Rosemary Chicken Ragù Recipe (2024)

I keep a tube of anchovy paste which adds that umami hit but goes completely undetected in the finished product. I don’t care for whole tinned anchovies but this goes lots of places!

It's not exactly that "some chicken is so juicy," it's that most chicken carcasses have been injected with ice-cold water, and about 5% of the water is retained in the chicken you buy. Buy air-cooled chicken, instead. It's tastier.

Browning bone in, skin on chicken thighs to start and adding them to the sauce makes a richer sauce. After the sauce cools down in the fridge, remove the thighs. Remove the bones and skin from the thighs and set aside. Cut up the cold thighs and add them back to the sauce.

Excellent. Used Whole Foods air dried chicken thighs. I did rinse out the tomato can and add about 3/4 cup of water. Slow simmer for 50 minutes produced the results I was after - a thickened sauce and chicken that shredded easily. Will definitely make this again.

I think you need some sort of umami. You might try white miso paste, about a teaspoon per anchovy. Or, as mentioned above, fish sauce. Also, Worcestershire sauce might work, as would a good salty olive.

Thoughts on either a non-seafood sub for the anchovies, or how much omitting them would change this?

Made this exactly as written, except before putting the chicken in the pot, I cut it up into pieces about 1 x 2 inches, making it unnecessary to shred the chicken later, and speeding up the final process. Delicious!

Delicious! Re: shredding the chicken. A whole lot easier to shred each piece of chicken on a board then slide it back into the sauce.

I just prepared this for Sunday dinner, and it was delicious. I didn’t have any anchovies, but fish sauce seemed a good substitute. I used fettuccine, but would love to try it with a wider noodle like pappardelle next time. Quick and simple, lots of flavor. Thanks, Ali!

Has anyone tried this recipe with ground chicken ?

This is a very easy, very delicious recipe. The anchovies are absolutely essential to the flavor… feel free to substitute, but then you are making something else, IMO. They provide the umami that your guests will not be able to identify, but they sure will like the taste. I made exactly as written, except I chopped the rosemary leaves instead of throwing in a whole sprig. Also, shred the chicken outside the pot and put it back in as others have suggested. Another great recipe by Ali.

Really delicious. I should have kept the pasta water since it was a little dry the second day. My other option could have been to only mix in the pasta on the portion that I ate each day. I knew that the recipe was too much for one person and could have adjusted it accordingly. But I love the deep rich flavors with a hint of heat. My boneless skinned chicken thighs took about 45 - 50 minutes to cook through enough for a good shred. I may do this again with bone in thighs for more flavor.

Without the chicken thighs it wouldn't be chicken ragu, would it? How do 6 cloves of garlic, 4 anchovy filets, red pepper flakes and rosemary turn out flavorless?

Pasta water is used to make a creamy sauce. The starch in pasta water emulsifies the sauce, making it thicker. It is not meant to dilute the sauce to make it watery.

Anyone who mentions not enough flavor simply did not add enough salt. Canned tomatoes require a great deal of salt, the pasta water also needs a very healthy dose of salt. If it tastes flat or dull, it needs more salt.

Delicious! I don't understand the people who had problems with this recipe. It is such an easy, straightforward, and delicious recipe. Just trust it.

Made this last night and WOW. Doubled the recipe to feed 7. Used the wine and one can each of whole and crushed tomatoes. Left out the red pepper flakes to accommodate a nursing mother w/ a newborn. Read the other notes and was not shy with the salt. Cooked twice as long due to late sister. Not sure how some people found this bland??? 2 people asked me for the recipe. Work to reward ratio was off the charts. Leftovers made a killer lunch. A+ in my book. Thank you!!!!

This is excellent as is. My “they think they don’t like anchovies “ crowd never knew until I revealed their existence. Going in our weeknight rotation.

Super delicious. Of course, doubled the garlic and rosemary. Also added a handful of sliced mushrooms that were languishing in the crisper. Ate it three nights straight. Really good over soft polenta.

Red pepper flakes, red pepper flakes, everywhere I look. The current NYT nervous tic. Aleppo? Gochujang?

Did this in the Instant pot: saute function, high pressure 10 mins once added tomatoes and chicken, 5 min natural release then manual, back to saute function for about 5 mins to cook off some liquid. Might be able to cut down on the pressure time or go straight to manual release, as the chicken was at 195F after I released the pressure. Used vermouth instead of white wine as that's what's in the fridge. Held up to a Rioja for dinner, served over cascateli, no need for flat pasta.

What is umami?

Most disappointing NYT recipe I’ve ever made. I made as directed and it was so bland. Tried adding Worcestershire sauce and more anchovy but still not good.

Used anchovy paste and dried rosemary. Served with roasted potatoes and carrots. SO GOOD. Loved by all at the dinner table. Five stars from both parents and the foodie 12-year-old, 4.5 from the very picky almost-14-year-old.

Made this as directed, but left out the optional wine (didn’t have any). I agree that added salt is critical to the success of this recipe. I used about 1-1&1/2 tsp. of Diamond Kosher salt. Delicious and extremely easy to pull together. This recipe is a keeper. BTW - it’s also great on brown steamed rice!! Tip: shredded chicken is the right texture for a ragu. Cubed chicken is too rubbery.

Add tomato pasteUse vegetable broth

I cooked this recipe as is and it was lovely. I served it over a can of white beans which I sautéed with onions and garlic and a fair amount of EVOO, added fresh, chopped oregano, parsley and some Aleppo pepper. I then mashed some of the beans, took it off the heat and added and folded in a big handful of arugula. Top that mix with a drizzle of EVOO and some more Aleppo pepper and Maldon salt and it was a lovely complement to the chicken Ragu. A highly recommend combination.

Geoff, briny black olives work.

This was pretty good. I strongly feel a pound of pasta is too much for the amount of sauce the recipe makes, at least with spaghetti, which I used. I think a flat noodle would be a better one for next time, and I'll only use 3/4 pound. I upped the rosemary (1 1/2 sprigs) and anchovy fillets (5), and really liked the flavor of the sauce.

This is a delicious, satisfying and easy recipe. I already had all the ingredients in my pantry except for anchovies, so I substituted fish sauce (1/2 tsp per fillet, so total of 2 tsp). I added it in step 2. It's much easier to shred the chicken outside of the pot on a cutting board and then add it back in. I forgot to reserve some of the pasta water which I regretted because it would have made it a bit saucier. Will definitely add this to my rotation though.