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This recipe for this Chicken Chasseur is a lesser known French classic made quicker and leaner! Chicken breasts braised in rich tomato sauce with onions and mushrooms are easy and delicious!
If you like rustic French chicken recipes, why don’t you check out my French Chicken Casserole or Chicken Forestière.
I’ve been quite smitten with the French cuisine for a while now as evident by many recipes on this blog. French Chicken Casserole, Coq au Vin, Chicken Provencal and many more are all readers’ favourites, so I wanted to bring to you some lesser known but nonetheless delicious dishes.
I’ve first discovered Chicken Chasseur or Hunter’s Chicken in This is an affiliate link.I Know How to Cook by Ginet Mathiot, the famous French culinary bible. It’s a brilliant cookbook for confident cooks who are interested in learning about the French cuisine.
This classic recipe has beautifully flavoured chicken in a rich tomato and mushroom sauce. It’s rustic, simple yet so full of flavour it still manages to showcase the eternal elegance of French cuisine.
What is Chicken Chasseur?
‘Chasseur’ is the French word for ‘hunter’, which is a heavy nod towards the origin of this dish. It based on the dish a hunter may make after successful outing and collecting some mushrooms along the way.
It is a stew with a rich base sauce, mushrooms shallots and a medley of fresh, fragrant herbs. The stew is finished off with whichever meat our successful hunter has returned with.
While it can be made with all sorts of game, such as venison or rabbit, chicken is the convenient choice now that we do our hunting in grocery stores. Still, its a dish that holds on to its humble and rustic origins.
This approach to cooking is not only found in France. Chicken Cacciatore is essentially an Italian Hunter’s Chicken recipe, using a very similar philosophy!
Ingredients
There are quite a few variations of Chicken Chasseur and I assume this is partly due to the fact that the French do not go into many details when sharing recipes. The instructions and ingredient lists are short and give much room for improvisation.
All recipes contain chicken, either a whole one or chicken parts. The sauce is made of sautéed in butter onions and mushrooms and a splash of dry white, canned or fresh chopped tomatoes and herbs such as thyme, tarragon or parsley.
Chicken braised in a robust tomato sauce is how Chicken Chasseur is usually pictured. Interestingly enough, there are absolutely no tomatoes or tomato paste in Ginet Mathiot’s recipe.
How to make it
My version of Hunter’s Chicken is faster and simpler, developed for busy families and quick after work dinners. I replaced chicken parts with skinless boneless chicken breasts to speed up the cooking process and to cut a few calories.
By doing that, I imagine I reduced the cooking time by a half and the calorie count by a lot!
So here is what you need to do:
- Salt and pepper chicken breasts and brown them on both sides but do not cook all the way through.
- Saute sliced onions, halved mushrooms (any mushrooms you like) and sliced garlic cloves for 10 minutes.
- Add some white wine and let it reduce just a little, then add your seasoning.
- Then add tomato paste, diced tomatoes and chicken stock and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Job done.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- This recipe doesn’t include any flour or cornstarch to thicken the sauce. This was done intentionally in order to allow the tomatoes to thicken it naturally.
- If the sauce is not to your desired consistency, feel free to thicken it with 1 tbsp of cornstarch diluted in 2 tbsp of water at the end.
- French food is often made with wine, which adds acidity and complexity to a dish. But if you choose not to use it, substitute with an equal quantity of apple juice with 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar.
- I used fresh thyme and fresh bay leaves but you can use any herbs you love. Maybe stay away from basil and oregano. We don’t want it to taste Italian.
- The traditional recipe is made with a whole chicken, but I chose chicken breasts for convenience. Chicken thighs can also be used.
Serving suggestions
The most traditional way to eat this dish is piled on top of creamy mashed potatoes. You can also serve it with rice, couscous or cauliflower mash for a low carb version.
A slice of thick crusty bread is also highly recommended to soak up that tasty sauce!
