Craig Claiborne’s Smothered Chicken Recipe (2024)

Absolutely delicious. Have made this at least ten times. Prefer it with bone in thighs.
I usually add a splash of white wine, a few sprigs of thyme, & 2-3 garlic cloves to the gravy.
To truly have tender chicken, braise in the gravy for an hour--needs much longer than 20-30 mins.

The most important tip I've (finally) learned is to thoroughly pat the skin dry before putting in. Best to let the chicken or meat come to room temp, maybe even put some salt on to draw moisture out. Then pat dry. Took me decades, but this works for all cooking. This recipe is great training. I love it. I agreed with the comment below about starting the pan a little hotter, then turning it down with the weight on.

I've been buying whole chickens, spatchco*cked, at my local butcher shop: the right size for cast-iron preparations. I know everyone else has raved about this recipe, but my husband and I found it dated. We felt like our mothers cooked this in the '60s. The sauce is bland and full of calories. Next time I'll follow recipe up to gravy step and instead use wine and broth, some thyme and garlic, a dash of sirracha? Otherwise cooking directions are perfect: yields a nicely browned, juicy bird.

Drying thoroughly is helpful. I find that another way to help keep the chicken from sticking is not to disturb it until the skin is well browned. If you try to turn the chicken before the skin is browned the skin will stick to the pan.

I've been cooking chicken this way for 45 years, as my grandmother taught me. Never saw the recipe written down before. Grandma added a little sugar at the browning stage - caramelizes nicely. Of course, Grandma often started with the first rule of cooking chicken - catch the chicken!

That's the trouble with 1950s chicken recipes: they're designed for smaller chickens without all the retained water of today's mainstream versions. A kosher or heritage bird usually solves this problem.

I have made this recipe three times during this difficult winter. I love, love, love it! However, I have not yet mastered the low temperature technique. I have to turn up the heat at first to make sure the pan is quite hot before putting the chicken in. Then I turn it down and "go to town!" I have even made this on a weeknight after work. Deliciously tender with great gravy. Comfort food for an uncomfortable winter!

I have Craig Claibornes book: A Feast Made For Laughter. It's a fabulous read if you can still get it I highly recommend you do do. This one did not make it into his top 100 recipes but Lemon Chicken did (very good) Chicken Cutlets Pojarski and Chicken with Noodles Parisienne. He tells a great story, the book is well worth tracking down.Kind regardsRicky

Just a delicious way to cook a chicken. Great with mashed or smashed potatoes and a nice green salad. Pickled beets are a nice side too.

I followed the recipe for the most part, but used about 4 tablespoons of butter and during the last 30 minutes added about 8 quartered mushrooms that I didn't want to waste because they were getting old. Next time I'll cut the final cooking to about 25 minutes — the chicken was very slightly over done but still delicious. I served the chicken with Claiborne's Kitchen Primer recipe "The Best Way To Make Rice" that I've been making for over forty years.

Video! Yes, love to see Sam cook, as another writer noted. Best versions depend on good chicken and stock. But drying the bird uncovered in the ‘frig helps the skin crisp up. Watched my grandmother make dishes like this - she accompanied with dumplings. Over 60 years ago, I can see her glasses steaming up as she watched over her bird. Most likely from a farmer we knew; summers in New Hampshire, a world we evoke when we cook this way. Thank you for bringing back this kind of timeless recipe.

Maybe your not using a good pan or butter? Some margarines have water in them as does olive oil which will cause chicken to stick. You need to let the pan heat up a bit, then add butter, just as the butter starts to brown, add the chicken.

After digging through the chickens at Whole Foods trying to find a 3.5 pounder (it was already 3:30 pm and I did not want to have to cook this thing for more than the time stated above), I finally discovered one of appropriate size. It turned out gorgeous. the gravy...oh man. I sprinkled a few spoonfuls of it over my salad too...and the other sides I made. The skin came out rich, crispy, buttery. Everything you'd want out of a whole chicken. Very low maintenance cooking. Will do it again :)

Chicken was delicious and so was the sauce although it was a little rich. Also wonder if I could have just used a grill press instead of a plate.

Absolutely delicious!

This recipe yielded a very tender bird, but the sauce was too bland for my taste. It was my first time cooking a spatchco*ck chicken under the brick, so that was exciting. Next time I’ll add a dry rub to the bird and add onions, garlic and thyme to the gravy (maybe wine). I like the idea of getting the pan hot and reducing the heat. As always, make sure the bird is dry.

Follow recipe, not video — 2 tbsp butter only, add all the broth, don’t add wine at all.

Excellent! Made with a pack of thighs instead of whole chicken. Added white wine and a couple dashes of worstershire to the gravy otherwise followed recipe. Previous comments about using a tea kettle for a weight are GENIUS and I will be using that trick for other things.

What is the recommendation for the "low heat" setting?

Forget the bricks! Fill a tea kettle and put it on the plate for your weight. Heavier than bricks; round shape means no awkward balancing.

A filled tea kettle makes a perfect weight— heavy, fits nicely on the plate. Sweet, old-fashioned but delicious recipe!

Always make more gravy! I left all the fat in the pan, sauteed a bit of crushed garlic, used 3 tbsp of flour, 2 cups of broth, a splash of white wine, a little powdered thyme. Used little salt and almost no pepper. Very tasty. I couldn't brown it as thoroughly as I would have liked. A kitchen torch would have helped. I goofed and poured all the broth in at once- made no obvious difference in the final product.

I sauté a whole sliced onion and remove it before adding the chicken to brown. After browning the chicken and creating the gravy, I add the chicken and onions back and include some sliced celery-with the leaves (lots of flavor in the leaves). This is my Daughter's favorite dish. Happy cooking everyone!

My mom called this fricasseed chicken. She used parts not whole chicken. So good

The recipe calls or 2 tablespoons of butter but in the video I would say Sm is using more like 3-4 tablespoons of butter?

So good! Made it with bone-in thighs but otherwise followed the recipe to a T. With the simple seasoning of salt and pepper, you would not believe how rich the flavor becomes using this method. Served alongside rosemary roasted potatoes.

Some herbs to add to the gravyZest of 1 lemon2-3 cloves garlic, minced1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, roughly choppedSalt and pepper (to taste)

The comments refer to a sauce, but there is none in the recipe. Just the suggested alternatives to include in the "sauce".