The dish prides itself on dousing the bird with cream so I wouldn’t skip it or make it without it.
- MUSTARD: I like to use dijon mustard for this recipe because the flavor of it is perfect with this dish but plain yellow mustard will work too.
- LEMON ZEST: This is the perfect way to get the nice bright flavors of lemon without using lemon juice in the cream which would essentially curdle it. The cream does separate a little regardless cause of the wine and the natural chicken drippings but it does not curdle and settles when stirred and thickens as it rests.
How To Make This Easy One Pan Roasted Tarragon Chicken
- SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN yourself or have your butcher do it (simple full instructions on how to do so here)
- RUB chicken all over with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme
- TOSS the veggies in the roasting pan with olive oil, broth, brown sugar, salt and pepper
- NESTLE chicken over veggies and ROAST 30 minutes
- REMOVE chicken from oven, pour wine around the veggies, then pour creamy tarragon mixture all over the chicken
- ROAST chicken for another 40-45 minutes at a lower temperature
- REST for a few minutes after its cooked and out oven then enjoy with all the tasty pan juices
Roasted Creamy Tarragon Chicken Storage, Make Ahead, & Freezing
- STORAGE: Store leftover roasted chicken in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, ensuring it’s cooled completely and packaged airtight to maintain quality.
- MAKE AHEAD: You can spatchcock the chicken and also season and marinate it a day ahead and keep it in an airtight bag or container in the fridge until 30-60 mins before you roast it. You can also clean, peel and chop all your veggies and store them in a sealed container in the fridge for 1-2 days.
- FREEZING: If you would like to freeze any part of this dish I recommend it only be the chicken. Cream tends to separate when frozen and the potatoes change texture as well so I don’t recommend freezing the sauce or the veggies. You can freeze the chicken in whole or in portions for up to 4 months, ensuring it’s cooled completely and packaged airtight to maintain quality and prevent freezer burn. Thaw in the fridge then heat up in the oven or in the microwave.
