Chicken Au Poivre Recipe (Creamy Peppercorn Roast Chicken)
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This Chicken Au Poivre recipe turns a whole roasted chicken into an incredible French-inspired dinner! Spatchcock chicken is roasted in a creamy peppercorn sauce with garlic, rosemary, shallots, and sherry. This creamy peppercorn chicken is perfect for Sunday dinner, date night, or when you want an impressive but easy chicken recipe.
If Chicken Au Poivre has suddenly taken over your TikTok feed, there’s a good reason. Juicy chicken covered in a rich, creamy sauce loaded with crushed peppercorns, garlic, shallots, and herbs is pretty hard to scroll past.
But Chicken Au Poivre isn’t really a new recipe. It takes its inspiration from the classic French dish Steak Au Poivre, where steak is paired with a bold peppercorn sauce, often finished with cream and Cognac or brandy.
Our version does things a little differently.
Instead of cooking individual chicken breasts or thighs in a skillet, we’re starting with an entire spatchcocked chicken. It roasts until the skin begins to turn golden, then gets covered in a creamy peppercorn sauce flavored with garlic, shallot, rosemary, and dry sherry.
As the chicken finishes roasting, all those juices mingle with the cream sauce in the bottom of the pan. Baste that sauce over the chicken a few times while it cooks and you end up with juicy chicken and an incredible creamy, peppery sauce you’ll want to spoon over everything on your plate.
And yes, I strongly recommend mashed potatoes for catching every last drop.
What Is Chicken Au Poivre?
“Au poivre” is French for “with pepper,” and the best-known version of the dish is Steak Au Poivre.
Traditionally, steak is coated or seasoned with coarsely crushed peppercorns and served with a rich pan sauce. Many versions of that sauce include Cognac or brandy, stock, and cream.
Chicken Au Poivre applies the same idea to chicken: plenty of cracked peppercorn flavor combined with a rich sauce.
For this version, we use a whole chicken rather than chicken breasts or thighs. Spatchcocking, or removing the backbone and flattening the chicken, helps the entire bird cook more evenly and gives you more surface area for that creamy peppercorn sauce.
Instead of Cognac, this recipe uses dry sherry cooking wine, which adds another layer of savory flavor to the cream sauce without overpowering the chicken.
The result is somewhere between an impressive Sunday roast chicken and a creamy French-inspired chicken dinner.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
There is a lot going on flavor-wise here, but the actual ingredient list is surprisingly manageable.
The peppercorns give the sauce a warm, peppery bite rather than just background seasoning. Heavy cream makes it rich, while garlic, shallot, rosemary, and sherry round everything out.
Spatchcocking the chicken also gives you a practical advantage. A flattened chicken cooks more evenly than a traditional whole roasted chicken, and the exposed surface makes it easier to baste with all that sauce.
It also makes a gorgeous dinner.
Bring the whole pan to the table with that golden chicken surrounded by bubbling cream sauce and it looks like you put considerably more work into dinner than you actually did.
This is a great recipe for Sunday dinner, date night at home, a small dinner party, or any night when regular baked chicken isn’t going to cut it.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need to make Chicken Au Poivre.
- Whole chicken – A 4- to 5-pound chicken works perfectly for this recipe. You’ll remove the backbone and flatten the chicken before roasting it.
- Kosher salt – The chicken itself is seasoned generously before roasting, with additional salt added to the cream sauce.
- Olive oil – Just a small amount rubbed over the chicken helps the skin begin browning before the cream sauce is added.
- Whole peppercorns – This is the star of any Au Poivre recipe. Crush them coarsely rather than grinding them into pepper.
- Fresh rosemary – Finely chopped rosemary adds an herby flavor that goes especially well with roasted chicken.
- Garlic – Fresh minced garlic flavors the peppercorn cream sauce.
- Shallot – Shallots have a slightly sweeter, milder flavor than yellow onion and work beautifully in rich cream sauces.
- Heavy whipping cream – This creates the rich sauce that surrounds the chicken while it roasts.
- Dry sherry cooking wine – Sherry adds depth and helps balance the richness of the cream.
