Name: Baked tarragon chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp tarragon (chopped (leaves only)); 1 tsp Dijon mustard; 1 clove garlic (finely diced); 2 tbsp lemon juice; salt and pepper; 2 lb bone-in chicken thighs (approx, preferably skin-on)

Incredibly easy to prepare, this baked tarragon chicken has a light, delicate and delicious flavor from the tarragon, lemon and mustard sauce. Perfect over rice.

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baked tarragon chicken on plate served over rice and with broccoli to side

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Chicken is definitely one of our go-tos on busy nights. I love that you can easily dress it up with different flavors, especially if you take just a little bit of time in advance. In summer, we regularly have chicken satay and chicken souvlaki on the grill, while in winter we turn to roasting.

While plain roast chicken is tasty, there's still plenty room to add in different flavors.

2 plates of finished dish with forks to side from overhead

Tarragon chicken is a traditional French dish that has a few variations but is generally made with some tarragon (funnily enough), Dijon mustard and either lemon juice or white wine. The sauce is typically made separately and becomes rich with cream, butter, or both.

I've lightened things up and made it simpler in this baked tarragon chicken. Rather than the typical chicken breast, I've used thighs which stay more moist and have more flavor, in my opinion.

The resulting dish is delicately, but deliciously, flavored and so easy.

We had it - and I would highly recommend - served over rice with the cooking juices poured over so the rice absorbs all the delicious flavor. Some green veg, like roast broccoli or green beans, would fit in perfectly as well.

chicken thighs in baking dish with marinade over them, ready to bake

Steps to make baked tarragon chicken

This is a really easy dish to make:

Put the pieces of chicken in an oven dish.
Mix together the marinade/cooking sauce (lemon, tarragon, garlic and mustard) and pour it over the chicken.
Let the chicken marinade a little while then pop them up in the oven to cook.

The skins crisp up gently and the chicken takes on all the lovely flavors of the sauce. They're delicate flavors, as I say, but oh so tasty. It makes for a great, easy dish and is especially nice on a colder day, what with being roasted in the oven, but really it works any time.

What to do with leftovers

Any leftover tarragon chicken is delicious cold as a sandwich filling as it has that lovely delicate lemony-tarragon flavor and is nice and moist.

You can even simply mix it with some leftover rice and maybe add in some chopped pepper, cherry tomatoes and beans for a simple, tasty rice salad. Alternatively, add it to a green salad.

If you are a fan of tarragon, you might also like to try this lemon tarragon salmon and pork and cider casserole.

Piece of tarragon chicken served over rice with broccoli to side

This baked tarragon chicken is such an easy, comforting dish that's perfect for slightly cooler, or truly cold days, as roast chicken so often is. But it also has that lovely aromatic herby flavor that gives it some freshness as well. Give it a try, and enjoy.

Try these other comforting chicken recipes:

One pot lemon garlic chicken with vegetables
Aji de gallina (Peruvian chicken stew)
Creamy lemon chicken pasta bake
Musakhan (Palestinian sumac chicken)
Garlic herb roast chicken
Plus get many more main dish recipes in the archives.

piece of baked tarragon chicken over rice with broccoli to side and second plate behind

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5 from 5 votes