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Succulent chicken with cremini mushrooms is slowly simmered in white wine and a splash of cream. I present to you Coq au Vin Blanc! Quintessential French cooking, but in your own kitchen.
Serve this delicious chicken recipe with Herb and Garlic Mashed Potatoes for an unforgettable meal!
One thing that I’ve learned from blogging is that nothing is more popular than chicken recipe. That goes doubly true for chicken cooked in a delicious sauce to carry that beautiful flavour even further.
And so this recipe is my gift to you! It has everything I know you’ll love – succulent chicken thighs and legs soaked in a stunning, creamy sauce made with white wine, bacon and mushrooms. It combines the best of French cooking in one amazing pot, and I know you’ll love it!
French cuisine
If you are looking for a bit of comfort food with a touch of elegance, this French recipe for chicken, slowly simmered in white wine, is for you.
When people think of French cuisine, images of perfectly and beautifully plated food immediately come to mine. Well, this recipe is nothing like that. Fear not…it is simple and quick. It requires a very few ingredients that you most likely have on hand.
This braised chicken recipe is one of the finest examples of French country cooking. Far, far away from classically trained chefs. Just skilled home cooks creating rustic, beautiful and delicious food for their families.
What is coq au vin blanc?
The legendary Coq au Vin is a French braised chicken dish made with red wine, along with mushrooms, bacon lardons and a simple spread of other ingredients.
There are various legends about how far back this stew recipe goes, with even Julius Caesar getting a mention. But it was only truly documented last century so it’s really anyones guess how and why it was invented.
I’ve adapted the classic Coq au Vin to a version I’m fond of using dry white wine. It keeps the essential elements of the classic version but with a different range of flavours showing through.
It’s really a wonderful dish when you want to appear to have worked endless hours on dinner without having to really stretch yourself all that much! To add to the simplicity of this chicken braised in white wine, there is also a convenience factor.
This dish is cooked in one pan and boasts tender succulent chicken thighs and legs swimming in creamy gravy like sauce. Did I also mention that there is bacon involved?
As I mentioned earlier, all you need is a handful of ingredients but how, you might wonder, it can possibly develop such deep and gratifying flavours? My answer is simple and as old as the world. Wine and slow cooking.
This recipe might be a bit more hands-on than you’d like to invest in for a regular weeknight dinner. It will take you approximately one hour to make.
However, do save this chicken recipe for a weekend because you will absolutely fall in love with the complex flavours and will cook it again and again!
Cooking with wine
You can use any dry white wine for this recipe. I’ve used Chardonnay but Sauvignon Blanc or dry Riesling will also work beautifully. I do not recommend using cooking wine.
The reason I recommend dry white wine is because sweetness in wine tends to concentrate when it’s cooked down. So if you start with sweet wine, you will end up with very sweet dish after 40 minutes of simmering.
Unless you abstain from alcohol for medical or religious reasons, I would encourage you to give cooking with wine a try. The reason it works is because adding wine is like adding a concentrated flavour boost to your food.
Wine makers have worked long and hard to develop those flavours. All you have to do is to pour it in, sit back and let it simmer happily for 40 minutes for all that flavour to transfer to your dish.
If you are concerned about cooking with alcohol or feeding your children “winey” chicken, don’t be! Alcohol will cook out of the dish in the process of simmering! There will be traces left but truly negligible amounts.
All you will be left with is creamy sauce and scrumptious chicken as acid from the wine permeates it and makes it irresistibly tender.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- The recipe can be made ahead and frozen to serve later. Just make sure to add about 1/2 cup/125ml to 1 cup/250ml of chicken stock when reheating it as you are bound to lose some sauce in the process.
- Choose a dry white wine to cook with. I used a dry Chardonnay, but other varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio will also work well. Be careful not to use a sweet wine!
- Yes, you can use chicken breasts instead of thighs but the sauce will be less flavourful. Choose what is more important to you… deep flavour or convenience and proceed accordingly.
- The recipe uses bacon lardons, which are diced pieces of thick cut bacon. Lardons are typically only lightly smoked, so they do not overpower the dish. They are commonly used in French cooking.
