Chicken Confit

Now you can make restaurant-style chicken confit - slow-cooked in an oil bath - at home!

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 30

Course Main Course

Cuisine Western

Servings 2

Equipment

Oven-safe dish, oven

Ingredients

2 chicken legs
Dry or fresh Italian herbs of your choice
1 carrot, quartered
1 bulb garlic, cut in half
Salt & black pepper
Enough oil to cover chicken halfway

Instructions

Preheat oven to 125 deg C.
Make cuts in chicken so that it can absorb more flavours. Rub salt and pepper into chicken.
Place chicken legs in a oven-proof dish.
Tuck carrots, herbs and garlic in the nooks.
Pour enough oil until it covers chicken HALFWAY. A lot of recipes call for you to fully cover the chicken, but I didn't have the heart to use so much oil, and my chicken turned out ok.
Cook in oven for 1.5-2 hours. Remove chicken and vegetables from the oil.
Press the chicken meat from the side so that it detaches from the bone, in order to get a "flatter" piece of meat and bone, meaning all the skin is now mostly on one side.
Now, in a saucepan, add back 2 tbs of the confit oil and heat to medium high. Fry the chicken legs, skin side down, for a few minutes until the skin turns golden brown and crispy.

Notes

Chicken Confit (Home Version) - Quick FAQ

1. What is chicken confit?

Chicken confit is a cooking method where chicken is slowly cooked while fully submerged in oil or fat at a low temperature, resulting in extremely tender, juicy meat.

2. How is chicken confit different from roast chicken?

Unlike roast chicken, which is cooked at high heat, chicken confit is cooked slowly at low temperature. This prevents moisture loss and produces meat that is far more succulent and fall-off-the-bone tender.

3. What temperature is used to cook chicken confit?

Chicken confit is typically cooked at around 120–130°C, much lower than roasting temperatures, which are usually above 180°C.

4. Do I need duck fat to make chicken confit?

No. While traditional recipes use duck or chicken fat, neutral oils like rice bran oil or olive oil work perfectly well for home cooking.

5. Why is chicken confit so tender?

The low cooking temperature minimises moisture loss, while the long cooking time allows the meat to absorb flavours from the oil, herbs, and aromatics.

6. Is chicken confit difficult to make at home?

Not at all. Chicken confit is surprisingly easy — you simply assemble the ingredients, submerge the chicken in oil, and let the oven do the work.

7. Why isn’t chicken confit skin crispy straight out of the oven?

Because the chicken is cooked gently in oil, the skin remains soft. To crisp it up, the chicken is usually pan-seared after confit cooking.

8. Can I add vegetables to chicken confit?

Yes. Vegetables like carrots, potatoes, or mild peppers can be cooked alongside the chicken, turning it into a complete one-pot meal.

9. Will the oil splatter or bubble in the oven?

No. At 130°C, the oil does not bubble aggressively, so there is no splattering or mess in the oven.

10. What can I do with the leftover confit oil?

Strain and reuse it. The flavoured oil is excellent for sautéing vegetables, roasting potatoes, or making salad dressings.

Keyword chicken