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
Equipment
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.
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Do you cover the chicken in the oven? No mention
Delicious! I made it without the cream, I didn’t have any. This is a really good base recipe that you can easily add or subtract vegetables or chicken breast for thighs. I highly recommend it.
My 16 year old daughter made this last night. She’s recently taken an interest in cooking, so I’ve been teaching her how to cook on the weekends. My sister found this recipe and sent it to me. It seemed like a perfect, simple recipe for my new cook to try. She’s fiercely independent, this kid, so she wants to follow the recipe on her own, with minimal interference. I stayed nearby, and did a lot of the prep/chopping. She loved the whole process, and the end result was pure heaven!
Your instructions are clear, ingredients simple. Thanks for sharing this!!
If I could give this TEN stars, I would! Absolutely one of the most delicious chicken dishes I’ve ever made (and I’ve made a LOT). The sauce is out of this world good. Definitely serve with bread to soak it all up. The chicken was perfectly cooked and so tender. Enjoying leftovers today for lunch. Would love to make this for company soon.
Question? What can use in place of heavy cream? Numerous allergies – wheat, dairy, milk, eggs, corn starch, gums (guar, xanthan, carageenan), nuts, seeds, MSG, soy, etc.
Can have rice milk, but that is thin. Ideas?
How about something like this? https://www.occasionallyeggs.com/oat-cream/
We like to use coconut milk in place of heavy cream in most recipes!
Recipe was awesome maybe needed alittle more flour to thicken up a bit more but delicious flavor, husband says another one to keep lol.
So delicious! I started it a day ahead & just simmered it for a 1/2 hour then stuck it in the fridge. Before my dinner party I put it in a 350 oven for an hour & it was perfect. I substituted fresh carrots in the stew & made mashed potatoes on the side to soak up the lovely sauce. It didn’t NEED the cream but it put the flavor over the top. My guests practically licked their plates!
Made it and it was good. I added carrots for color and flavor. I used dry vermouth instead of white wine. I used the exact herbs called for. My opinion is that it needed more flavor. Perhaps wine would have contributed what I felt was missing but I also think more herbs would have helped. Additionally, it is important to taste after application of salt. You don’t want it to taste salty but it can taste bland without enough. I used a dutch oven and the process was easy and not much clean up.
Classic French Country comfort food recipe I grew up with. I rotate between this and blanquette de poulet stew. Baby carrots are a nice addition and always green beans and rustic french bread.
Comfort food on a cool fall evening. Very easy one pot meal, served with a green salad. Flavor is wonderful. But no need to put it in the oven. I covered my Dutch Oven and left it on a low simmer on the stovetop.
Do you cover this in the oven?
Easy to follow recipe tasted delicious,will certainly cook it once a week
Can you freeze this dish? It’s delicious
Loved it! The recipe I read didn’t tell you to take the chicken out of the pan before adding mushrooms and other veggies but I realized the mistake when it told me to “return the chicken to the pan.” So I accounted for this when the chicken went into the oven. It was soooooo good! Loved the flavor- even before the cream! Served it with roasted broccoli and wild rice.
I’ve made this twice in 2 weeks. Once with bone in chicken thighs, once with boneless, skinless thighs. Equally delicious! I didn’t use the wine and threw in extra potatoes. I cooked it at 350, lid on for 1/2 hour, and with no lid for the remaining 1/2 hour-45 mins. Potatoes were cooked. I think the flavor really comes from the fresh herbs. We all love this dish! Thank you.
This might just be the best dish I’ve ever made. I tweaked the recipe by adding fresh tarragon and asparagus heads.
This was so good with amazing flavors. This was added to our favorites list for future meals. Thank you for an excellent recipe.
Made this last night. August, not just a fall/winter meal. Sauce was so good. I hate to see when people write that they changed recipe but I did too. Changed to chicken breast. Changed out mushrooms for artichokes. Herbs de Provence for herbs and milk instead of cream. It’s what I had and don’t like mushrooms. Loved it!
I’m going to try this in my crockpot. Anyone else tried to cook it this way?
Hi, Chungah! This recipe makes me long for Fall (My fav time of year!). I will make this soon and rate. It sounds amazing and I am sure it is. Your recipes and pics are always good and beautiful! (Just like you!) Thank you for sharing! Looking forward to more “fall” recipes!