Skip to main content
LoginSign Up
Slow-Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Mustard Pan Sauce

Slow-Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Mustard Pan Sauce

By Courtney HillAugust 5, 2025

  • Makes
    4-6 servings
  • Cook Time
    3 hours
  • Active time plus cooling
    30 minutes active
  • Rating

Roasting chicken leg quarters for 2½ hours in a 300°F oven is transformative. The fat has lots of time to render, so the skin takes on a paper-thin crispness and a golden brown hue. The meat, meanwhile, becomes so tender and succulent you don’t need a knife to eat it. The flavor is rich, with a deep, distinctly “roasted” quality. We first and briefly dry brine the parts for better seasoning of the meat and crisping of the skin, but we do so at room temperature to allow the legs to lose their chill so they cook more evenly and quickly. A couple heads of garlic roasted with the chicken yields soft, sweet, creamy cloves for building a simple sauce.

Tip

Don’t use chicken breasts or a whole bird in this recipe. Because it is much leaner, white meat will end up completely parched. Also, don’t use a baking dish or pan larger than 9 by 13 inches. Too much surface area will allow rapid evaporation of juices, leaving little or none for the sauce, or worse, might result in scorching.

Ingredients

  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper

  • ¼

    teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

  • 4

    large bone-in, skin-on chicken leg quarters (about 3 pounds), patted dry

  • 2

    tablespoons salted butter, cut into 4 pieces

  • 4

    fresh thyme sprigs

  • 2

    heads garlic, outer papery skin removed, top third cut off and discarded

  • 1

    tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • 2

    tablespoons fresh tarragon or flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Step 1

In a small bowl, stir together 1½ teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper and the nutmeg. Sprinkle the leg quarters all over with the mix, rubbing it into the skin. Let stand at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes.

Step 2

Heat the oven to 300°F with a rack in the middle position. Pat the chicken dry without wiping off the seasoning, then place the pieces skin up in a single layer in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top each leg quarter with a piece of butter and scatter on the thyme, then place the garlic heads cut side down in between.

Step 3

Roast until the chicken is golden brown and the skin is crisp, about 2½ hours. Remove from the oven; leave the oven on. Remove and discard the thyme, then, using tongs plus a wide metal spatula for support, transfer each leg quarter to a platter. Using the tongs, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into the juices in the baking dish.

Step 4

Add the mustard and ¼ cup water to the baking dish. Whisk until combined and the sauce is as smooth as you like; make sure to also scrape the browned bits from the side of the dish and incorporate them. Return to the oven until the sauce is warm, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Spoon it around the chicken, then sprinkle with the tarragon.