u/LallybrochSassenach

This cozy, one-pot Fall Dutch Oven Braised Chicken with Bacon and Leeks pairs juicy chicken thighs with smoky bacon, sweet leeks, and tender potatoes.

Ingredients

4-6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped

2 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, sliced and washed well

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb baby potatoes, halved

1 cup chicken stock

3 sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Brown the Chicken: Heat your Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Place them skin-side down and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 6 minutes per side. Remove chicken and set aside.

Crisp the Bacon: Add chopped bacon to the pot and cook until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pot.

Sauté Leeks: Add sliced leeks and garlic to the bacon fat. Cook for 5 minutes until soft and sweet.

Combine and Braise: Stir in the baby potatoes, bacon, and chicken stock, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Nestle the chicken thighs on top of the leeks and potatoes. Add the thyme sprigs.

Bake: Cover with the lid and bake in a preheated oven at 375°F for 35 to 45 minutes, until the chicken is tender and the potatoes are soft.

To serve, plate the chicken mixture, sprinkle over chives or other herbs for garnish if desired.

For help Cleaning and Caring for your enameled or cast iron Dutch Oven, please check our wiki HERE.

Before posting a photo asking if your Dutch Oven can still be used:

Give the cleaning methods a go, then reassess.

Please be aware that at this time (2026) there is not food safe method for repairing enameled Dutch Ovens. Severely cracked or deeply scratched Dutch Ovens are best retired, as enamel shards can do severe damage to any human.

If you have read this and still want to post, please acknowledge that you did your homework by first checking the care and cleaning guides, then beginning your post with the word “process” in quotation marks. Please be sure to detail what you have tried. All posts not identified as such are subject to immediate removal.

As always, if you have any concerns, please use the Message the Mods option.

Hi everyone, I am a newish mod here, but have been modding for quite some time generally. Wanted to introduce myself (Claire) as well as let you know about some changes I’ve introduced. Like all changes…they can be changed again if need be.

Firstly, I’ve installed an app called bot bouncer that kicks bots right on out. I’ve added some link flairs to make sorting posts simpler. I also added a simple direction for all of those “Is my DO still usable posts,” that give simple information to consider prior to posting. (Do y’all feel we get a bit too many of those?) It says: > Before posting a photo asking if your Dutch Oven can still be used, please be aware that at this time, (2026) there is no food safe method for repairing enameled Dutch Ovens. Severely cracked or deeply scratched Dutch Ovens are best retired as enamel shards can do severe damage to any human.

The biggest thing is that I’ve added some basic rules…nothing too fancy. You can see them in the sidebar in Old Reddit and New Reddit. I’ll post them here to save you the click:

> 1. All posts must be related to Dutch OvenCooking. If the topic is questionable, or you feel unsure, please use the Message the Mods option to message us and check. Content about or written/developed by AI such as ChatGPT will be removed as well.

>2. Include plain text recipes for any food that you post, either in the post or in a comment.

>3. No memes or trolling! (And no dumb Dutch Oven fart jokes. We know ‘em, we’ve heard ‘em.)

>4. No social media/blog/YouTube channel spamming/ advertisements of any kind. Reddit is not your personal commercial platform.

> 5. Be kind and conduct productive discussion. Follow basic reddiquette and behave appropriately. In this sub, rule breaking may result in an immediate ban.

Please be sure to holler out if anything seems wrong to you. I want to clarify on Rule 2 now — sure, you may post a link to a written recipe! (But obvious clickbait, NO!) Be aware that folks with visual or hearing disabilities may be using text readers or other technology to read recipes, which is why it is specified to please include text. Not everyone can watch a video.

Good to meet y’all, and I hope everyone will keep enjoying r/DutchOvenCooking!

— Claire

Let’s make a stash of DO recipes for times when we need inspiration! Whether it is your best DO bread, your favorite chicken tortilla soup, your grandma’s boeuf bourginon, or your own creation, share it here! Please include the FULL RECIPE WRITTEN OUT. (It's fine to link a video, but please write out the recipe in full for those who don’t want to struggle through videos.)