Crispy bone-in, skin-on chicken (breasts or thighs), combined with a creamy bacon, mushroom, mustard and white wine sauce. Easy enough for weeknight, but also special enough for company!
Quick look: saucy French chicken
What is it? This is a cozy, skillet-to-oven French-inspired chicken dish with crispy bone-in chicken in a creamy white wine, mushroom, bacon, Dijon and tarragon sauce, ready in about 50 minutes. This chicken starts on the stove top, heads into the oven to finish cooking the chicken and then is quickly finished on the stovetop.
Why you’ll love it:
- Feels special enough for company but is simple enough for a weeknight.
- Ready in just 50 minutes (including 30 minutes hands-off oven time!)
- Uses everyday ingredients and is flexible: thighs or breasts, wine or extra broth, tarragon or thyme, crème fraîche, cream or cream/yogurt.
- Makes lots of sauce that’s perfect over mashed potatoes or rice, plus it can be made ahead and rewarmed.
How to make it:
- Crisp diced bacon in an oven-safe skillet, then brown bone-in, skin-on chicken in the bacon fat with a bit of butter and oil; set chicken aside.
- Sauté mushrooms and onion, deglaze with white wine, add chicken broth, then return the chicken and bake uncovered at 350F until cooked through.
- Remove chicken, whisk crème fraîche, cornstarch slurry, Dijon and tarragon into the pan juices, simmer until thick and creamy, stir in bacon, then nestle chicken back into the sauce and serve with potatoes or rice.
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes about the key ingredients …
Chicken – I will typically make this dish with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, but it can also be made with bone-in, skin on chicken breasts. For chicken breasts, increase the oven cooking time to 40-45 minutes, or as needed to bring the chicken to 160F internal temperature.
I love the extra flavour that skin-on/bone-in chicken brings to this dish, but if you only have or just want to use boneless/skinless, go ahead and do that. Simply adjust both the skillet browning and oven time accordingly (less time for both, as boneless will cook more quickly and you don’t have skin you need to “brown”.
Wine – Use any white wine you have and hand and enjoy. Don’t have or want to cook with wine? Simply replace with 1 cup more chicken broth and maybe a tablespoon of white wine vinegar or lemon juice for some acidity.
Tarragon – tarragon is very “French”, but can be a very divisive herb. You either love it or you hate it. If you’re not a fan, substitute fresh thyme leaves.
Crème fraîche – I can usually find crème fraîche in my small town grocery store, but if you can’t find it anywhere, I’ve included a quick, DIY recipe below to easily make it at home. A small amount of heavy 35% whipping cream (maybe 2-3 Tablespoons) – just enough to make the sauce creamy- is probably the preferred substitution.
Alternatively, if you can’t find crème fraîche, I would suggest using a thick, high-fat yogurt or sour cream. The higher fat will prevent the sauce from splitting, but as it is still lower-fat than crème fraîche, it may slightly curdle.
How to Make crème fraîche at home
Make your own crème fraîche by combining 1 cup heavy whipping cream with and 2 teaspoons of buttermilk in a glass jar. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, or until very thick. (I like to cover with a paper towel that is secured to the jar with a rubber band or string. Once thickened, stir well, then refrigerate up to 10 days.
What to serve with saucy French chicken
The fabulous, creamy sauce is great spooned over mashed potatoes or rice. Add a green vegetable, such as green beans, broccoli or broccolini, to complete the meal. I have enjoyed this Roasted Broccoli Caesar Salad alongside, as well.
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Get the Recipe: Saucy French Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon, diced
- 1 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon cooking oil
- 6 chicken thighs or (or 4 chicken breasts), bone-in/skin-on
- 8 oz button or cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 1/3 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup white wine, or substitute an extra cup of chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 6 Tablespoons crème fraîche, *see notes below for substitution suggestions
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons cold water
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon or fresh or dried thyme, if you prefer
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. (regular bake setting/not fan assisted)
- In an oven-safe skillet, cook the diced bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove to a small bowl. Remove all but a little of the bacon fat from the pan.
- Add the butter and oil to the same pan and heat over medium heat. Add the chicken thighs to the pan, skin side down and cook until deep golden. Flip over and brown the other side as well. Remove to a plate.
- If there is a large amount of fat in the pan, remove all but a Tablespoon or so. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring regularly, over medium-high heat, until mushrooms have cooked off their moisture and are starting to brown. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring, until onions have softened, about 2 minutes more. Add the white wine and allow to cook for at least 1 minute (up to 2 minutes), stirring a bit to loosen any browned bits. Add the chicken stock.
- Return the chicken to the pan and place the pan in the preheated oven uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through to 165F internal temperature.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and lift the chicken pieces to a plate. Place the skillet onto the stove top over medium-high heat. Add the creme fraiche, cornstarch stirred together with the cold water, Dijon mustard and tarragon to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is hot and thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the reserved bacon and then return the chicken to the pan. Cook for a few minutes to rewarm chicken and bacon. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice to enjoy the lovely gravy.
Notes
More bone-in chicken recipes to love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
This looks wonderful! Does it go into the oven covered or uncovered? Thank you! (And sorry if I missed that 😁)
Hi Kelli, it should be uncovered in the oven. Enjoy!
Could you use Mexican Crema instead of the creme fraiche?
Hi Marci and yes, I suspect you could.
love it! thanks. creme fraiche is amazing and this is great.
So glad you enjoyed it, Kate! Thanks so much :)
Can I use double cream in place of the fraiche?
Hi Samantha, if you are talking about the high fat (48%) cream then yes, it should work.
This dish was incredible and loved by even non mustard lovers. I ended up having a few more guests and made same sauce recipe with 8 very meaty chicken thighs instead of 6. Still cooked beautifully with plenty of sauce left. It’s a winner!
So glad to hear, Michelle! Thanks so much :)
Can this be frozen? Thanks
Hi Diane, it could be frozen, though the sauce my change texture slightly from the freeze/thaw.
I am trying to plan the menu for my wedding for about 25 people.. do you think that we could make this ahead and freeze it? it seems like an amazing recipe choice for the chicken option…
Hi Janet :) I think this would freeze nicely. Enjoy!
Perfect dish for potluck parties or dinner with family. Thanks for sharing this.
Yes, it would for sure :) Thanks!
could I eliminate the mustard, recommend a very mild tasting one or substitute it with something else…we are not a mustard loving family at all but would love to try this recipe!
Hi Mena. There isn’t really a substitute for mustard. The best option would be to just omit it altogether in this dish.
Can this’s be made ahead of time?
Hi Michele, You can. The chicken most likely will lose any crispness it had, but it will still be lovely.
I made Saucy French Chicken and once again you are amazing!! Thank you for all your amazing recipes, sincerely, Tina
So glad you enjoyed it, Tina! Thanks so much :)
Made this for 15 people yesterday and everyone loved it. I had one guest who is on the Keto diet…I pulled out some of the juice before adding the cornstarch/creme fraiche, put it in a pot of its own, whisked in some cream cheese (didn’t save any of the creme fraiche), the mustard and tarragon. It wasn’t thick, but the sauce was still tasty. Great recipe, thank you!
Happy to hear, Mary :) Thanks so much!