French Chicken Casserole
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The coziest, most wholesome meal. With golden brown chicken, tender potatoes, white wine, fresh rosemary + thyme.
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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?
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Very tasty with excellent flavors.
Amazing, so good and so easy to make! Gorgeous presentation and everyone loved it!
DELISH!!!
very good! new family favorite
Can I make in a crockpot ?
This is very good!! I had to cook it about 20 minutes longer for the potatoes but the chicken stayed moist. I didn’t need the heavy cream. It was very good without it.
Made it as recipe stated. It was a big hit and a nice crowd pleaser. I doubled the recipe! Next time I made it, I added frozen peas towards the end of cooking. Loved that for the taste and color. The baguette was a great accompaniment too for “mopping” up that delicious sauce!!!
The ducks nuts served with side of seamed brocolli and baked pumpkin. Delish!
I totally forgot to add the 1/4 C. heavy cream before serving, but everyone loved the recipe without it! Certainly saved some calorie consumption!
Bake covered, or uncovered
I noticed that too. Considering it’s a Dutch oven I think it would be covered
above the recipe it says:
DO I NEED TO COVER THIS?
A lid/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.
This meal was so good. I have a fussy 11yr and 8yr old and they loved it. I even had an unexpected 8yr old visitor who ate every bit of chicken on her plate. Thank you so much for this recipe.
I didn’t have a Dutch oven so cooked off in a frying pan then put in a standard casserole dish. I cooked the potatoes separate and dished the kids chicken on pasta.
Sounds delicious will try it thanks
I made this but had no heavy cream or white wine, so I used extra low sodium chicken broth and diced tomatoes in lieu of the heavy cream. Was more like a chicken Marsala, but it was good!
What is Nutritional information for this recipe? Thank you
Oh my! This is DELICIOUS! However I made a few modifications. I used 2 chicken breasts which I cut up into chunks. Did not use wine. To do it again, I’d add pre-cooked carrots for more colour. I did not bake as a casserole in the oven as its too hot for that right now and trying to keep my kitchen cool. But I pre-cooked my potatoes in the microwave and added to my cast iron frypan where everything was. Since I had used chunks of chicken breast, it was rather drab looking–which is why I would add carrots next time, but I did add smoke paprika and parsley which gave it a bit more colour. Someone else in comments mentioned green beans and I think this would also go very well with this dish. This is a keeper recipe.
Totally delicious!
I did cook with lid on and thickened at the end with cornflour and a little massel vegeta. Definitely a winter fixture in our house.
Can it be made without cream for milk-free?
Excellent – a simpler version of Cpq au Vin. Love the one pot too! Thank you!
Absolutely delicious! I made this for my family and everyone wanted more and ended up licking their plates all the way to the sink! We can’t wait to have this again!
The French Chicken casserole recipe is a blessing to me! Utterly delicious! I had some of my seniors from work coming over for brunch this afternoon! Thank God I came across this recipe on time! What a fantastic one to impress a foodie!