What Kind of Peppercorns Should I Use?
Whole black peppercorns are an easy choice and give you that classic peppery flavor.
The important part is starting with whole peppercorns and crushing them yourself.
You aren’t trying to make finely ground black pepper. You want small, irregular pieces of peppercorn so you get little bursts of pepper throughout the creamy sauce.
Place the peppercorns between two clean kitchen towels and gently pound them with a rolling pin or meat mallet.
You can also place them in a resealable plastic bag before crushing them.
Stop once they’re broken into coarse pieces. If you pulverize them into powder, the pepper flavor can become much more intense and you’ll lose the texture that makes Au Poivre sauce so good.
How to Spatchcock a Whole Chicken
Don’t let the word spatchcock scare you. It sounds much more complicated than it is.
You’re simply removing the backbone from the chicken so you can flatten it before roasting.
- Place the chicken breast-side down on a large cutting board. You should be looking at the backbone.
- Using sharp kitchen shears, begin at the tail end and cut along one side of the backbone toward the neck. Repeat along the other side, then remove the backbone.
- Turn the chicken over so the breast is facing upward.
- Place the palm of your hand over the center of the breastbone and press down firmly. You’ll feel the chicken flatten.
That’s it.
Now your chicken has a lower, more even profile, which helps the breast and dark meat cook more evenly and exposes more of the skin to the heat of the oven.
Tip: Don’t throw that backbone away if you like making homemade chicken stock. Place it in a freezer-safe bag and freeze it until you have enough chicken bones and scraps to make a batch.
How to Make Chicken Au Poivre
1. Prepare the oven and pan. Preheat your oven to 375°F convection. If you’re using a conventional oven without convection, preheat it to 400°F. Lightly grease a large baking dish or roasting pan with butter or non-stick cooking spray.
2. Spatchcock the chicken. Place the chicken breast-side down on your cutting board. Using kitchen shears, cut along both sides of the backbone and remove it. Flip the chicken breast-side up and press firmly on the center of the breastbone until the chicken lies flat. Place it skin-side up in your prepared roasting pan.
3. Season the chicken. Sprinkle the underside of the chicken with approximately ½ tablespoon of kosher salt. Flip it skin-side up, rub the olive oil over the skin, and season with another ½ tablespoon of salt.
4. Crush the peppercorns. Place the whole peppercorns between two clean kitchen towels and lightly pound them with a rolling pin or meat mallet. You want coarse pieces rather than finely ground pepper.
5. Make the cream sauce. Add the crushed peppercorns, finely chopped rosemary, minced garlic, chopped shallot, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to a medium bowl. Pour in the heavy whipping cream and whisk until everything is evenly combined. Set the sauce aside.
6. Start roasting the chicken. Place the chicken in the oven, skin-side up, and roast for 15 minutes. At this point, the skin should just be beginning to turn lightly golden.
7. Add the peppercorn cream sauce. Carefully remove the pan from the oven. Pour the prepared peppercorn cream mixture over and around the chicken. Pour the dry sherry cooking wine into the sauce around the chicken and gently stir it into the cream in the bottom of the pan.
8. Increase the heat. Increase your oven temperature to 400°F convection or 425°F for a conventional oven. Return the chicken to the oven. Cook for another 30 to 35 minutes in a convection oven or approximately 50 to 60 minutes in a conventional oven.
9. Baste the chicken. Every 15 minutes, carefully spoon some of the creamy peppercorn sauce from the bottom of the pan over the chicken. This adds flavor while the sauce and chicken continue to cook together.
10. Check for doneness. The chicken is ready when the skin is golden brown, the cream sauce is hot and bubbling, and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken registers 165°F.
11. Rest and serve. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before carving. Spoon plenty of the creamy peppercorn sauce over each serving.
The Secret Is Roasting the Chicken Before Adding the Cream
You may be wondering why we don’t just pour the peppercorn cream sauce over the raw chicken from the beginning.
That first 15 minutes of roasting gives the skin a head start.
If you cover the chicken in heavy cream immediately, you’re adding a lot of moisture before the skin has had a chance to begin browning.
