Poulet Basquaise - Basque-style Chicken

Poulet Basque/ Basquaise or Basque chicken is a classic chicken stew from the Basque region in Southern France and a small area of northern Spain. This recipe from Anthony Bourdain (via Food and Wine) is more French. There are many different regional versions of this dish, but they all have one thing in common: they start with a sauce made with red and green peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes and piment d’Espelètte, simmered slowly and the white (chicken) and red and green (peppers) represent the Basque flag. The most common side to serve with Basque chicken stew is rice, but you could also serve it with a salad, sauteed potatoes or a loaf of crusty bread.
Piment d'Espelètte is a mild, fruity chilli powder with intense aroma from the Basque region of France, specifically from the area around the village of Espelètte. I ordered it from Amazon, and it’s a little bit pricey, but you can easily replace 1 teaspoon of piment d'Espelètte with ¾ teaspoon of Aleppo pepper or ¾ teaspoon of paprika with a large pinch of cayenne pepper. However, they won’t be exactly the same, but should do the trick.

Poulet Basquaise Basque-style Chicken

adapted from Food and Wine

8 Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Sea salt and freshly milled black pepper
1 tsp Piment d’Espelètte (¾ tsp Aleppo pepper or paprika+a large pinch of cayenne)
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp Butter
1 Onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 Garlic cloves, minced
1x250 g Large red pepper, cored, seeded and chopped into 2cm pieces
1x250 g Large green pepper, cored, seeded and chopped into 2cm pieces
1 tin/400 g Diced tomatoes
3 Thyme spirgs (or 1 tsp dried thyme) plus extra for garnishing
120 ml Dry white wine
120 ml Warm chicken stock
Flat parsley, finely chopped, for garnishing
Steamed rice or crusty bread, for serving

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F.
Season the chicken thighs all over with salt, pepper, and piment d'Espelètte. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat, about 2 minutes. When the oil is hot, add the butter. When the butter has melted and the foam has subsided, add the chicken thighs, skin side down, and brown on that side only, about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside on the plate.
Add sliced onion, minced garlic and chopped peppers to the pan and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes, thyme sprigs and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the white wine, scraping up any of the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Cook until the wine is reduced by half, then add the chicken broth. Return the chicken and all the juice to the pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Garnish with extra thyme sprigs and chopped parsley. Serve with rice, crusty bread or sauteed potatoes.

6 comments:

Tom 8/11/25 13:00: ...Angie, this looks fabulous!
Lola Martínez 8/11/25 13:24: No conocía este pollo del norte español pero me gusta como lo has cocinado y lo probaré.
DEZMOND 8/11/25 13:29: Wishing you a calm and warm weekend, it is raining here and very cold and murky.
ellie 8/11/25 13:40: Lovely, but a bit complicated for me to be in the kitchen. Awesome post!
Caitlin&Megan 8/11/25 13:41: Wonderful to know about this one!
Christine 8/11/25 14:22: Looks so good!