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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Made this for friends on Saturday. It was absolutely delicious. The two things I would comment on were that the potatoes were still hard after 45 minutes. So I took them out and cooked them in some more wine before re-adding them to the dish. Put it back in oven on lower temperature until needed, and it worked perfectly. I also used about 3/4 bottle of white wine but that was personal preference – after all we are in France! Didn’t add cream as didn’t need it. Served with green beans (haricot vert) and a creamy garlic mash. Will definitely do this again.
I made the recipe as written. It is good except that the sauce was too thin. Next time, I will allow the sauce to reduce a lot before adding the cream.
Made this tonight and served it over low carb fettuccine. We also had a side of French-style green beans. Yummy! My husband was surprised how tasty this dish was. So simple, yet so amazing!! Definitely a keeper!
This was sooooo DAMN DELICIOUS!!! I made exactly as written (with a little extra cooking time) in an All-Clad universal pan. I did not cover the pan in the oven. My husband, who hates any type of bone-in chicken, was quite skeptical of the recipe as I described it to him. One bite in and he was hooked! So hooked that he suggested I put this recipe on the “make for special company” list!
This was sooooo DAMN DELICIOUS!! I made it exactly as written. My husband, who dislikes any bone-in chicken, was quite skeptical when I described the recipe to him. One bite in and he said this recipe needs to go on the “make for special company” list!
Hi,
I made this recipe last night but did add the potatoes i served with mash potatoes instead. We are only two now but i always make recipes for four and freeze the rest for another dinner. The taste of this sauce is out of this world. He said can we eat the rest tomorrow and i said oh yes for sure… this was that good.
thank you
Deanna
Awesome with potatoes. But for something different try leaving out potatoes and add couple cups of gnocchi. Thank you for all the wonderful dinners you have helped me cook. I have been cooking for 70 years but still learning from you. My family loves your recipes.
Casserole lid on or off in the oven??
I enjoyed this casserole very much. I have guests this weekend who are gluten intolerant. What else could I use to thicken the sauce in place of the flour? Cornstarch? Almond flour? All advice appreciated. thanks for a great recipe.
You can get gluten free plain (and SR) flour. We use this often as we have a coeliac in the house. It works well and will thicken up just as nice.
Family loved this. Did not add wine just more chicken stock. Tasted great.
Can shallots be substituted for onions? If so, how many? What determines a ‘large’ shallot or onion…? What would this equate to in terms of cups?
So yummy! Easy recipe, I have very minimal cooking skills and my family loved this!! We have shared this recipe with friends & family with rave reviews.
Very good
You put the cream in after it is done cooking? I don’t understand. How do you “stir in” the cream in a pan filled with chicken thighs?
Push the chicken to the outer rim of the pan. Stir cream into the center of the pan No
Absolutely loved it.
I didn’t have shallots so used half a large onion and a chopped leek.
I used more wine, probably double. And a pint of stock. And served it with french beans.
Next time I shall use more thyme.
Definitely a winner. Thank you
I removed the chicken thighs to the plates then stirred in the cream over a low heat
After reading the reviews, I omitted cream and added gravy granules, par boiled the potatoes with added Carrots, swopped shallots for a small onion and leek and followed the rest of the recipe.
Served with Broccoli tender stems and Crusty bread.
I have never left a review for a recipe, however, I just had to for this one. OMG, this was soooo good. I will be making it again.
and you put the heavy cream in after it was done cooking?
EXCELLENT dish usual from Damn Delicious!!!!! I parboiled the potatoes a little. I omitted the cream but instead added a bit of gravy mix before baking which thickened the final result..and of course added extra garlic. Baked @ 350….YUM!!!
EXCELLENT recipe as usual!! I didnt add any cream but instead added a bit of gravy mix before baking in the oven (which thickened the final result) and parboiled the potatoes a little. Extra garlic of course.. YUM!!
I made this using leftovers. It was delicious! I did make some changes.
We had coconut cream pie for dessert.
I made this dish out of curiosity and because you rarely see chicken recipes using thighs. It was delicious, and it was easy to make.
Classic base recipe. This is often adjusted in french farmhouse cooking with the addition of carrots, baby boiler onions ( sometimes pricked with whole cloves ), the addition of 2 tbs of french mustard or substituting sherry for white wine.