- For a more varied flavour experiment with different types of mushrooms. The more interesting the better! If you want to learn more about them, here is a helpful article, which outlines various flavour profiles of mushrooms.
- At the end of the cooking process you should end up with a reduced sauce, so simmer your chicken uncovered.
Serving Suggestions
For a full French inspired dinner, serve this coq au vin with mashed potatoes or sweet potato and rutabaga mash if you are feeling more adventurous and a salad on the side. This apple, walnut and blue cheese salad will do nicely.
Good quality baguette or sourdough bread is also highly recommended so soak up all that amazing white wine sauce! I also like to add a sprinkling of fresh parsley, both for added colour and a bit of fresh flavour.
Storage and leftovers
It’s best to reheat any leftovers by setting the stovetop on low, and heating in a pan with a splash of water or stock to your pan to keep the sauce loose. Cover with a lid or foil to keep the coq au vin blanc from drying out and heat for approximately 15 minutes or until the meat is hot in the middle.
It is possible to freeze any leftovers for up to three months in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container.
More French chicken recipes
- French Chicken Casserole a la Normande
- Chicken Provencal
- Chicken in Wine and Mustard Sauce
- Chicken Fricassee
- Creamy Tarragon Chicken and Potatoes
Coq au Vin Blanc (Chicken in White Wine)
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Cast iron casserole dish
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4-5 strips of bacon/pancetta, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 8 chicken pieces on the bone, thighs and legs
- 250g / 2 cups Cremini mushrooms, whole or halved
- 500ml / 2⅓ cups dry white wine, such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, approximately 2/3 of a bottle
- 250ml / 1 cup double/whipping cream
- salt & pepper, to taste
- handful flat leaf chopped parsley
Instructions
- Cook bacon or pancetta in a tablespoon of olive oil. Skip oil if bacon is too fatty. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Salt and pepper the chicken pieces and brown them in bacon fat over medium-high heat. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Cook chopped onion over low heat for 5-7 minutes, add garlic when the onion is tender and translucent and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove cooked onion and garlic to the same plate as chicken and bacon.
- Add mushrooms to the pan and brown them for 3-5 minutes over medium-high heat. Return chicken, onion, garlic and bacon to the pan, pour wine all over, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Add cream and simmer for 10 minutes longer. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.
Notes
- Use a dry white wine like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, or Pinot Grigio. Avoid anything sweet or your sauce will taste off.
- You can swap in chicken breasts, but thighs give you much deeper flavour. Choose what matters more to you: richness or convenience.
- Lardons are more than regular bacon bits. They are thick-cut and lightly smoked so they add flavour without taking over. They are a staple of French cooking and are often found in classic recipes.
- For a more interesting flavour, try mixing up your mushroom varieties. Shiitakes, oysters, cremini – the more diverse, the better.
- For the best sauce, simmer uncovered so the sauce reduces and concentrates into something truly luxurious.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made it tonight and it was absolutely divine! So much flavor and really was an easy recipe to follow. Thank you for creating it!
What a lovely review! Thank you, Erica!
HI Julia!
I want to make this for a dinner for 25 people so I will make it ahead and freeze it. When reheating, how do i not overcook? How do I make sure it’s warmed through? Any tips?
THank you so much!
kate
Hi Kathryn, to be honest with you it will be difficult to pull this off successfully for two reasons. You are cooking for 25 people and you are freezing the meal. You might run into several problems, the chicken will be overdone as you mentioned and you might have issues with the cream sauce.Sauces tend to shrink when reheated and cream sauce might curdle when reheated at high temperature, which is easy enough to deal with normally but not when feeding a crowd. I would definitely do a practice run and make the recipe as written, then evaluate and decide whether you want to attempt it for 25 people.
This recipe is amazing! Seriously.
Thanks so much, Sara!
I followed this recipe all the way, threw in some sprigs of fresh thyme in the wine mix, and baked on 375 instead of simmering on low for the 40 mins. This is easily the best recipe/dinner I have made in months, and the prep and effort was minimal! I served with green beans and herbed rice pilaf, and everyone at the table was pretty much freaking out at how good it was! Thank you so much for posting this!!
Oh, and a loaf of good French bread! No butter needed!
