If you like creamy sauces and bacon (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?), then this Creamy Chicken in White Wine Sauce is for YOU!! Very French-country-chic. 😉 And the sauce…..the sauce is ridiculously good.
This is totally the sort of thing I make for company during the cooler months because it’s one of those meals that’s a crowd pleaser, can be prepped in advance then popped in the oven and left without checking on it. Low risk cooking that tastes fabulous – I like!
Creamy Chicken in White Wine Sauce
If I have a dinner party anytime during June – August (winter here in Sydney), chances are that I’ll make something like this Creamy Chicken in White Wine Sauce.
I know some people like to serve much more refined food for company. Sous vide fish, confit, and other posh food you find at fine dining restaurants. While learning and trying new techniques interests me, it is not the way I cook on a day to day basis.
I could never work in a fine dining restaurant. I simply don’t have the genes for precision and plating up using tweezers. I have much admiration for those who do, and I’m very fortunate to have dined at some of the top restaurants not just here in Sydney, but in the world. And I learn and admire chefs like Thomas Kellar of Per Se and French Laundry, Tetsuya, Matt Moran, Neil Perry, Guillaume – to name a few. “Serious” chefs!
But for me personally? This is more “my type” of food. Hearty. Want to reach through the screen, lick-the-plate type food. 🙂
This Creamy Chicken in White Wine Sauce (with BACON because it makes everything better!!) is a variation of a recipe I shared in this month’s Super Food Ideas magazine, Australia’s top selling food magazine. Honestly, every time I go to the supermarket and see the magazine there, I can’t help grinning like a fool. It’s been almost a year since I started my monthly features in Super Food Ideas, and it still makes me do a little jiggy every time the latest issue appears in my letterbox!
This Creamy Chicken in White Wine Sauce is adapted from a recipe by Nigel Slater, from his cookbook “Real Food”. His sauce is much richer – he uses more than twice as much cream as me and no chicken broth. I made the original then cut back on the cream to adjust to my taste. I honestly find that this sauce is rich enough, and the addition of chicken broth adds even more flavour into this sauce.
White wine is key in this! Wine and alcohol generally adds a wonderful complexity to sauces that cannot be completely replicated by using just broth. But I understand that for religious or other personal choices, some people cannot cook with wine so I have included notes for how to make this without wine.
I served this Creamy Chicken in White Wine Sauce with Stovetop Glazed Carrots because it’s faster than roasting and I forgot to put the carrots into the oven. 🙂 Plus you get better caramelisation on the carrots when they’re made on the stove. And it’s useful for those times when your oven is jam packed with other things (this is a life saver for Thanksgiving and Christmas).
Chicken + Bacon + Creamy Sauce + Creamy mashed potato.
Pretty hard to go wrong with that combination, don’t you think? 🙂 – Nagi x
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Chicken in White Wine Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2.5 lb / 1.2 kg chicken pieces , bone in thigh & drumsticks are ideal (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp / 15g / 0.5 oz butter
- 3 garlic cloves , crushed
- 1 onion (brown, white, yellow), finely chopped (~1 cup)
- 5 oz / 150 g bacon , diced
- 2 cups / 500 ml dry white wine (Note 2)
- 1 cup / 250 ml chicken broth / stock or water
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
- 3/4 cup / 185 ml cream (pouring or heavy cream, but not low fat cream)
Garnish
- Finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in an ovenproof skillet (with lid) over high heat. Add chicken skin side down and cook until golden brown, then turn and cook the other side for 1 minute. Remove chicken from skillet. Drain excess fat from skillet (do not wipe).
- Reduce heat to medium high. Melt butter then add garlic and onion. Cook for 3 minutes until softened, then add bacon. Cook until golden.
- Add wine. Bring to simmer, scraping the bottom of the skillet to mix the brown bits into the liquid. Simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add chicken broth, thyme and return chicken to the skillet, skin side up. Cover with lid or foil, then transfer to the oven. Bake for 60 minutes, covered, then remove the lid and bake for a further 15 minutes to recrisp the skin. The chicken should be very tender.
- Remove chicken or move to side. Stir cream into sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with plenty of parsley. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes. Mine are pictured with Glazed Carrots.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
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Life Of Dozer
Still out of action and feeling sorry for himself. When I took him to the vet, they asked “Does he rumble? Does he chase rabbits, run on gravel, run over the rocks at the beach?”
