When you read the recipe, you’ll be dubious. There is no denying this is an odd combination of ingredients. But I promise you, this Chicken in Milk is seriously delicious. It is one of the best roast chickens I have ever had in my life. Ever.
To say that this is one of the best roast chickens I have ever had in my life is a big call, I know. That’s how good this is.
When you read the recipe, you’ll probably be as dubious as I was. “Lemon and milk? Surely that will curdle. And a cinnamon stick? This just sounds weird.”
I then took to Google out of curiosity to see if others had tried it. To my surprise, there were many and they raved about it! Quite a few even declared this to be the best chicken they’ve ever had. I can’t say that with my hand on my heart (it’s up against Southern Fried Chicken, Korean Chicken, Karaage….to name a few!), however, there is no doubt that this is one of the best chickens I have ever had. Possibly the best roast chicken I have ever had.
And it is so much easier than traditional roast chicken. Virtually foolproof. Insanely juicy, flavour infused chicken every single time.
What It Tastes Like
The chicken is baked for 1.5 hours in the braising liquid so it is really tender. Not “fall apart” tender, but it’s not a roast for carving. It’s more for tearing bits off.
Because it is baked uncovered for most of the time, the skin comes out lovely and crispy on top. The braising liquid, which reduces down to a sauce, is truly incredible. It infuses into the chicken and reduces down into what I call “liquid gold”. There’s a hint of cinnamon fragrance, garlic, subtle lemon freshness and the muskiness of sage, all mixed through the chicken juice. The garlic is a treat in itself. Cooked until soft, I pop them straight out the skin straight into my mouth. If there are any leftover, I spread it onto toast – best treat ever!
I was convinced the milk and lemon would end up as a curdled mess, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The milk dissolves into little bits of curd which might look a bit odd at first glance but when you take a bite, it’s almost like little tiny bits of bocconcini or buffalo mozarrella cheese. I wanted more of it!
In conclusion, I’m pretty certain that this is going to be my “go to” recipe when I have whole chickens to cook. It is ridiculously easy to make, with the hardest part being the browning of the chicken (I’ve provided a few tips that I picked up when I was doing it).
So without further ado, here’s the recipe!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Jamie Oliver's Chicken in Milk {Seriously Delish}
Ingredients
- 3 - 3.5 lb / 1.5 - 1.8 kg whole chicken
- 2 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
- Black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 stick cinnamon
- 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves
- 2 lemons , zest only (avoid grating the pith which is bitter)
- 10 cloves of garlic , whole, skin on
- 2 1/4 cups milk (I used low fat)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190C/375F.
- Wash the chicken under water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Sprinkle over the salt and 5 grinds of black pepper and pat all over the chicken, concentrating on the top and sides.
- Heat oil in a heavy based pot over high heat. (Note 1)
- Brown the chicken all over as best you can. I find the easiest way to do this (and minimising skin tearing) is with tongs stuck in the rear of the chicken and a wooden spoon to lift and leverage the chicken. Tilt the chicken as required to brown as much of the skin as you can. (Note 2)
- If you can manage it (or if you have a helper), pour the excess fat out of the pot with the chicken still in it. If you can't, remove the chicken onto a plate, then drain the fat.
- Add the remaining ingredients into the pot (return the chicken to the pot if you removed it).
- Bake covered for 40 minutes, then bake uncovered for 50 minutes (1.5 hrs in total).
- Let stand for 5 minutes or so before removing the chicken from the pot onto a serving plate. Serve the sauce on the side. I prefer not to strain it because I want the bits of curd and garlic on my chicken, as well as bits of sage.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Mary Ann says
Can I make this with split half chickens for a dinner party….would prefer to serve it that way for dinner party and not carve anything? Any recommendations?
Nagi says
Hi Mary Ann! I think large pieces will work GREAT! Actually you’ll get more flavour infusion into the flesh 🙂 N x
Marianne says
Its Sunday and I’ve made another one of your recipes. Today I made the chicken baked in milk. The fragrance emanating from the oven while it was cooking was otherworldly. I really enjoyed this dish and wouldn’t hesitate to make it again, but next time I won’t sub rubbed sage for fresh sage. I think I fell a little short on flavor because I didn’t use fresh sage. My flavors were on the delicate side. I was also thinking just a pinch of cloves or allspice might be kind of interesting on the next go around. But regardless, of my thoughts for the next time, my husband gave it two thumbs up today. Can’t wait to try another recipe next Sunday!!