This chicken recipe, despite being quite good for you, has a very luxurious feel. Just a little bit of butter goes a long way to contribute to a rich and luscious sauce.
The tomatoes truly benefit from slow braising and turn into a fragrant and sweet tasting sauce that accompanies tender from braising chicken breasts.
Storage and leftovers
Leftovers can be reheated in a microwave, but I prefer using the stovetop. Add it to a pan over medium-low heat, adding a splash of water or stock to keep the sauce loose. Cover with a lid or foil so it doesn’t dry out and let it heat for approximately 15 minutes or until it is hot throughout.
Leftovers can be kept in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More French recipes
Chicken Chasseur Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
- 750-900g / 1½-2 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 250g / 8oz mushrooms, cut in half
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 125ml / ½ cup dry white wine
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves only
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 150g / ½ cup canned diced tomatoes/crushed tomatoes in the US
- 350ml / 1½ cups This is an affiliate link.chicken stock
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large pan heat 1 tbsp of oil and brown chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides until golden. You may have to do it in batches to avoid overcrowding. Remove to a plate and set aside until needed.
- To the same pan add butter, sliced onions, mushrooms and garlic and saute with a pinch of salt on low heat for 10 minutes. Then add the white wine and let it bubble away for a couple of minutes.
- Then add the thyme leaves, bay leaves and tomato paste. Bring the chicken breasts back to the pan together with diced tomatoes and chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer covered for 20 minutes, then uncover and cook for 10 minutes longer. If by the end of the cooking time the sauce is too watery let it simmer uncovered to reduce.
Video
Notes
- It might look like flour and cornstarch should be used here to thicken the sauce, but this is actually intentional to allow the tomatoes to thicken it naturally.
- That said, if you do want a thicker sauce, you can add 1 tbsp of cornstarch diluted in 2 tbsp of water at the end.
- Using a bit of wine is traditional in French cuisine as it adds acidity and complexity. If you don’t want to cook with alcohol, substitute with an equal quantity of apple juice plus 1 tbsp white wine vinegar.
- I’ve used fresh they and bay leaves, but you can use any herbs you like, although I would stay away from basil and oregano since we don’t want this to taste Italian.
- Traditionally this recipe is made with a whole chicken. I’ve used chicken breasts for convenience. Chicken thighs are another good option.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I loved this recipe!!! My mum used to make this meal when I was young, and so it was wonderful to experience the exact same taste years later! I served it with mashed potatoes and roasted maple carrots. The only adaption I made was using 1/2 less of the Chicken Broth. Thank you for the recipe!
My pleasure. So happy you loved it, Michelle!
It worked! I was so tickled! I resisted the urge to use a thickener or even using tomato paste, and the sauce thickened to perfection. Great instructions, it was the comment at the bottom of the recipe that encouraged keeping the faith. I’ve made Hunters chicken many times, but it’s never this good. I wonder if using the expensive canned tomatoes in the yellow label helped? Plus, had to use about a cup of over ripe sweet tomatoes. Fresh herbs, and needed to sub a bit of Sherry for the wine, probably too many vegetables, also. But It came out great, thank you!
I missed tomato paste…. is that make a different taste?
Tomato paste gives it a richer taste.
The dish is fabulous. I simmered it for longer to reduce the liquid & served it with gnocchi. I’ve cooked it several times & last time I added fresh spinach. Another time I added a big handful of green peas. Basically sort of disguising veg with the amazing sauce.
Thanks so much, Dayle!! I am thrilled you’ve made this dish your own.
So do i use 1/2 cup diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes?
Diced tomatoes in the UK, crushed in the US, so I guess it would depend where you live.
I am about to make your chicken Chasseur recipe. After browning the chicken, mushrooms, onions etc (end of stage 2) could i then put in casserole dis in oven for stage 3? If so what oven temperature and would I need to cover the casserole? I am looking forward to making it tomorrow.
Hi Marilyn, you can finish it off in the oven at 350F/180C for about 20-25 minutes.