Chicken With Coca-Cola and Lemons

Recipe from Frédérick Grasser-Hermé

Adapted by Amanda Hesser

Published March 8, 2017

  • Craig Lee for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Rating
4(211)
Comments
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Like many cooks, I keep a file of recipes I want to try. When I looked through it recently, there were a preponderance of lemon recipes, including one for roasted chicken with lemons and Coca-Cola from Frédérick Grasser-Hermé. Again, the savory and sweet. A food writer who has worked with chefs like Alain Ducasse, Grasser-Hermé is also the wife of the Parisian pastry chef Pierre Hermé. It humored me that a French cook would deign to baste her chicken with Coke. But it makes perfect sense: like many drinks – wheat beer, iced tea, sangria, Vietnamese sugar-cane juice – Coca-Cola is always improved by a wedge of lemon. —Amanda Hesser

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

  • Juice of 3 lemons, zest of 2 lemons

  • One 4 ½ pound chicken, butterflied

  • 3 teaspoons kosher salt

  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • Olive oil, for sautéeing

  • 1 medium onion, thickly sliced

  • ¼ cup finely julienned ginger

  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

  • 1 cup Coca-Cola

  • ½ teaspoon white vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)

10 grams carbs; 255 milligrams cholesterol; 825 calories; 26 grams monosaturated fat; 12 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 58 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 1112 milligrams sodium; 64 grams protein; 6 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large, rimmed dish, sprinkle the lemon juice over both sides of the chicken. Rub with the salt and pepper, then the lemon zest. Cover and chill for 4 hours.

  2. Step 2

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the chicken, skin side up, in a roasting pan. Reserve the lemon juice, diluting it with 1 tablespoon water. Cover the chicken with foil and roast for 30 minutes, basting it with the lemon juice every 5 to 10 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, cover the bottom of a medium sauté pan with a thin film of olive oil. Place over medium heat and add the onion and ginger. Cook until the onions are soft and golden, about 8 minutes, then stir in the garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

  4. Step 4

    After the chicken has cooked for 30 minutes, lower the heat to 300 degrees and remove the foil. Begin basting every 10 minutes with the Coca-Cola, until the chicken juices run clear, about 1 hour more. Reheat the onions, adding the vinegars and 2 tablespoons of the chicken juices. Cook for 1 minute. Serve the chicken topped with the onions and pan drippings.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
211 user ratings
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Comments

Margaux Laskey, Staff Editor

I was dubious, but I needn't have been; this was absolutely delicious and very moist. The recipe says to chill for 4 hours, but I did an hour or so max. The basting every 10 minutes is a bit of a pain (let's be honest, I pushed it to every 15-20 minutes), but it was worth it. Next time, I'm going to double the onion/ginger/garlic sauce.

Alisa

Oh, my gosh - did anyone read the calorie count? How can that possibly be accurate? Is that for the whole recipe, or just one serving?

Sam Sifton

Let's start by re-reading the recipe. 1. Marinate chicken. 2. Roast chicken in oven for 30 minutes, under foil. 3. Meanwhile, cook onions in a pan. 4. Remove foil from chicken, lower heat, baste with soda. Then reheat the onions and add acid. Serve on top of the chicken, dressed in pan drippings. No "suddenly" required!

p taco

fire yum yum

Monte Mathews

I have seldom been disappointed in anything that Amanda Hesser has endorsed. But this is just dreadful. No flavor or anything like the lemon coca cola you might expect. That is because the coca cola never adhered to the chicken skin. To achieve anything like a crispy skin requires much more time than the recipe indicates. And finally the finished product is about as 'meh' as it gets.

Stephen

A long, slow roast -- about a third of the time under foil and with frequent interruptions for basting -- just did not seem headed for crispy skin. Right at the end, I switched the oven to broil. But keep a vigilant watch. The crisping under the broiler will only take a few minutes at most. All that sugar in the Coca-Cola can blacken very quickly. Yank the bird out to safety as soon as you get a perfect brown.

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Credits

Adapted from Frédérick Grasser-Hermé

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