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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I put the lid on and ended up with too much liquid. I used ordinary cream as I’m not sure what heavy cream is. That also may be problem. I used a big French-style Chardonnay and the leftover was a perfect wine to go with the dish. I added sliced carrots and used boneless thighs, and quartered small potatoes and lots of mushroom. If I make this again I’d leave out the potatoes and serve on creamed potatoes. Plus I’d only add 1/4 cup cream or sour cream
Whipping cream in carton in dairy case.
I loved this recipe guide! I’m making it again today. However I felt to add a few ingredients that completely up leveled it to 100%
I added a teaspoon of truffle oil, finely diced Speck. Yummo!
I really enjoyed yhis dish and it was simple yo make. Mine wash a lttle salty, so I will use less salt next time.
Amazing. Everything I’ve ever made from your site has been incredible. Used white mushrooms rather than cremini, otherwise stayed true to your recipe. If you sear the thighs for 3 minutes in each side prior to cooking in the oven, they will cook to the appropriate temp with no problems.
I only used 4 pieces of chicken and semi modified the rest of the ingredients. I would recommend cooking at 350 instead of 325 (and perhaps longer than 45 mins but check it). The chicken will never get done in 45 min at 325. It’s a wonderful recipe otherwise and I will continue to use it.
My wife and I really enjoyed this! My only negative was that I only had 4 pieces of chicken vs the recommended 6. Easy to make…just follow the receipe. Smells as good as it tastes. I will make this again
Hi Chunga – love your recipes
How can i convert this one (or any other) to the crock pot?
Denise
Getting ready to make this, in advance of arrival of wedding guests, post event. Wanting something I can freeze, then thaw and finish quickly on serving day.
Thinking I should add the cream at the last minute after thawing. Do you agree? Any advice? The recipe sounds amazing!
You never disappoint! So good! Thank you!
Can I freeze this
This was so yummy! Even the picky 3 year old loved it and was able to help cook a little. Thank you for an awesome dinner!
Loved it, cooked it with baby onions ( pickling onions) as I knew it would be a compliment to it… no regrets at all. Was able to get a Oat Base cream and didnt use any where as much as recommended and perfect … did a side of green ( Cavlo Nero & Rainbow Chard ) in the juices of the left over sauce from the fruing pain .. winning .. I had to use different ware ( as no skillet ) I cooked the chicken in the sauce for 30 minutes then took out and placed in oven to brown on its own, worked a treat.. served also with sourdough bread to soak up those gorgeous flavours .. 10/ 10 perfect autumn / winter meal a definite to do again 😉
My husband and me loved this recipe,yummy !!!
I don’t like rosemary,I put fresh parsley and sage and cooked this at 400 degrees,thank you for the delicious recipe!
Cooked this last night…we absolutely loved it….so good to have something a little different.
So yummy that two of us ate 3 pieces of chicken each. I put more cream in than the recipe stated which was a booboo as it was too rich.
Delicious recipe, but definitely needs to be edited to change the cooking time. Potatoes were only halfway cooked, could do with a quick parboil before or longer in the oven.
Haven’t made it yet; having trouble finding skin on, bone in, thighs… Would it work as well, without skin and bone?
It’ll work fine, you just won’t have that nice crispy skin on top. Might not have some of the visual appeal but the taste is going to be there. If you have a griddle or BBQ you could try a sear on the smooth side of the thigh so you can still have some nice golden marks.
Cooked this last night. So delicious!
Love this recipe, it’s so good! It became one of our favorites very quick. Wondering if anyone has every tried it in the insta pot? Would love to know how to do it in the insta pot to save time 🙂
This dish is INcredible! Everyone I’ve served it to loves it. If you’re having company over, you can actually have this in the oven and the kitchen cleaned up before they arrive! I agree the 325 is a little low combined with the 45 minutes to cook the potatoes. I usually cook this at 375. That doesn’t totally solve it though, so I will either throw the cubed potatoes on a baking sheet with parchment in the oven for ten minutes while I do the skillet work to get them going, or when I’m really lazy, I will just microwave them for a few minutes so they go in hot. Either way, it does the trick (works if you add carrots and find them too hard as well). Can’t go wrong! You won’t be disappointed with this one… just make it!
Made this without celery & in one pot. Easy to follow. All cooked well in 30 min. Sides also look good any crispy greens.
Skip the cream. As not needed it looked creamy.
The flavors are perfect in this recipe. I would call it more of a stew than a casserole though. The sauce is great, but thin. Next time I’ll probably save time by shredding a rotisserie chicken, add some carrots, and eat it as a stew. I like others had some trouble with my potatoes not being cooked through enough, they were close, but not yet there, even though I quartered them. I even added an additional 5 minutes of cook time. This would also be great with wild rice added in. Definitely making again as a stew.
This is damn delicious. I followed to the exact detail except added several sliced baby carrots. Sooo good.
I never leave reviews but HAD to for this dish. I forgot to add cream in the end but it was still a delicious meal. I served it with rice. Didn’t have celery so used carrot instead. Didn’t find thyme in the store so doubled up on fresh Rosemary. I used a savignon blanc wine. The nice thing about this recipe is that you’d have most of what you need in your pantry & can cook up a meal that’s restaurant quality & taste.
Would absolutely make this again & again!!!