Guinea fowl advice: cooking, stuffing, accompaniments… Everything you need to know to make it a success

During the Christmas partieswe choose the guinea fowl for the finesse of its flesh and its subtle taste.
But for it to be a real success at the table, you have to know how to choose it well and above all cook it well so that it is soft, stuff it well and finally accompany it well.
So here is a guide complet with all the keys to making your guinea fowl a success at Christmas and making your meal unforgettable!
And for even more ideas for your festive meal, take a look at our dedicated Christmas page!

A whole guinea fowl weighs approximately 1,2 kgthis is sufficient for 4 people. Farm breeding has a superior taste quality, which is why it is better to choose guinea fowl with Label Rouge or Organic certifications, which guarantee tastier and meatier meat compared to standard guinea fowl.

For the holidaysopt for one guinea fowl capon : it is the male guinea fowl that has been caponed, that is to say that he has been castrated to become a capon. Its flesh is even more fleshy and tender and its weight is approximately 2 kg : this is why guinea fowl capon is the best choice for a table of 6 to 8 people.

When purchasing, pay attention: the skin of the guinea fowl must be very yellow, taut and shiny. For more freshness, ask your poultry artisan to make “sliced” guinea fowl. This indicates a just plucked bird, which he will gut and prepare for cooking.

Once home, keep guinea fowl for at least one day, wrapped in baking paper or a clean cloth, stored in the refrigerator at 4°C. Indeed, the flesh of the guinea fowl matures over time and reveals all its flavor. This is why it is advisable to cook it the next day and even two days after purchasing it.

The flesh of the guinea fowl is farmbecause it contains less water than the flesh of other poultry. This is why it requires more delicate cooking, which prevents it from drying out. Well cooked, the flesh of the guinea fowl remains soft and tender: a treat!

On the big day, before cooking it, take the guinea fowl out of the refrigerator at least one hour in advance. Let it rest at room temperature: this will make its flesh even more tender.

To succeed in this type of cooking, you must to feed the flesh of the guinea fowl so that it does not dry out in the heat of the oven, and favor cooking at low temperature.

Ideally, cook your guinea fowl in the oven at 150°Cso that it remains soft after cooking. It takes longer to cook than at high temperature, but it ensures very moist meat.

Feed the guinea fowl flesh before cooking

You have four options:

1. Slide between the skin and the flesh of the guinea fowl, small pieces of butter, green tapenade or parsley butter, being careful not to tear the skin which is very thin. To make it even more festive, you can mix the butter with foie gras or with pieces of black truffle.
2. Plenty the guinea fowl with soft butter or with beurre manié. We do not use olive oil, because slipping off the skin of the guinea fowl would not prevent it from drying out during cooking.
3. stuffing guinea fowl.
4. The barder with bacon.

Once you have chosen your option for feeding guinea fowl meat, you can place your guinea fowl on the oven roasting pan or in a gratin dish, positioned with the neck, wing sleeves and legs underneath the body.

• Drizzle the top of the guinea fowl with a mixture of soft butter and olive oil.
• Salt, pepper and pour a glass of water into the bottom of the dish.
• Place in the oven and cook your guinea fowl 150°C pendant 1h30 has 2:00 a.m.

Prepare some stock, keep it warm, and baste the guinea fowl regularly with the stock while it cooks in the oven.

Ten minutes before the end of cooking, fill an ovenproof ramekin with water and place it in the bottom of the oven. With the heat, this water will evaporate and its steam will help to tenderize the meat.

After ten minutes, prick the guinea fowl between the legs with the tip of a knife: if the juice that comes out is transparentthe guinea fowl is cooked. On the other hand, if the juice comes out rare, continue cooking for ten more minutes.

Once cooked, remove the guinea fowl from the oven, leave it in its dish, cover it with baking paper, add aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes at room temperature. This way the meat relaxes and becomes even more tender.

Using a cast iron casserole dish to cook guinea fowl in the oven is an excellent option for having very soft and pink meat after cooking.

1. Preheat the oven to 210°C.
2. Put a drizzle of olive oil in the casserole dish.
3. Massage the guinea fowl with soft butter, or with a mixture of soft butter and olive oil.
4. Put the guinea fowl in the casserole dish.
5. Sprinkle with Provence herbs, add garlic, salt and pepper.
6. Add rosemary.
7. Add shallots or small onions cut in half.
8. Cover the casserole dish with its lid and put it in the oven.
9. Cook the guinea fowl for an hour.