Nagi says
AWESOME! So happy to hear you enjoyed this Marianne, and thanks for letting me know. Sounds like a perfect Sunday to me! N x
Kieran says
Hi,
I am about to cook this but someone has purchased a very large 2.5 kg chicken, how shall i alter the ingrediants and method? Please help
Nagi says
Hi! Just use the same ingredients but bake it for an extra 15 minutes covered. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Suraj says
Made this at a dinner party and the outcome was absolutely divine. Pure genius! Was a bit nervous in the beginning, but your recipe directions are totally spot on. Stuffed the chicken with lemon and added it to the sauce for some extra zing to suit my palate.
Also made Gordon Ramsay’s stuffed roast chicken with chorizo on the same night, and this stuffing is ridiculously delicious! A must try.
Love this blog and can’t wait to try all your gorgeous recipes! Feel like I’ve hit a gold mine^^v
Nagi says
Woah! What a SPREAD!!! I am so glad you enjoyed this Suraj and I understand why you were nervous at the beginning, I was a bit sceptical too! 🙂 N x
Raquel says
Hi Tin,
i would like to do this for our dinner. I’m just a little concern about the cinnamon stick? shall i directly dump it in the pot or shall i grated it?
I hope to hear from you soon.
thank you for posting a lot of easy to make recipes.
Godbless 🙂
Raquel
Nagi says
Hi Raquel! Yup, dump it straight into the pot whole, no grating required!!
Evangeline says
This is very good! My first time roasting a chicken and it was easy, and came out so succulent!! I did add in half a diced eggplant into the sauce at half time baking and it came out nicely mushy ?.
Nagi says
Yesssss!!! So glad you enjoyed it Evangeline, thanks for letting me know! N x
rebecca says
MAKING THIS TONIGHT!! Can I substitute the fresh sage for dried rubbed sage? if so how much would you recommend? I made the Lemon Greek One Pot Chicken Thighs the other night and it blew me away!!! Love your recipes!! Thanks for sharing!
Nagi says
OOOH! I hope you LOVE IT Rebecca!!! 🙂
Michelle says
I love your recipes Nagi!
Do you think I could substitute the cinnamon stick with cinnamon spice? I don’t think I have any sticks in my pantry :|.
Nagi says
Michelle, so sorry for the late response, hope I’m not too late 🙂 Yes you can – I am guessing 1/4 tsp. Only a bit because the fragrance is quite subtle! N x
Peter says
How do you brown the chicken.sorry I am new to this game
Nagi says
Hi Peter! The directions are in step 5 🙂
monika says
hi Nagi,could I do this chicken in the slowcooker??Monika
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Sorry Monika, this is one for the oven 🙂
Sam says
Hi Nagi,
I made this last night for my book club christmas dinner. It was a big hit. It’s not the most attractive dish because of the split milk but the flavours are amazing together. And the smell coming out of the oven while the chicken is roasting is out of this world. I put the chicken breast side down (to keep it moist in the milk) and kept the lid on for the first hour then turned the chicken breast side up for the last 30 minutes without the lid to brown.
Thanks for another fantastic recipe Nagi!
Sam
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Oooh! I’m so glad you loved it Sam!! I know, I was VERY dubious about this because I knew the milk and lemon would split. But it WORKS!!! Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback Sam, I really appreciate it!
Rhonda says
I have this baking in the oven, I seriously cannot wait!!! I looks and smells absolutely amazing!!.. I’m hoping it turns out, i’ve read while researching this, some people wanted more sauced, I doubled the sauce ingredients, now i’m wondering if that might have not been such a good idea. * crosses fingers lol
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Rhonda! Looking forward to hearing what you think!! The reason I don’t make more sauce is because then the chicken is submerged in lots of liquid so less of the skin goes golden 🙂
KD says
I’ll be making this for a birthday lunch on Tuesday — can anyone who’s made it suggest some good sides (prefer salads of some sort, but also would consider quinoa) — sides need to be gluten free for the birthday girl – thanks!
