This Basque-style chicken or poulet basque features tender, juicy chicken thighs and drumsticks cooked in a vibrant and delicious saucy mixture of tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and garlic, and finished off with salty, briny olives. This recipe is perfect for a cozy family dinner or special enough to serve company.
Recently I’ve been cooking a lot of other people’s recipes. It’s what I do when I’m tired and uninspired, which, happens to all of us. This is a recipe that I first saw in the New York Times last year from Martha Rose Shulman and I’ve made it many times since. Over that time, I’ve added a few twists to it that I’m sharing today.
What drew me to this recipe is that it uses a bunch of bell peppers, which, no matter what I always have dying at the bottom of my crisper drawer. I also love that it uses more economical cuts of chicken–thighs and drumsticks.
📋 Ingredients you’ll need
This dish is from the Basque region in France and uses a lot of the ingredients you’ll find in their regional dishes–namely, peppers and tomatoes.
In fact, you could swap out the chicken here and use cod and you’d have a version of their famous cod Basquaise.
- For the meat, I use a combination of drumsticks and bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. You could use one or the other, depending on what you have on hand.
- The saucy mixture is a combination of colorful vegetables; diced tomatoes, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, onion and garlic. And while, not traditional, I love to add optional jalapeno peppers for a spicy twist, which can be easily omitted for a milder taste.
- A traditional Basque chicken uses espelette, which is a pepper with a sweet, fruity, and berry-like flavor with a mild heat. It’s not something that is really easy to find here, so I’ve used a touch of smoked paprika in its place to season the chicken.
- A touch of acidity helps to balance the richness of tomatoes, so I deglaze with white wine, this also helps scrape up all the delicious flavor at the bottom of the pan from browning from the chicken.
- Finally, Kalamata olives. The first time I ate Martha’s version, I found I was really missing something briny and salty. While not traditional of the region, I do love the flavor they add. You could certainly use another olive in its place, castelvetrano would also be delicious.
🔪 Step by step instructions
This recipe is so delicious to make and comes together in one pot. Let’s make it!
Sprinkle, both sides of chicken pieces evenly with smoked paprika and salt.
Heat olive oil in a braising dish over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces, skin side down and sear for 5-7 minutes, until skin has browned and chicken lifts easily from the bottom of the pan. Flip, and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add onions, and cook, until browed, about 2-3 minutes.
Add bell peppers, garlic and jalapeno peppers to the onions. Cook, stirring frequently until peppers begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with white wine and cook another minute, scraping brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
Add in diced tomatoes. The mixture should be liquidy and bubbling, nestle chicken pieces back into the pan. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes. Stirring frequently and turning the chicken pieces over so that the ingredients don’t scorch and the chicken cooks evenly. The peppers will be very soft and the chicken quite tender.
Stir in Kalamata olives and sprinkle with parsley. Serve over rice or pasta.
Tip: The vegetables will release liquid as they cook, so if the mixture seems dry when you add the chicken don’t worry!
✏️ Substitutions
There are a few ingredients that can be easily substituted:
- White wine can be swapped for red wine if that’s what you have on hand. If you don’t want to use any alcohol, simply use chicken broth in place of the wine and add a touch of balsamic vinegar when you add the tomatomes.
- Jalapeno peppers are definitely optional! They add a nice kick, but you could leave them out or use a more mild pepper like poblano peppers.
- Kalamata olives could be replaced with another favorite olive like Castelvetrano.
Storage
This dish stores really well! It’s even the type of thing you can make beforehand and heat before serving. The chicken is tender and the skin browning is done to add flavor–not crispy texture.
Related recipes
Are you looking for more chicken recipes? Try these:
Basque Chicken
Ingredients
- 6-8 bone-in chicken drumsticks or thighs
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced, optional
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers, minced (optional)
- ⅓ cup white wine
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- ⅓ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- Fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- Season both sides of the chicken evenly with smoked paprika and ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- Heat olive oil in a braising dish over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces, in batches, skin side down, and sear for 5-7 minutes, until the skin has browned and the chicken lifts easily from the bottom of the pan. Flip and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Add sliced onions to the pan and cook until browned, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add bell peppers, garlic, and jalapeno peppers to the onions. Cook, stirring frequently, until the peppers begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add the white wine and cook for another minute, scraping brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes. The mixture should be liquidy and bubbling. Nestle the chicken pieces back into the pan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 25 minutes. Stir frequently, turning the chicken pieces to prevent scorching and ensure even cooking. The peppers will be very soft and the chicken quite tender.
- Stir in the Kalamata olives and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Notes
- You can use a combination of drumsticks and thighs, or just one or the other depending on what you have on hand.
- You can substitute the white wine with chicken broth, but add a touch of balsamic vinegar for some acidity when you add the tomatoes.
Leave a Review