What are rillettes?
The question may seem silly, but the truth is that once you understand what rillettes are and the core principles behind them, a whole world of chicken, duck, pork, and many other kinds of rillettes opens up. And that’s a beautiful thing.
In fact, rillettes are simply an age-old technique for preserving meat by slowly cooking it in fat until most of its moisture has evaporated. As a bonus, the meat becomes incredibly delicious in the process.
Are chicken rillettes healthy?
Here’s my motto: why buy junk food when we can make it ourselves? Better yet, homemade rillettes can even have a few nutritional upsides!
Nutritional value of rillettes
According to the website Medisite, here are a few key facts:
Rillettes are about 50% fat. However, roughly half of that fat is unsaturated, which helps support cardiovascular health.
Per 100 g, they contain 15 g of protein.
They contain less cholesterol than eggs and most meats.
Let’s not pretend homemade rillettes are health food… but considering how easy they are to make and how exceptionally tasty they are, they’re absolutely worth it. And they’re still a much better option than industrially made alternatives!
Chicken Rillettes Recipe
Tips for perfect chicken rillettes
Use whole chicken legs or thighs and debone them yourself. The meat will be much more flavorful.
Keep the skin! It adds great texture to the finished rillettes.
No need to cut the meat into pieces unless it won’t fit in the pot; laziness is absolutely allowed here. Not only are chicken rillettes delicious, they’re also easy to make with minimal effort.
Don’t skip the browned bits; they’re essential to the final flavor. Even if it means washing one extra bowl, this step is non-negotiable.
Ingredients
- 1 kg boneless chicken
- 10 g salt
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 4 cloves peeled garlic
- 400 g lard or other animal fat (beef, duck, goose, etc.)
- 1 glass water (start with half and check that, once the fat has melted, all the meat is covered)
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over low heat (3 out of 10)
- Cook for 4 to 5 hours, uncovered
- Turn off the heat, remove the herbs, and discard them
- Remove the meat and shred it into a large bowl
- You should see two layers in the saucepan: fat on the surface and dark, concentrated cooking juices at the bottom. Taste them if you like—they’re intensely flavorful, and you’ll want to keep them!
- Using a ladle, transfer as much of the surface fat as possible into a separate bowl, leaving mostly the cooking juices in the saucepan
- Don't worry if a little fat remains. Pour the entire contents of the saucepan into the bowl with the chicken and mix well. Your rillettes mixture is ready!
- For jarring, prepare jam jars or other airtight containers. Alternate two tablespoons of rillettes mixture with one tablespoon of pure fat (the cooking fat set aside in the bowl) until each jar is full. Make sure to finish with a spoonful of fat.
- Seal tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, unless you know how to properly sterilize jars
Nutrition
After this delicious appetizer, why not follow it up with French onion soup au gratin?
