Fall-Apart Dutch Oven Chicken

5 from 19 votes

Fall-Apart Dutch Oven Chicken is nothing short of amazing! When you slow cook chicken in a Dutch oven, it becomes incredibly succulent, juicy and as tender as can be. With a handful of warming spices, it's delicious on its own and in dozens of other recipes.

Prep Time10

Cook Time4 30

Total Time4 40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken for family dinner, comfort food recipes for fall and winter, meal prep chicken, shredded chicken

Servings: to 6

Calories: 442kcal

Author: Valentina K. Wein

Equipment

4 to 5 quart Dutch Oven
meat thermometer instant-read

Ingredients

2¼ teaspoons kosher salt use half the amount for table salt
1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ teaspoon ground star anise
1 whole chicken about 4¼ pounds
about 1 tablespoon neutral oil like avocado or vegetable

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 250°F and adjust a rack to the middle.
In a small dish, combine the salt, cinnamon, cloves and star anise.
Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, and then gently loosen the skin all over, being as careful as possible not to tear it. Sprinkle all but about ½ teaspoon of the spice mixture as evenly as possible under the skin, all over. Use your fingers to rub it in. Then sprinkle the rest on top of the skin, along with the oil and gently rub that in as well.
Place the seasoned chicken in an approximately 4 to 5 quart Dutch oven, breast side down, cover, and place it in the preheated 250°F oven. Let it cook until it literally falls apart when you try to lift any part of it, about 4 to 5 hours. The thickest part of the thigh should read at least 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
Take off the lid, and let it sit until it’s cool enough to handle.
Remove the skin — it should come right off, and then use your hands or a fork to help the chicken fall apart. This should happen pretty effortlessly just by picking up the legs. You can leave it in large pieces or shred it into bite-sized pieces.
Once the chicken has been removed from all of the bones, drizzle it with some of the juices remaining in the Dutch oven.

Notes

Don't raise the oven above 250°F to speed things up. Low and slow is what makes it fall apart.

Cooking breast side down lets the juices flow into the breast meat.

Spice swap: Use 2½ teaspoons Chinese five spice in place of the cinnamon, cloves and star anise.

Save the juices. Refrigerate them overnight, skim off the fat, then use them in rice, soup and more.

Storage: Keeps up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge, or 3 to 4 months in the freezer if wrapped well.

Nutritional information is automatically calculated, so it should only be used as an estimate.

Nutrition