This Saucy French Chicken is one of those dishes that is easy enough for weeknight, but also special enough for company!
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 for Saucy French Chicken
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.
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.
Saucy French Chicken
Chicken thighs in a creamy mushroom, mustard, tarragon and white wine sauce.
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon diced
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
- 6 chicken thighs 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
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350F.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Return chicken to the pan and place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.
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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.
Recipe 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!
We tried this recipe tonight with skinless boneless chicken breasts. It turned out amazing! Next time we will cook the bacon a little longer- until crisp as the recipe recommends and sprinkle on top when plating. Thank you for the great recipe.
Glad you enjoyed it, Catherine :) Thanks!
This is yummy. I used 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, added 10 Ounces of slightly cooked French green beans, increased the onions and cut them a little chunky, added thawed artichoke hearts, and used 1T sherry vinegar with whipping cream instead of creme fraiche. Oooeeee!
So glad you enjoyed it, Donna! Thanks :)
Do you think that this recipe would work for boneless pheasant breasts ? We have a freezer full and this looks great !
Hi Betsy and yes, I think pheasant breasts would work just fine with this :)
If you have a person that doesn’t like mushrooms will the dish be good without them?
Hi Jacqueline and yes, it will still be delicious without the mushrooms :) Enjoy!
What brand mustard did you use? Mustard is one of those things that can vary in taste so I’m just curious. This looks delicious!
Hi Heather, I love Maille dijon, but you’re right they do vary a lot in taste. Whatever one you use regularly and love the flavour of is what I would use.
This was dinner Sunday night. Absolutely delicious. We all loved the creaminess of the sauce. It is so good to be back to cold weather cooking! ;-)
Thanks Kristie and I agree! The best thing about the cold weather ;)
Chicken thighs are the best! And then pair them with a lush sauce? Yep, that would definitely make for a yummy dinner :)
Thanks so much, Dawn :)
I am a huge fan of chicken thighs…so much flavor! This dish is perfection! My family will love it! Pinned!
Thanks Annie!
This is such a perfectly delicious and cozy dish for fall!
Thanks Laura :)
You make the best and prettiest chicken skillet dishes, Jennifer! I can’t wait to try this!!
Thanks so much, Chris. I do love chicken skillets :)
I love all your chicken recipes Jennifer, they make me feel so warm and cozy just looking at the photos. This one is decadent and simple at the same time, putting it on our menu now!
Thanks Sue and yes, it’s a lovely way to make chicken a little special :)
Nothing beats a chicken thigh dinner Jennifer! And this one looks so comforting. That creamy sauce would go over really well at our house. Need to give this recipe a try for sure!
Thanks Mary Ann :)
This is my kind of fall dish Jennifer! Love the wine and the crème fraiche too. So hearty and beautiful. Hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving ;)
Thanks so much, Tricia and yes! It was a lovely weekend and the Fall leaves here right now are just perfect!!