Farmhouse chicken braise recipe

This simple chicken and vegetable tray bake makes a lovely and simple alternative to a classic Sunday roast.

This farmhouse chicken braise really ticks all the boxes. When it comes to making family meals, its difficult to achieve the triple hit of cheap, easy and tasty. But this dish is all three. You only need a quarter of an hour or less to prep the tray for baking, then it cooks in just 40 minutes. We've used chicken thighs here - partly because they're a really good price, but also because they taste better than breast meat.

This recipe is part of our cheap family meals collection – under £1 a head.

Ingredients

• 12 skin on chicken thighs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 500g small Chantenay carrots
• 2 large leeks, thickly sliced
• Sprigs of thyme and parsley
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 150ml double cream or crème fraiche
• 2 tsp each coarse-grain mustard and English mustard

Method

1. Set the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Heat a large frying pan and add the chicken thighs, in 1 or 2 batches, skin-side down. Cook until the skin browns well, then turn them over and cook for another couple of mins. Take them out and set aside.
2. Drain off all the fat from the pan. Add the oil and when hot, add the carrots and leeks and cook for about 5 mins. Spread the veg out in a large baking dish or roasting tin. Add the sprigs of thyme and parsley. Season well. Put the chicken thighs on top. Season again and pour in 600ml boiling water - enough to almost cover the meat. Cover with foil or a lid. Cook for 30 mins, take off the foil and cook for a further 20 mins.
3. Pour the stock into a jug. Cover the chicken with foil to keep it warm. Bring 300ml of the stock to the boil in a small pan and reduce it by half. Stir in the cream or crème fraiche, whisk well and simmer for a few minutes. Add the mustards and seasoning. Serve the sauce with the chicken, along with potatoes, beans and peas, if you like.

Top tip for making farmhouse chicken braise

If you want to make this dish lower in calories and fat, swap the double cream for low-fat creme fraiche instead. Use skinless chicken thighs too as the skin has a higher fat content.

You might also like…

Low calorie meals: Dinners under 500 calories

Chicken thigh recipes

How long does it take to cook chicken thighs? A guide on everything you need to about cooking chicken thighs correctly