For the holidays, you can add small potatoes and/or chestnuts around the guinea fowl, before putting the casserole in the oven.

As an alternative to whole guinea fowl, you can prepare a fricassee with guinea fowl cut into pieces, such as guinea fowl fricassee with cider.

For this type of cooking, you can use a casserole or a stewpot.

1. Melt the butter.
2. Put the whole guinea fowl in the melted butter, brown it quickly by turning it on all sides.
3. Deglaze with dry white wine, then with vegetable stock.
4. Add onions cut in half, a few cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary.
5. Cover and cook the guinea fowl over medium heat, calculating 30 to 45 minutes per kilo.

Cooking guinea fowl in the Air Fryer is entirely possible, provided you have a model with a XXL basket.

The advantage of the Air Fryer is that it allows you to shorten preparation times and obtain perfectly roasted guinea fowl.

1. Above all, “feed” your guinea fowl with stuffing or by massaging it with melted butter. Then salt and pepper it.
2. Preheat the Air Fryer to 180°C.
3. If there is no stuffing, put two cloves of garlic, rosemary and thyme inside the guinea fowl.
4. Place the guinea fowl in the Air Fryer basket.
5. Cook it for 45 minutesturning it halfway through cooking.
6. Check the cooking by inserting the tip of a knife between the legs of the guinea fowl: if the liquid that comes out is transparent, it is cooked, otherwise if it is rare, continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Once cooked, carefully remove the guinea fowl from the Air Fryer basket and place it in a gratin dish.
8. Cover it with parchment paper lined with aluminum foil and let it rest 10 minutes before serving it.

To discover even more methods of cooking guinea fowl, consult our guide “How to successfully cook guinea fowl so that it is soft?”

Stuffing the guinea fowl before cooking serves to to feed its flesh and prevent it from drying out, especially during cooking in the oven.

Generally the stuffing contains bread crumbsof the meat pork or veal, or poultry offal, aromatic herbsspices and sometimes vegetables. During the holiday season, you can enrich the stuffing with chestnuts and/or with foie gras.

After mixing all the ingredients, introduce the stuffing into the cavity guinea fowl. During cooking, osmosis will be created between the meat of the guinea fowl and the stuffing: the former will remain very soft thanks to the humidity of the stuffing, and the latter will take on even more flavor, thanks to the juices of the meat.

Once at the table, we portion the guinea fowl and cut the stuffing into slices and serve the two together on each guest’s plate.

The classic prank made from sausage meat and chestnuts is the most widespread. Otherwise we can choose a farce fineor even for a farce simple made by mixing butter or cream cheese like petit suisses with Provence herbs.

For the holidays, the foie gras stuffing will make your guinea fowl sumptuous, just like the porcini stuffing. The chicken liver and white pudding stuffing will give even more flavor to your guinea fowl, and veal stuffinghoney and yellow wine will be perfect if you like the sweet/salty taste.

There are two types of side dishes: those that you will cook with the guinea fowl, and those that you will cook separately.

In the first case, we surround the guinea fowl with potatoes and/or chestnutsor squash butternutor even sweet potato, directly into the baking dish and cook at the same time as the guinea fowl.

In this way, these vegetables or starchy foods will avoid the taste of poultry and you will have a tasty and quick accompaniment to prepare.

For side dishes that cook separately, the range of possibilities is vast.

You can serve the classics roasted potatoes that you can roast in the Air Fryer if your guinea fowl cooks in the oven, and vice versa, or serve the potatoes in a creative way, such as in mille-feuille, with our Crispy potato millefeuilles with parmesan or even as a gratin, with our my mom’s potato gratin.

You can mix the potatoes with pumpkin and prepare the recipe for painted potatoes or bet on the association pumpkin-lentils and prepare the lentil and pumpkin salad with cashew nuts.

The homemade mashed potatoes will be very appreciated as an accompaniment to guinea fowl, just like the stuffed mushroomsor even the cauliflower croquettes.

For your Christmas meal, Guinea fowl capon with apples and prunes by Chef Damien will delight all your guests, just like the classic guinea fowl with chestnuts or the stuffed caponed guinea fowl. And if you like the sweet/salty flavor, the Baked guinea fowl with apricots and hazelnuts will be a nice taste surprise!

And for more inspiration, check out our page dedicated to guinea fowl recipes !

Now you have all the keys to choose, cook, stuff and accompany your guinea fowl well and enjoy this exceptional poultry!
Your guests will be delighted to discover that, thanks to our guide, you have mastered the art of cooking and the way of serving guinea fowl.