Jamie Oliver's Chicken in Milk Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Prior to watching the video of Jamie Oliver and the Italian chef making this dish together, I had a lot of the same questions about the details too. Watch the video and all of your concerns and questions, i.e. ‘why toss the butter?’ will be answered. I followed the info in the video and this has been the most intensely flavorful Chicken recipe I’ve ever eaten. Incredibly different from the printed recipe. Btw, the butter becomes burnt at the bottom and needs to be tossed a couple of times to get the yummy browned skin in order to roast in the oven with all those delicious flavors. Garlic skins keep the garlic mild and sweet, the ‘curds’ become a wonderful ricotta-like cheese. This is truly deliciously genius.

Made this for dinner tonight. It was the easiest recipe I've ever done with chicken and it turned out perfect! My sage hasn't come in fully this season, so I augmented what my garden produced with thyme and marjoram with two top snips of savory. I served the chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli; whisked the sauce and poured it over the mashed potatoes to serve a perfect side. The chicken was moist, tender and perfect. I will be repeating this recipe1. Thanks, Jaimie!

Sauce was fragrant and, yes, strangely appealing. Chicken itself was a bit dry and not very flavorful. Going back to Richard Olney's chicken (also curd-ish), and jamie's chicken with basil and tomatoes. But I love this site and all the inspiration!

I'm presently starting this good looking recipe, and will come back with my guests comments later! but I just wanted to give my French part: garlic baked with skins on is a very French treat,called "ail en chemise", literally garlic with its shirt on, and offers the best way to taste garlic, it is said that cooked this way it does not give the regular after taste and smelly breath..

Garlic, with the skins on? Can you eat those or should you discard? Do the skins lend any unique flavor? So curious!

Has anyone tried this with coconut milk?

I usually use olive oil and have changed the recipe by using a pint of heavy cream instead of milk and leaving out the lemon (because the person who eats dinner with me is not a big fan of anything lemon). This sauce doesn't split into curds so if that's the draw for you, forget doing it. BUT it does makes a delicious cream sauce. You can leave out all seasoning, except salt and pepper (which is what I usually do), and it's plain and rich and wonderful, especially served over basmati rice (I use Meera Sodha's recipe from Made in India, which heats up well in the microwave). Whenever I can find a D'Artagnan Organic Chicken that is only 3-½ pounds, I always snag it. It is perfect here. Also, I start with a VERY dry chicken and cook it in hot olive oil. Then when I take it out of the pan to get rid of the oil, I salt and pepper the chicken all over before I put it back in the pan, add the cream, cover the pot, and plop the whole thing in the oven. You can probably add whatever seasonings you feel like - the cinnamon, perhaps curry powder, cardamom, etc. I imagine the sky's the limit. Anyway, if this appeals to you at all, I recommend you give this a go.

jean January 6, 2017

I recall my Scottish mom or gran poaching fish in milk. Black Cod. Kippers. Sole. I've never tried chicken...but sounds good. Fish is delish done this way. Not fussy and very simple.

Lovely...lots of extras for other dishes.

After browning I finished it in the slow cooker. It was good, but the flavor was quite mild. Not sure what the big deal is.

julie February 3, 2016

Ha! The first time I made this dish I used 2% milk and had a much nicer
"sauce". Last evening I used whole milk and had less sauce as well as the curds sticking to the sage. 2% milk is the key for me.

I am so flabbergasted that anyone would WANT to eat curds instead of the silky sauce after removing the fat layer and blending the sauce. ForGET this Oliver guy and look up the brilliant Paula Wolfert's version.

I wouldn't worry about sage, lemon zest peel or garlic adhering to the curds. They are easily enough separated from them. I do remember the second time I made this, that I added some hot water (just a little) to move things around in the pot and to add to the sauce after I spooned off some of the fat. This inspiration came from Marcella Hazan's recipe for Pork Loin Braised in Milk. It too had curds that were thinned out a bit with warm water, which was then spooned over the sliced meat before being brought to the table. If you're worried about overcooking your chicken, start to take its internal temperature about one-hour to make sure it is approximately 165-degrees in the breasts. The thighs and drumsticks will take a little longer to reach that temperature--remove the white meat and keep cover and warm while the rest finishes. Don't worry about the size of the curds--they will still remain curds--just smaller.

Made this tonight and while the chicken was good, it wasn't fantastic, and I don't think I'll make it again. As a previous commenter noted, the curds were stuck to the sage, garlic and lemon zest - so it was impossible to spoon the juice and curds over the chicken as instructed. I thought about straining the sauce, but then would have lost the curds. So I just served it as it was on the side, but it was a bit of a mess. Also, an hour and a half cooking time was too much for the chicken, even though mine was 4 1/2 pounds.

Would buttermilk work for this recipe?

warre January 9, 2016

I could only find 6 lb chicken. double everything????

Coconut milk might work. Sorta sounds good. May try it myself.

julie January 4, 2016

Made the dish for dinner and YUMMMMMMM! Wondering if you could use thai coconut milk?

Delicious. Moist and flavorful. Was really excited about the "gravy." The curds ended up sticking to the sage and the garlic, so was hard to get a lot of that creamyness that everyone was raving about. Would absolutely make it again though. So easy.

Cindi January 2, 2016

This was a winner in our house. I spatchco*cked the chicken for easier browning. I simply put a pot lid on top for weigh distribution and it formed a nice even brown skin. I also used a 3 1/2 quart braising Le Creuset dish which was the perfect size for the bird. Next time I may leave the lid on until the end as we would have enjoyed more liquid.