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This Chicken Au Poivre is a whole spatchcocked chicken roasted in a creamy black peppercorn sauce with shallots, garlic, rosemary, and sherry. The black peppercorns bring a bold, peppery flavor that’s balanced by the rich cream, making a sauce you’ll want to spoon over absolutely everything.
What I love about this recipe is how the sauce becomes part of the roasting process. The chicken gets a head start in the oven before the warm peppercorn cream sauce is poured over top. As it continues roasting, you baste the chicken with the sauce. Serve it over a big pile of mashed potatoes to soak up every last drop.
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Why You’ll Love This Chicken Au Poivre
- That creamy peppercorn sauce: Rich heavy cream, crushed black peppercorns, garlic, and shallots come together for the delicious sauce.
- A whole roasted chicken: Spatchcocking the chicken allows it to lie flat in the pan while roasting, making it perfect for basting with the sauce.
- Simple but impressive: This is the kind of dish that looks beautiful served at the dinner table, whether you’re cooking for your family or hosting friends.
- Made for mashed potatoes: The creamy sauce needs to be served with something that can soak it all up!
What Goes Into the Peppercorn Sauce?
The sauce is what makes this Chicken Au Poivre recipe so special. It’s creamy, peppery, and full of flavor from a handful of delicious ingredients.
Black peppercorns: Coarsely ground or smashed black peppercorns give this sauce its signature peppery flavor. You want that coarser texture rather than finely ground pepper.
Heavy whipping cream: This creates the rich, creamy base of the sauce and balances the boldness of the black peppercorns.
Sherry: Dry sherry cooking wine adds a layer of flavor. You can also use a dry white wine, or substitute chicken broth if you’d prefer to skip the wine.
Shallots, garlic, and rosemary: These aromatics bring so much flavor to the sauce.
Spiceology Greek Freak Seasoning: This seasoning brings everything together with another layer of savory flavor.
A Little Tip for the Perfect Roast
One thing to remember with this recipe is that you don’t add the cream sauce right away. The chicken roasts for the first 20 minutes before the warmed peppercorn sauce is poured over it.
Make sure you’re using a high-sided baking sheet or baking dish so there’s plenty of room to hold the chicken and all that yummy sauce. Continue basting the chicken every 15 minutes as it roasts, and use a food thermometer to check that it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
What to Serve With Chicken Au Poivre
If there’s one thing you need with this chicken, it’s something to soak up that creamy peppercorn sauce!
My first choice is mashed potatoes. The potatoes are perfect with the rich sauce spooned over top. The ultimate comfort meal!
You can also serve this chicken with my crispy roasted potatoes if you want something with a little crunch. Alternatively, skip the potatoes and serve with rice.
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Ingredients
For the chicken
- 1 (3 to 4 lb) whole chicken, spatchcocked
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp kosher salt
For the peppercorn sauce
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns, coarsely ground or smashed
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ tsp Spiceology Greek Freak Seasoning
- 2 small shallots, diced or sliced
- 2 tsp fresh minced rosemary
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup dry sherry cooking wine (or a dry white wine)
For serving
- serve with mashed potatoes, rice or roasted potatoes
Instructions
Start Cooking- Preheat the oven to 400F and set an oven rack to the middle position.
- First start by spatchcocking the chicken:
- Place the chicken breast-side down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Using a sharp pair of kitchen shears to cut up along each side of the backbone, making sure to cut through the rib bones as you go.
- Open the chicken, flattening out and turning it over onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Flatten the chicken further by pressing the breastbone with your hand. Place the spatchcocked chicken on a baking sheet with high sides or in a baking dish. Pat both sides of the chicken with a paper towel and then remove the parchment paper.
- Season the underside of the chicken with 1 tsp kosher salt. Then, flip the chicken over to skin-side up and brush the skin with the olive oil. Season the skin side with 1 tsp kosher salt.
- Place the chicken in the oven for 20 minutes.
- While the chicken is in the oven, add the crushed peppercorns, heavy whipping cream, Greek Freak seasoning, diced shallots, minced rosemary, minced garlic and dry sherry cooking wine to a medium pot. Warm over medium heat for about 5 minutes until just warm to the touch, give it a good stir and set aside with the lid on.
- After the chicken has been in the oven for 20 minutes, take it out of the oven. Give the cream mixture a good stir and then slowly pour the sauce all over the chicken.
- Place the chicken back in the oven and bake until the chicken is cooked through to an internal temperature of 165F, basting every 15 minutes with the sauce.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, let sit for 10-15 minutes before carving and serving.
Notes
- If you don’t want to use sherry or white wine, substitute with chicken broth.
- Serve with our Classic Mashed Potatoes Recipe or Crispy Roasted Potatoes
- If you love this recipe, try our Roasted Chicken and Potatoes with Champagne Gravy
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