Giving it a short roast with just olive oil and salt allows the surface to start developing color first.
Then we add the cream sauce and increase the oven temperature.
From there, basting the chicken allows all of those peppercorn, garlic, rosemary, shallot, sherry, chicken drippings, and cream flavors to come together as the chicken finishes roasting.
It’s one of those recipes where the sauce gets better because it cooks with the chicken rather than being made completely separately.
What Does Chicken Au Poivre Taste Like?
Peppery, creamy, savory, and rich.
But don’t confuse “peppery” with the heat you’d get from hot peppers.
Black peppercorns have a warm bite and an aromatic flavor. Because they’re crushed rather than finely ground, you get little pops of pepper throughout the cream sauce.
The heavy cream softens some of that bite, while the garlic and shallot add savory flavor.
Rosemary gives the sauce a fresh, slightly woodsy flavor that works beautifully with roasted chicken, and the sherry gives the sauce extra depth.
Best of all, the juices from the roasting chicken become part of the sauce.
By the time everything is done, you have a creamy peppercorn sauce that is much more savory than simply pouring cream over chicken.
Tips for the Best Chicken Au Poivre
- Use a meat thermometer. A 4-pound chicken and a 5-pound chicken won’t necessarily finish at exactly the same time. Oven temperatures can vary too. Use temperature rather than cooking time alone to determine when your chicken is ready.
- For whole poultry, the USDA recommends a minimum internal temperature of 165°F. Check the thickest part of the breast as well as the innermost portion of the thigh, avoiding the bone.
- Crush, don’t grind, your peppercorns. Coarsely crushed peppercorns give you much better flavor and texture than finely ground pepper.
- Use sharp kitchen shears. Good shears make spatchcocking dramatically easier.
- Don’t skip the basting. Spoon that sauce over the chicken every 15 minutes while it finishes roasting. It keeps layering all of those delicious flavors over the chicken.
- Let the chicken rest before carving. Give it at least 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven.
- Keep an eye on the sauce. Heavy cream will reduce as it cooks. If your chicken requires additional cooking time beyond the range listed in the recipe, watch the sauce so it doesn’t reduce too far.
Variations and Substitutions
Can I use chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken?
Technically, yes, but I wouldn’t use the same cooking method and timing.
This recipe was developed specifically around a whole spatchcocked chicken, so switching to boneless chicken breasts would significantly shorten the cooking time.
If you make that substitution, the chicken needs to be monitored carefully so it doesn’t overcook before the sauce is ready.
Can I use chicken thighs?
Again, chicken thighs pair beautifully with peppercorn cream sauce, but they will cook differently than the whole chicken called for here.
For the most predictable results, stick with the 4- to 5-pound whole chicken.
Can I use ground black pepper?
Whole peppercorns are worth buying for this recipe.
Finely ground pepper disperses through the sauce differently and can make the entire sauce taste aggressively peppery.
Coarsely crushed whole peppercorns give you the texture and signature flavor we’re looking for.
Can I substitute the sherry?
Dry sherry gives the sauce its specific flavor, so it’s my first choice for this version.
If you’re experimenting with substitutions, keep in mind that different wines and cooking wines vary quite a bit in sweetness, acidity, and saltiness, which can change the finished sauce.
What to Serve with Chicken Au Poivre
If ever there were a recipe begging for mashed potatoes, this is it.
Our Not Your Mom’s Mashed Potatoes are extra creamy thanks to butter and cream cheese, making them perfect for serving underneath the chicken with plenty of peppercorn sauce spooned over the top.
For a slightly fancier dinner, Duchess Potatoes are another great option. Their crisp golden edges and creamy centers fit the French-inspired feel of Chicken Au Poivre beautifully.
A simple green vegetable such as roasted asparagus, green beans, or broccoli adds some freshness to the plate without competing with that rich sauce.
You could also serve it with crusty bread. You’ll probably want something on the table for soaking up the cream sauce left on your plate.
For a full dinner, I’d keep dessert fairly simple and let this gorgeous roast chicken be the star of the meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Au Poivre is French for “with pepper.” The term is most commonly associated with Steak Au Poivre, which features peppercorn-crusted or pepper-seasoned steak and a rich peppercorn sauce.
