Tender and juicy chicken breasts smothered in garlic mushroom sauce is comfort food that could be in front of you in just 30 minutes! Using simple ingredients and cooking techniques you can easily impress your loved ones with this restaurant quality dinner!
If you love creamy chicken dinners, take a look at out French Chicken Casserole a la Normande. Readers’ favourite!
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It’s not a secret that I am the biggest mushroom fan. I personally believe they pair so well with chicken, especially when a luscious cream sauce is involved.
Skinless, boneless chicken breasts are so easy to work with. They are readily available and require almost no prep. They also cook in record time, which means dinner could be made in a flash!
No wonder this Chicken with Garlic Mushroom Sauce is a favourite with my family members.
Chicken with mushroom sauce
The ingredients for this dish are quite simple but work like magic when put together with a bit of loving care.
I like to use skinless, boneless chicken breasts as they are easy to use and are slightly less calorific than chicken thighs.
For the sauce you will need button mushrooms. But if you are after a bit more interesting flavours and textures, use a mix of wild mushrooms. Check my Mushrooms Stroganoff recipe, where I write extensively about different types of mushrooms.
I also use fresh rosemary to complement earthy mushroom flavour, shallots, garlic, dry white wine, heavy cream and tiny bit of wholegrain mustard.
You can also use thyme, parsley, tarragon, or any other herb blend of your choice.
Garlic mushroom sauce
As you can imagine the mushroom sauce is the star of the show here. It truly makes the dish and the good news is that the sauce is very easy and quick to make.
Mushrooms themselves bring lots of flavour to the table and once paired with fragrant and woodsy rosemary, they indeed shine.
We start the sauce by browning the mushrooms, which intensifies their flavour, then adding shallots and a fair amount of minced garlic. Garlic, of course, is a mainstay of French cooking!
Once the mushrooms are golden, and the shallots and garlic are soft, I like to hit the pan with a bit of dry white wine.
Why add wine
Hitting a hot pan with a bit of alcohol after browning meat and vegetables is called deglazing. A very useful technique that accomplishes two things.
Browning is usually done at high temperature and if left on for too long, can causing burning and consequently turning food bitter. Deglazing of a pan prevents burning, as added liquid lowers the temperature immediately.
It also infuses the sauce with more flavour as burnt to the bottom bits are released into the sauce. The wine itself enhances and balances the sauce.
I finish the sauce with a bit of chicken stock, a good amount of cream and a tablespoon of This is an affiliate link.mustard.
Recipe tips and notes
- Cutting the chicken breasts in half lengthwise creates thinner pieces that cook quicker and more evenly. I also find it a helpful way to create smaller portion sizes, especially helpful if you have children who will struggle to get through a whole chicken breast.
- I chose shallots for this recipe as I like their subtle sweetness, but a single white onion can be used instead.
- Rosemary could be substituted with thyme or tarragon.
- Using white wine to deglaze the pan is an important way to release flavour from the bottom of the pan, which will enhance the overall taste of the sauce. Make sure to choose a dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio, so you aren’t accidentally adding sweetness to the sauce. The dryness and acidity of the wine helps balance the sauce by cutting through the richness of the cream.
- I used heavy cream (double cream in the UK) for this sauce but you can use light (single cream) to reduce the calories, this will also result in a slightly thinner sauce.
- People often comment that they double the sauce because they like a lot of it. That’s absolutely fine as long as you are aware you are also doubling the calories since the sauce is where they are at!
- If you prefer not to cook with alcohol, you could instead use a combination of apple or white grape juice plus 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar.
Serving suggestions
A number of side dishes works exceptionally well here. I would recommend choosing something rather plain like rice or potatoes. The sauce itself is rich enough and needs to be balanced out by the side dish.
Potatoes work particularly well this rustic sauce, especially mashed potatoes like Irish Champ or Herb and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. If mashed potatoes aren’t your thing, you can always choose Hasselbeck Potatoes or classic Roast Potatoes.
I always find that a vegetable side dish is welcome to balance out a rich, creamy sauce like this one. I have lots to choose from in my Side Dishes category. Lemon Butter Green Beans and Braised Red Cabbage as especially good options!
Storage and leftovers
Leftovers can be refrigerated in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container for up to 3-4 days. The easiest way to reheat is to use a microwave.
Because it is a cream sauce, this isn’t a recipe to freeze though. Cream sauces tend to separate when frozen and the quality of the sauce will be impacted, even if the separation is reversed when reheated.
More delicious chicken breast recipes
Chicken with Garlic Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper
- 250g / 80z button mushrooms halved or sliced
- 2 shallots chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 sprigs rosemary or 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tbsp flour
- 80ml / ¼cup dry white wine
- 80ml / ¼cup This is an affiliate link.chicken stock
- 375ml / 1½ cups double/heavy cream
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.dijon mustard or wholegrain mustard
Instructions
- Slice chicken breasts lengthwise, salt and pepper and brown on both sides in olive oil on medium heat until golden. Remove to a plate. (At this point chicken will not be cooked all the way through.)
- To the same pan add the mushrooms together with chopped rosemary, salt and pepper and brown the mushrooms over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, add the chopped shallots and minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes longer. Add a heaped tablespoon of flour and stir to combine. Then add the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release the brown bits into the liquid. Pour in chicken stock, double/heavy cream, add 1 tbsp of mustard and stir to combine.
- Then add the chicken breasts together with the juices they released back to the pan, and bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
Video
Notes
- White onion can be used instead of 2 shallots
- Rosemary could be substituted with thyme or tarragon.
- White wine could be substituted with a combination of apple of white grape juice +1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar.