Errrm. Yes, yes, yes and yes. He is quite a rough-and-tumble sort. No wonder he gets injured so frequently!!! 😉
Thank you for this delicious recipe. It didn’t last at dinner 🙂
i’m a novice cook. i tried this and it turned out great except i ended up with skinless chicken. the skin got stuck on the skillet while doing step 2. any tips? thank you
Hi Nagi I only have boneless chicken thighs would they work in this recipe?
Hello! I am going to make this for dinner tonight. Is your calorie information based on just the chicken and sauce or Does it include the potato?
Hi Abby, Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings. This estimates that 2 tbsp of chicken fat is rendered out and discarded. If you use turkey bacon, it reduces to 535 calories or if you omit the bacon altogether, it reduces to 496 calories. It doesn’t include any sides. N x
Hi Nagi. If I don’t own an ovenproof skillet, what would be the steps to cook this recipe on the stovetop only?
Hi Lyn, this is better to oven roast to get the crispy skin, I would use start it in a pan and then transfer to a baking dish and finish cooking as per the recipe 🙂 N x
Divine! My husband claims this is the best thing I’ve cooked in lockdown (I’ve basically cooked nothing but your recipes since March 23 Nagi!) 😁
Absolutely delicious. I love all of your recipes. I’m not a great cook but your recipes are so clear and easy to follow. Thank you so much!
This is one of my husbands favorite meals, he loves the crispy skin. I sometimes add mushrooms, I think it’s a great addition!
Sounds great Sarah!
Hi There,
I’m interested In trying this recipe. Instead of cooking it in the oven can this meal be slow cooked?
Hi Sheridan, you could probably transfer it to the slow cooker to do the bulk of the cooking, but you’d need to return to the oven anyway to get that crispy Skin – N x
Thank you for this easy and beautiful to eat recipe. I don’t change anything in the recipe and everyone that I serve it to loves it.
That’s so lovely to hear Allison!
Hi Nagi! Could you please tell me what size the oven proof skillet in these pictures is?
Also, do you think it would be possible to cook this dish in a deeper french oven, or is the more shallow skillet depth important for this one?
Can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Hi Phoebe, you could definitely use a deeper pot to cook this! I hope you love it – N x
Absolutely delicious and a completely different flavour to things I normally cook. I loved it! The only problem I had was the cream curdling a little. (I even unintentionally let it cool a little before adding the cream as I didn’t realise that the gas bottle on my oven had run out toward the end of the cooking time.) Do you usually wait a few minutes before adding the cream?
Sooo good! I followed the recipe exactly and it was fantastic. I will definitely put this in my top 5 favorite meals.
Woah that’s great to hear!
I have the same question about the sauce being to runny? Also will you add a video for this? I have become to my husband, “the best chef he knows.” lol (cracks me up). Seriously, I feel like iv done tons of recipes from you and they are all just so amazing. Its hard to choose a favorite.
Hi Amanda, the sauce isn’t supposed to be a gravy consistency but if you found it too thin, you can always thicken it by adding a teaspoon of cornflour to 1 tbls water to make a slurry. Stir it through the sauce and bring to a simmer to thicken.❤️
I am a novice cook. The instructions were easy to follow and my wife enjoyed the food.
Tasted fabulous.
The entire family enjoyed this! I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts while reducing the cooking time to 25 minutes. Before searing, I coated the breasts in a coarse mustard for flavor and texture. I subbed a Belgian Tripel for the wine and it was fabulous! We completed the meal with roasted delicata squash and braised greens. Thanks for a great recipe.
That’s great Lee! So pleased this was enjoyed – N x
Did this yesterday and the chicken was just glorious.
However, the sauce, while very tasty was also runny. Should it be and if not, what would be your guess as to what I did wrong? Second, how do you recommend thickening it up?
Really enjoy your site, by the way. I’ve only tried a few recipes but they’ve been great.
I had the same problem with the sauce being too runny, I’m not sure where I went wrong but would love to know how I could rectify it as it’s delicious & would love to make it for dinner guests! Beautiful recipe Nagi.
Hello Nagi! This is the first recipe I’ve tried from your site and it was absolutely delicious! Made it for a special French lunch served with creamy mashed potatoes and roasted baby carrots. My husband loved it and said I have to make it again. 🙂 I look forward to trying your other recipes. Thank you!
I made this recipe this past weekend. It was so good! My husband’s friend came over for dinner and raved on this dish. I followed this recipe exactly as written. This is definitely a keeper!! So far every single recipe I have made from recipetineats has not let me down!!
Made this tonight and my husband really liked it. The chicken was so tender. Thankyou for sharing this. Next in your recipe im going to make is the buttered chicken! Yuuummm