My pleasure, Evan! I am thrilled you got such great results. I have to agree with you about this recipe. It’s one of my favourites. I often prepare it when we have guests because everyone loves it!
would you suggest serving with a mushroom risotto? or would this be too rich of a combo?
I think it would be too rich. I usually serve this with mashed potatoes or plain rice.
Quite excited to have tried this. Couple of tweaks Iโd make:
1) use canola/vegetable oil to brown the chicken- this allows for better colour, faster
2) add some tarragon –
Saw this in another similar recipe; added this as a result of the chicken smelling a bit unseasoned
Otherwise, taste is good- love the almost lemony flavour the Chardonnay brings to the dish.
Thanks, Kim. The reason I use extra virgin olive oil is for its health benefits as well as flavour…incomparable to canola or vegetable oil.
Tarragon is great but has a very powerful flavour that tends to dominate. This classic French recipe is all about the wine, which gives the dish its flavour, hence the name of the recipe. However, if you are fan, here is great tarragon chicken and potato recipe you might enjoy.
If I wanted to use boneless skinless chicken breasts because it’s what I have on hand, do you have any idea about how many ounces of chicken I would use? Thanks!
Hi Laura I am guessing about 2 lbs of chicken breasts.
Okay, thank you!
Can you use boneless skinless chicken thighs?
You absolutely can but I would reduce the cooking time by about 15-20 minutes, Faye.
Julia,
Thank you so much for this delicious and very easy recipe! I made it today to serve tomorrow and I appreciate you answering my questions so promptly! First, for anyone debating making this dish I encourage you to make it. The smells that are filling my home are wonderful, and the taste is outstanding! I made a big batch so my recommendations for that would be to use two pans for browning the chicken that way the process moves along quickly. You don’t want to rush this process. Next, while the chicken is browning I would use some of the drippings from the chicken and in a separate pan saute the onions, and garlic. Then, as suggested, remove them from the pan and brown the mushrooms. I know this creates more pans to wash, however, it shortens your time over the stove. After emailing Julia she thought it would be best to reheat the dish in the oven tomorrow to keep the chicken crispy and to add the cream and parsley just before serving. Julia, I love to cook and entertain. I am so appreciative for such a wonderful, company worthy, recipe!
Happy Cooking!
Lisa Cronin
Thank you so much for your lovely words, Lisa! I hope your guests enjoy it as much as we do!
It was delicious, everyone raved! So flavorful even reheated a few days later, my husband and kids were so happy we had leftovers! I am making it again today to celebrate my sons homecoming. This recipe will be passed on and passed down! Thank you again.
Your comment brought a big smile to my face, Lisa!!Thank you for sharing this with me. ๐
What size pan should I use?
Hi Susan, you pan should be large enough to hold 8 pieces of chicken.
Worthy to be served in a fine restaurant. I followed the recipe exactly as written–stovetop in a frying pan. Absolutely loved it!!!!
I am so pleased to hear that, Patti! ๐
Julia ~ Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! A friend of mine made this dish, in a skillet (I’m going to make mine in my cast iron skillet), with rice (no bacon). It was so yummy! I have asked her repeatedly for the recipe and she somehow always, ALWAYS changes the subject, never sharing the recipe (stingy!). I don’t mind sharing recipes, it makes me feel good that someone loves it enough to ask! I am going to make this meal this upcoming weekend – with bacon! Seriously, who doesn’t love bacon? So glad your recipe calls for onions! My friend didn’t use them in her recipe either – bacon and onions = great yummy combo! I absolutely love onions (and they, along with garlic, are great against colon cancer). I add onions in just about every dish I make, unless someone is totally adverse to the idea or allergic. Then, I will just make them a separate dish. My youngest brother doesn’t like onions, so I don’t tell him – I had used my box grater & you couldn’t see them, mostly onion juice, Guess what? He always loves it! Lol. My boyfriend & my sis-in-law knew there were onions, but didn’t say a word, just smiled ear-to-ear, like we had a secret. We would look at each other and giggle. Again, thank you so very much for sharing your recipe! ๐ I look forward to making more of your recipes! God bless you sister-girl!
I am so glad you found the recipe you were looking for, Daisy. I hope you love it! ๐
Just did your dish. Wow! Thank you.