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How to Make Praised Chicken
Learn how to make Praised Chicken, which is a cross between a poached chicken and a braised chicken. This easy-to-make dish feeds a crowd and is the quintessential home-cooked meal that everyone will love!
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How Praised Chicken Got Its Name
Nigella Lawson is one of my favorite cookbook authors. When I came across a recipe in her cookbook, Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home, for what she loving calls her Mother’s Praised Chicken, I was intrigued!
It turns out that she uses the word praised as a combination of the two culinary words “poached” and “braised.” Her recipe combines the two cooking techniques to create a flavorful dish that is better than either a poached chicken or a braised chicken.
The Simple Way to Feed a Crowd
In addition to being easy to make, this recipe for Praised Chicken can also feed a crowd affordably. After cooking the chicken with vegetables in a water base, you create a delicious broth with incredibly tender chicken meat.
You can shred the chicken meat and add vegetables to stretch this recipe and comfortably feed a minimum of eight diners.
Praised Chicken Makes a Quick and Gelatinous Broth
When making Praised Chicken, you’ll find the broth it creates is rich and delicious. And if you have any leftovers to refrigerate, you’ll discover that it gels beautifully, proving that it is rich in cooked collagen, which is also known as gelatin.
And it’s this gelatin that we are after whenever we make broth or bone broth because gelatin is terrific for nourishing our digestive system. It also provides much-needed protein for our skin, hair, and nails!
Praised Chicken is a Mid-Century Classic
Although Nigella Lawson coined the adorable name for this particular chicken recipe, this meal was a fairly common dish made by many a mid-century mom who had a large family or group to feed.
As I mentioned earlier, Praised Chicken can feed a crowd because you can shred the chicken and extend this dish to fill many plates. Plus, depending on how many vegetables you add, you can stretch this dish even further.
And as Nigella shares in her cookbook, this dish isn’t just for a family meal. It is so appetizing and tasty that she often serves this recipe to company. As a matter of fact, my own mom often served this as a special wintertime Sunday dinner. (And how appropriate that this recipe is called Praised Chicken, especially when served on Sunday!)
More Chicken Recipes
In addition to making Praised Chicken on the stovetop, I show you how to cook a whole chicken in the oven or Instant Pot in the following videos. I’ll also show you how to spatchcock a chicken to make an easy sheet pan chicken dinner in just 45 minutes.
Chicken Bone Broth Recipes
After you make your whole chicken recipes, be sure to save your chicken carcass to make a delicious and nutritious chicken bone broth. Depending on what kitchen appliance you want to use, I’ll show you how to make:
Looking for Free-Ranged Chickens?
If you can’t find free-ranged chicken in your neighborhood supermarket or farmer’s market, check out US Wellness Meats for whole chickens and more quality meats.
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Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
Making Praised Chicken is an excellent way to start cooking traditional foods using ingredients from your four corners pantry, which includes your:
- Working pantry
- Refrigerator
- Freezer
- Extended pantry (or Prepper Pantry)
For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!
If you don’t have a Prepper Pantry, I show you how to easily get started in the following videos:
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In the following members-only video, I talk about the Ten Staples for the Traditional Foods Kitchen.
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Praised Chicken
Equipment
- Large Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Cooking fat I used ghee. You could also use butter, olive oil, coconut oil, or beef tallow.
- 1 whole Chicken
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes, optional
- 6 cups Vegetables, chopped into large pieces I usually use carrots, celery, and onions or leeks.
- 1 cup White wine or white vermouth, optional
- Water to fill Dutch oven halfway
Instructions
- Season the exterior of the whole chicken with salt and black pepper, as well as red pepper flakes, if using.
- Place the Dutch oven on your stovetop and set the burner to medium heat. Add cooking fat. Once the fat is sizzling, add the whole chicken, breast side down.
- Allow the chicken breast to turn golden brown. This process will take 3-5 minutes.
- Using a large wooden spoon or spatula, carefully flip the whole chicken so that it is now breast side up.
- Allow the back of the chicken to turn golden brown. This process will take 3-5 minutes.
- After chicken skin has browned on both sides, add white wine or white vermouth, if using, to the Dutch oven.
- Next, add water to the Dutch oven to come halfway up the sides of the Dutch oven. Be careful not to completely submerge the chicken. The breast should still be visible. (See video.)
- Turn the heat to high, and bring the mixture up to a boil. Cover the Dutch oven with a lid and turn the heat to low.
- Allow the chicken and vegetables to simmer on low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
- After the simmer time has elapsed, turn off the heat and transfer the chicken, vegetables, and broth to a large serving bowl. The chicken will be falling-off-the-bone tender.
- Bring the serving bowl to the table and serve the chicken by shredding it from the bone and placing the shredded chicken into individual bowls along with some vegetables and broth.
Video
Notes
Shop for items used in this blog post or video
Favorite Kitchen Supplies
- Favorite Aprons
- Staub Cast Iron 5.75-qt Coq au Vin Cocotte
- Staub Cast Iron 4-qt Round Cocotte
- Whisk
- Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
- 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
- Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
- Flour Sack Towels
More Kitchen Supplies with Discount Codes
- Mockmill Grain Grinder (for making homemade flour)
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Recommended Reading
Disclaimer:I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.
