Crispy chicken, combined with a creamy bacon, mushroom, mustard and wine sauce. Easy enough for weeknight, but also special enough for company!

French chicken with creamy sauce in pan with spoon

This easy and delicious Saucy French Chicken has all the classic french flavours, with white wine, tarragon and a bit of Dijon, combined with mushrooms and bacon, all in a lovely creamy sauce.

Once you cook up the bacon and chicken on the stove-top, you can pop this one into the oven and let it finish cooking there, to free you up to do other things. Simply finish the gravy on the stove-top when you take it out of the oven and you’re good to go.

With classic French flavours, this chicken dish is perfect for entertaining, as it’s both easy and delicious!

The fabulous, creamy sauce is great spooned over mashed potatoes or rice.

Cook’s Notes

While I have used bone-in/skin-on chicken thighs here, you could also use bone-in/skin-on chicken breasts. Just leave them in the oven longer (40-45 minutes) as they will take longer to cook through.

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”.

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 for some acidity.

Top Tip! Make your own creme fraiche by combining 1 cup heavy whipping cream with and 2 Tsp buttermilk in a glass jar. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, or until very thick. Stir well, then refrigerate up to 10 days.

French Chicken in serving dish

French chicken with creamy sauce in pan with spoon

Get the Recipe: Saucy French Chicken

Chicken thighs in a creamy mushroom, mustard, tarragon and white wine sauce.
5 stars from 12 ratings
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 50 mins
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 slices bacon, diced
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp cooking oil
  • 6 chicken thighs or breasts, bone-in/skin-on
  • 8 oz button mushrooms, quartered
  • 1/3 cup diced onion
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 6 Tbsp crème fraiche, *see notes
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 2 Tbsp water
  • 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves, or 1 1/2 tsp dried tarragon or thyme, if you prefer

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • In an oven-safe skillet, cook diced bacon until crispy over medium heat. Remove to a small bowl. Remove all but a little of the bacon fat from the pan.
  • Add 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 about 1 minute, stirring a bit to loosen any browned bits. Add the chicken stock.
  • Return chicken to the pan and place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. (Breasts will take longer).
  • Remove skillet from oven and lift chicken pieces to a plate. Place skillet onto the stove-top over medium-high heat. Add the creme fraiche, cornstarch/water mixture, Dijon mustard and tarragon and cook, stirring, until sauce is hot and thickened, 2-3 minutes. Stir in reserved bacon and then return chicken to the pan. Cook a further few minutes to rewarm chicken and bacon. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice to enjoy the lovely gravy.

Notes

If you can't find creme fraiche, I would not suggest using yogurt or sour cream, as they will "break" in the wine sauce and make a slightly curdled looking sauce. Instead, use a small amount of heavy 35% whipping cream (maybe 2-3 Tbsp) - just enough to make the sauce creamy.
Be sure to read the "Cook's Notes" in the original post, for more tips, options, substitutions and variations for this recipe!
Cuisine: French
Course: Main Course
Author: Jennifer
Calories: 650kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Protein: 34g, Fat: 46g, Saturated Fat: 14g, Cholesterol: 196mg, Sodium: 500mg, Potassium: 752mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 335IU, Vitamin C: 2.1mg, Calcium: 49mg, Iron: 1.9mg
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