Don't be intimidated by the sound of this French Classic!
Chicken Fricassée is an easy one-pan recipe that consists of braised chicken in a mushroom cream sauce-an easy recipe anyone can make!
This recipe has a mild, savory mushroom flavor with a hint of lemon and tarragon. If you're not a fan of tarragon, feel free to substitute with parsley!
What is Fricassée?
Fricassee is a French term meaning to brown and braise a meat and serve it with a sauce made from its own stock. Sounds fancy and difficult, but it's not!
In this instance, Chicken Fricassée is made with chicken broth and mushrooms.
Why you'll love this recipe!
- Easy clean-up: Doesn't require a lot of pots and pans; just one big skillet!
- Variety - puts a new spin on your weekly chicken dinner with just a few seasonings
- Affordable - nothing fancy or gourmet, and chicken thighs are cheap!
I make this dish with boneless, skinless thighs, but you can use breasts if you prefer.
Here's what you need:
Chicken thighs, butter, oil, flour, white wine, mushrooms, chicken broth, egg, cream, lemon juice, and tarragon.
What kind of mushrooms do I use?
You can use white button, Cremini or Portobello mushrooms. Just be sure to wipe the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and remove the stems before slicing.
How to make it:
At first glance, this recipe looks complicated because you transfer the meat back and forth from the pan, but it's not really that tricky.
Basically, you brown it then remove it; make the sauce; add it back in to cook thoroughly in the mushroom sauce and it's done!
The reason for this back and forth movement is two-fold; one, the first sear on the meat is to brown it only; then you have to remove it in order to make the sauce (there's not enough room in the skillet).
Then you need to finish cooking it thoroughly...needs to be about 160ºF; now you remove it because you've got to finish the sauce by adding the cream/egg mixture and lemon... recall that acid (lemon) always goes in last!
Tips:
- Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs; trim away any fat.
- Tongs are useful when making Chicken Fricassée; they help to transfer the chicken without it falling apart.
- Have a meat thermometer nearby to ensure chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- If you use meat with the skin-on, brown first, then remove it; trim away the fat and pour some of the oil in the skillet out...chicken fat produces more oil than you need for the creamy mushroom sauce
Serving suggestions:
Traditionally, Chicken Fricassée is served with a starch, like creamy mashed potatoes, and a green vegetable (think peas, broccoli or sautéed spinach.)
Related recipes:
- Traditional French Ratatouille
- Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Classic French Onion Soup
- Burgundy Mushrooms
If you make this recipe, please scroll down and leave a comment and rating! I love to hear from you! Thank you!
Equipment
- Tongs
- Meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken thighs , boneless, skinless
- 1 pound mushrooms , whole (Button, Cremini or Portobello)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup onion , chopped
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon flour , all-purpose
- 2 teaspoons tarragon , dried
- 1½ cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup cream , heavy whipped cream, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- salt and pepper , to taste
Instructions
Prep
- Clean mushrooms with damp paper towel; remove stems; slice mushrooms thinly; set aside
- Chop onions; set aside
- Separate egg; in a small bowl, combine cream and egg yolk; set aside
- Trim away any fat; lightly salt and pepper chicken
Cook the chicken and make the sauce:
- Add butter and oil to large skillet on medium heat
- Place chicken thighs top-side down in skillet; cook 4-6 minutes on medium heat or until lightly browned; flip and cook another 4-6 minutes; use tongs, remove chicken and place on plate and cover with foil
- Deglaze pan: add white wine to skillet; use wooden spoon to scrape pan
- Add chopped onions, mushrooms to pan; cook for 8-10 minutes
- Add garlic to mushroom/onion mixture
- Sprinkle flour over mixture and add broth; stir well; reduce heat to medium-low
- Place browned chicken back into pan; cover and simmer until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF
- Remove and cover with foil;
- Add cream/egg mixture to pan; stir well; stir in lemon and tarragon
- Add chicken back to skillet; cover and simmer until internal temperature reaches 165ºF
- Plate and drizzle with mushroom sauce
Notes
- First, you brown and remove it
- then you cook the onions and mushrooms in the same pan
- then add it back in to finish cooking in broth
- once the chicken is almost done, you remove it so you can thicken and season the sauce,
- add it back to the pan for a few minutes and it's done
- Season the thighs and sear in pan; remove from pan; trim away fat
- Pour out some of the oil in the pan (you only need about 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan)
- Add flour and resume recipe instructions
Nutrition Estimate
I'd love to hear from you!