Kare says
My chookie is in the oven as I write this ! Can’t wait to try it 🙂
Also Nagi, we were totally wrapped in your beef cheeks in red wine, it was delish and I turned the left overs into pies and also a pasta dish with the addition of canned tomatoes !
YUM YUM 🙂
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Chookie? Kare, you MUST be a fellow Aussie!! I really hope you love this, I REALLY enjoyed it. 🙂
I’m so glad you loved the beef cheeks!! Aren’t they incredible??! 🙂 LOVE that you used leftovers for pies and pasta, that’s what I do!! N x
Kare says
Yes Nagi, I am an Aussie 🙂
Loved the chicken, it was incredibly tender and so moist !
Another winner 🙂
Nagi | RecipeTin says
YAY!!! Jamie Oliver rocks! 🙂 PS I hope you are rugged up if it’s cold where you are because I’m in Sydney and it is FREEZING this morning!!!
Barbara K. says
Jaime Oliver Is A cooking genius…. Having agreed with everyone on this point, I have to say my mother cooked chicken and pork as well in milk many years ago. I learned from HER, not Jaime Oliver. This is not a “new” technique, to me anyway.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
I keep hearing about pork in milk, I can’t believe I have never tried it!! Right, this is the final straw, must try! PS I bet your mum was a better cook than Jamie Oliver. Best teacher you can ever ask for. 😉
Eds says
crispy skin pork belly cooked in milk = yummmmmmm. We use almond milk in our house but I will go the cow milk for this recipe tomorrow night. Love this blog thank you 🙂
Nagi | RecipeTin says
That’s the second time I’ve heard about it – I HAVE TO TRY IT!! 🙂
Fran says
I just made this recipe over the weekend (except I didn’t have sage leaves, only thyme – it was hella snowing so no way could I make it to the store).
Delicious! I wish I had remembered to DRY the chicken as you recommended, because I did get some stickage during the browning process. The chicken was sweet tasting to me. I’ll make this again!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
So glad you enjoyed it! It’s amazing how delicious it is, isn’t it? For something that is so quick to prepare! 🙂 Thank you for coming back to share your feedback! 🙂
Julia says
Hello… This looks amazing. Not sure if someone else has asked this question but I was wondering if using the whole chicken is mandatory or can leg quarters or chicken pieces be used for this recipe as well. Thank u so much.
Julia
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Julia! I would not recommend using anything other than the whole chicken because otherwise you need to shorten the cooking time which would mean the sauce doesn’t end up the way it should. Flavour infusion will be ok I think. It will still be nice but I don’t think the sauce will have quite the same depth of flavour and I would be concerned the milk doesn’t transform into the bits of curd that it’s supposed to (because it needs the cooking time). Hope that helps! 🙂
Maria says
I’m sorry, I just want to make sure I got it right because I want to make this sometime.
You talk about enjoying bits of garlic, but the recipe calls for whole, unpeeled cloves. I never thought garlic skins to be edible. Is there a step missing somewhere?
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Maria, thanks for this question! I updated the recipe summary to describe it better 🙂 The garlic cooks in the skins and becomes really soft and mushy. They slide out of the skin (either use your fingers or squish down on it with a fork or knife) and they are fabulous eaten with the chicken. Sometimes I spread it on toast – it is so delicious! Not garlicky, a mild garlic flavour but more sweet. I hope that helps!
Meggan | Culianry Hill says
If Jamie Oliver thinks it’s a good idea, it’s a good idea to me too. Seriously, that man is genius. I never would have thought to cook a chicken in milk, but you’ve convinced me! Gorgeous photos, by the way.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
I know, right?? He comes up with some wacky ideas that really WORK!!
Nancy | Plus Ate Six says
I’ve had this on my to-do-list for ages because I’ve read the reviews – now I just need to get on and do it!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Yes you do! It is crazy easy. Honestly the easiest chicken dish I make!