Chicken Au Poivre replaces the steak with chicken while keeping that signature peppercorn flavor.
Whole peppercorns can be coarsely crushed, giving you larger pieces that release their flavor without disappearing completely into the sauce.
Finely ground pepper would spread throughout the cream and can make the flavor harsher.
Spatchcocking flattens the chicken so it cooks more evenly.
It also exposes more of the chicken skin to the heat and makes it easier to spoon the creamy peppercorn sauce over the entire bird while it cooks.
Use an instant-read meat thermometer. The chicken should reach at least 165°F internally. With a whole bird, check the thickest portion of the breast and the innermost thigh without touching the bone.
Cooking time is a helpful guide, but temperature is the best way to tell when your chicken is ready.
The sauce is hot and fairly loose while it’s bubbling in the roasting pan. It will thicken somewhat as it cooks and again as it begins to cool.
Remember that this isn’t meant to become an extremely thick gravy. It’s a creamy sauce that should be easy to spoon over sliced chicken and potatoes.
You could cook it without basting, but I don’t recommend skipping it.
Basting gives you multiple opportunities to coat the chicken with the peppercorn cream sauce as it cooks. It only takes a few seconds every 15 minutes and is well worth the effort.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Let leftover Chicken Au Poivre cool before transferring it to an airtight container.
Store the chicken and sauce in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days.
For easiest storage, carve the remaining chicken from the bones first and spoon some of the leftover peppercorn sauce over the meat before refrigerating it.
How to Reheat Chicken Au Poivre
Cream sauces are best reheated gently.
Place the chicken and sauce in a covered skillet over low heat or in a covered baking dish in a low oven until warmed through.
If the sauce has thickened considerably in the refrigerator, stir in a small splash of heavy cream as it reheats. Avoid aggressively boiling the sauce, which can cause a cream sauce to separate.
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Chicken Au Poivre
Ingredients
- 4-5 pound Whole chicken
- 1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Olive oil
- 1.5 tablespoons Whole peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Finely chopped rosemary
- 5 Garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 medium Shallot, finely chopped
- 2 cups Heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Dry sherry cooking wine
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F convection. If you are using a conventional oven without convection, preheat it to 400°F. Grease a large baking pan or roasting pan with butter or non-stick spray.
- Spatchcock the chicken. Place the chicken breast-side down on a cutting board with the backbone facing up. Using a sharp pair of kitchen shears, cut along one side of the backbone from the tail end toward the neck. Repeat on the other side and remove the backbone completely. Flip the chicken over so the breast is facing up, then press down firmly on the center of the breastbone with the palm of your hand until the chicken flattens out. Place the chicken skin-side up in the prepared baking dish or roasting pan.
- Sprinkle the underside of the chicken with about ½ tablespoon salt. Flip the chicken skin-side up, rub the olive oil all over the skin, and season with another ½ tablespoon of salt.
- Crush the peppercorns by placing them between two clean kitchen towels and lightly pounding them with a rolling pin or meat mallet. The peppercorns should be broken into small pieces, but not finely ground.
- Add the crushed peppercorns, rosemary, garlic, shallots, and 1 teaspoon of salt to a medium bowl. Pour in the heavy whipping cream and whisk everything together. Set aside.
- Place the chicken in the oven and roast skin-side up for 15 minutes. The skin should just begin to turn lightly golden.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and pour the peppercorn cream mixture over and around the chicken. Pour the sherry cooking wine around the chicken and gently stir it into the cream sauce in the bottom of the pan.
- Increase the oven temperature to 400°F convection, or 425°F if using a conventional oven. Return the chicken to the oven and cook for another 35 – 40 minutes in the convection oven or 50-60 minutes in a conventional oven.
- While the chicken cooks baste it every 15 minutes by spooning the sauce over the chicken.
- The chicken is done when the skin is golden, the sauce is hot and bubbling, and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reaches 165°F.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving with extra creamy peppercorn sauce spooned over the chicken before serving.
Nutrition
