One-Pan Dijon Chicken and Pearl Couscous
With shallots and herbs de Provence
Hello! Welcome back! Skip all the rambling and scroll right to the bottom of this post for a printer-friendly PDF of the recipe only.
My ethos here at Saturday Table is to create recipes that elevate the every day and make any day of the week feel a little more like Saturday. Today’s recipe hits the nail on the head.
It’s a one-pan, one-hour meal (a lot of that is hands-off oven time) that’s easy enough to whip up any night of the week but special enough to make for a dinner party. There are a few steps involved in making it, but I promise it’s unfussy and so, so delicious.
Tell me more
It starts with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, which get coated in olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence and seared in an oven-safe pan until they’re golden and crispy. Next, a big handful of shallots take a quick spin in all that delicious, schmaltzy goodness before being joined by some Dijon mustard, white wine, pearl couscous, and chicken broth. The chicken thighs are nestled back into the mixture, and the whole thing is covered and thrown into the oven until the chicken is cooked through, the shallots are melty and jammy, and the couscous is soft but chewy and a little bit crispy around the edges of the pan (the best part).
I posted this recipe on my Instagram last year, and it’s one of my most viral to date. Everyone who has made it has loved it, and I’ve had several people reach out to tell me that it’s the best thing they’ve ever cooked and has become part of their regular dinnertime rotation. I hope you love it just as much.
Before you start
If you’d rather use chicken breasts, go ahead. I had a few people tell me they did so without changing the cooking time and the results were perfect.
Can’t find pearl couscous? Use rice instead.
You can use extra broth in place of the white wine, if that floats your boat.
I like to serve this with crusty bread and butter and a nice, zippy side salad. Check out my go-to side salad recipe (#7 in this post) here.
The recipe
Note: recipe video can be found here
One-Pan Dijon Chicken and Pearl Couscous with Shallots and Herbs de Provence
Serves: 4 (or less, depending on how hungry you are)
Cook time: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Active cook time: 25 minutes
Special equipment:
An oven-safe skillet, such as a cast iron skillet
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided into two
About 1.5 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (4 total)
1.5 tablespoons herbs de Provence
4-6 shallots, peeled and halved
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup pearl couscous
2 cups chicken or veggie broth
Salt & pepper
Mix chicken with 2 tablespoons olive oil, herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper, making sure it’s completely coated.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet. When the oil is ready, place the chicken, skin-side down, in the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes undisturbed. Flip the chicken and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
Remove chicken from pan and add in the shallots. Cook for about 10 minutes, until starting to brown and soften. Add in white wine and scrape up anything that’s stuck to the pan. Stir in mustard, then add in couscous and broth. Season with salt and stir to combine.
Add the chicken thighs back in, nestling them in the couscous mixture, and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
Notes
Make ahead: You can make this ahead of time then reheat it in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until heated through, when you’re ready to serve.
Leftovers: Warm any leftovers up in a pan on the stove or in the microwave. The leftovers from this one are also good cold, in my opinion.
Herbs de Provence: I bought mine in Provence (I know, I’m bragging), but you can find this at Trader Joe’s, most grocery stores, and Amazon. If you can’t find it, you can look up a recipe and make it yourself! That’s what my aunt, who just so happens to make every single one of my recipes, does. (Hi, Auntie!)
Comments? Questions?
I’m all ears. Leave a comment below or email me at hellosaturdaytable@gmail.com. There’s nothing I love more than chatting with you all!
Just bought some herbs de Provence! I’ll have to use them here.