French Chicken Casserole
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
The coziest, most wholesome meal. With golden brown chicken, tender potatoes, white wine, fresh rosemary + thyme.
Featured Comment
Say hello to the coziest meal of 2020. Perfectly-seared golden brown chicken thighs, tender baby golden potatoes, juicy mushrooms, and a fresh herb-white wine sauce that you can basically guzzle down all day and night. Put it on a shoelace and it will hit just right.
It’s truly perfection on a crisp 55 degree Fall day – or let’s be honest, any day of the week. It’s rustic, it’s cozy, and it’s just so darn good. Easy to whip up on those busy weekdays or those weekends for a fancy night in.
tips and tricks for success
- Use a heavy pot. A heavy bottom pot, such as a Dutch oven, is ideal here for slow cooking and even heat distribution.
- Bone-in is ideal. While boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts can be used, bone-in will be juicier and have extra flavor.
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
what to serve with french chicken casserole
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
French Chicken Casserole: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
If you prefer white meat, bone-in, skin-on breasts or boneless, skinless breasts can be substituted but cooking times will need to be adjusted.
Mushrooms can be omitted completely if it’s not your thing. Eggplant or zucchini can be substituted, if desired, as it can absorb all the good flavors and mimic the texture of mushrooms.
Additional chicken stock can be used for white wine as a non-alcoholic substitute.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
A lid or cover is not required here. Uncovering allows the chicken to brown and crisp here, and helps reduce the amount of liquid in the finished dish.
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
French Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved
- 3 large shallots, diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 pound baby gold potatoes, halved
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Season chicken thighs with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Working in batches, add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
- Add mushrooms, shallots and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and browned, about 5-7 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in chicken stock, potatoes, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Return chicken to the Dutch oven.
- Place into oven and bake until potatoes are tender and chicken has completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 40-45 minutes.
- Stir in heavy cream; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
SO simple to make, and SO freaking delicious. Made this for my husband and my parents, jokes were made about slurping up the last of the tasty sauce with straws. I subbed white button mushrooms for cremini since my local grocer doesn’t carry those and used Chardonnay for the white wine. YUM and a great meal for guests!
Very tasty – nice and comforting home style meal, gravy sauce is yummy over rice!
I’m back.
Yes, again.
We still have the flavor
of this in our mouths and
the house still smells like
it’s still cooking.
Follow the recipe!
This was perfect. AGAIN.
I’ve been following damn
near every recipe you’ve ever
put out and I’m telling you,
you are just amazing.
This dish was delicious and
I will make it over and over again.
Wow.
Loved this recipe as did my daughter and two grandsons. I thought I would lick the plate it was that good. I wasn’t sure
which type of plate to use as it is rather stew like but that was solved by using shallow soup bowls. This will definitely be in our meal rotation. My son in law was off hunting in eastern WA and when he saw the photo of our dinner he wanted to come home! I’m 80 years old and I still love new recipes and cooking for my family.
I made this last night and it was delicious! I used 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs and 16 oz of mushrooms. I also pre-cooked the potatoes in the microwave before throwing them in the pot to make sure they got cooked. Lastly, I added a couple of teaspoons of chicken Better than Bullion at the end instead of salt. I will definitely make this again but will add more chicken (3 pounds) and serve it over mash potatoes to soak up the sauce. The sauce is fantastic!
Sooo good!! Definitely going to make this again!!
I made this last night and it was such a big hit with my family. Thanks for this lovely recipe. Planning to make it again next week.
Made this last night for dinner and, boy, was it tasty!! The only changes I made were to slice thickly, rather than halve, the mushrooms, and to use dried herbs rather than fresh (it’s what I had). Next time (because there will be a next time), I’ll probably use boneless skinless thighs and maybe make a cornstarch/water slurry to thicken the sauce a bit. This recipe as made, however, was damn delicious!
Another winner! I make a ton of your recipes, and this was one of my favorites. From start to finish the whole process of prepping and creating this meal was exactly what I needed after a long day of work. Poured a glass of wine, turned on some music, and before I knew it, had a beautiful, and tasty dinner. Your recipes are always so flavorful and I often have most ingredients on hand. Thank you for sharing and also, we love Butters and Cartman!
This was bar none the best sauce ever. Great dinner on a Monday no less. Thanks for sharing. Wish I could post a pic. It was so pretty.
The flavors are delicious but I did have some issues with my results and wonder if I messed up somewhere. I used four large bone in thighs so that is the only difference I made. Everything else I followed as written. As a casserole I expected the sauce to be thicker. I ended up with broth.
Even though the instructions don’t specify, I left it uncovered. The potatoes didn’t cook all the way through and that may be my fault because I figured cutting the potatoes into quarters would have been the better size. And my potatoes may have been larger than what is in the picture.
Still, really good flavor. Maybe serving over mashed potatoes could work? Definitely worth trying again.
I love the recipe, its not hard to cook and I usually have all the ingredients. I always serve it with crusty bread and beans. Its perfect just the way it is.
This was extremely delicious. The only thing I did differently was swapped out fresh herbs for dry. The sauce is sooo good. Worth it to get the wine. I believe it really did elevate the flavor. Oh and I used boneless skinless thighs since that is what I had.
This is my new dinner party recipe. My repertoire needed a boost and this “casserole” is a great addition. When I think of casserole I think of meat, starch and probably a canned soup gravy. This dish tastes much more complicated than that. The bone-in skin-on chicken thighs make for tasty chicken. The sauce is rich but easy to digest. The herbs and celery add depth of flavor.With the addition of potatoes and mushrooms, you have a one dish meal. I served mine with steamed asparagus and crusty french bread. Well worth the time required to chop and dice. Yum.
Wow, this will be my go to chicken recipe. So much flavor and since I grow my own thyme and rosemary no need to run off to the market to pick up those ingredients. So quick and easy for making a delicious meal.
Per usual – this recipe did not disappoint! The chicken was moist, the potatoes were perfect, and the sauce was just the right kind of rich! I made a few “convenient” adjustments: I used dried thyme, i didn’t have rosemary, we don’t like celery, and I thickened the sauce after baking with a cornstarch slurry. I made it all up in a skillet but transferred to a baking dish. The removed the chicken, transferred the sauce back to the skillet and added the cream and then thickened. Thanks for another great meal!!! Posted pics on insta!
Wow, amazing, Chungah.
This look amazing, i am going to make it next weekend. One question please, if i dont have black pepper, is it ok to use green pepper?
This is a very nice dish. It had a delicious flavor and was fun to make. I need to sear the chicken a little longer next time. I used half and half instead of heavy cream but I don’t think it hurt anything. Very good dish!
Hi, this dish looks delicious. I don’t have an oven at home, however, and was wondering is this could just be done on stove-up? Thank you!
Tiffany
Phlanx’s Marketing Specialist
I think that you could parboil the potatoes and cover the skillet and finish it on the stovetop. I’ve done similar dishes that way
Yes, you can. I’ve made numerous dishes like this on the stove top. It cooks quicker and completely by cutting the potatoes into smaller pieces.
Just made this- WOW !!!
This is so tasty! I took advice from another reviewer and made homemade mashed potatoes instead of using the small potatoes in the dish… and rather than put the skillet in the oven I allowed it to continue to cook on the stovetop covered since I didn’t add in the potatoes. Thank you so much for sharing this marvelous recipe!