Chicken Fricassee

July 8, 2022

Chicken Fricassée is a traditional French chicken stew made with browned chicken pieces that are braised in a creamy white wine sauce. A traditional fricassee has mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions), however, mine is just mushrooms with tarragon! With a bit of added lemon juice, your family will be asking for seconds.

Pronounced “free-ka-say”, this deliciously comforting meal makes for a perfect midweek dinner. In Julia Child’s book, ” Mastering the Art of French Cooking”, she describes fricassee as a cross between a stew and a sauté. The genius part of this recipe combines the two methods, which is how most American homes create one-pot meals. Brown the meat, use butter/chicken broth/wine to deglaze the pan with veggies, then create a pan sauce. I will be creating a more traditional chicken fricassee using a mirepoix, which is essentially diced carrots, diced celery, and diced onions.

How to make Chicken Fricassee

The chicken is super juicy, but what really gets you is the creamy white sauce. Letting that simmer with the chicken after browning brings so much flavor to the sauce. I can live forever just on the sauce. The number of ingredients may look intimidating, but the end result is so worth it. You can find most of these in your own pantry, so in actuality, this can be low cost!

Chicken Thighs & Drumsticks, Skin On and Bone-In: The classic fricassee uses the thighs and drumsticks of the chicken. You can opt in for the breast, just keep an eye on it. It is very easy to dry it out or undercook it.
Salt and Pepper
Unsalted Butter: It’s better to use unsalted because you can control the salt content when seasoning and tasting.
White or Baby Bella Mushrooms: Baby Bella mushrooms are the same variety as white button mushrooms but picked when they’re more mature, which results in a more developed flavor. You can use either mushroom.
Shallots
Garlic
Bay Leaf: You can use dried or fresh.
Fresh Thyme
Tarragon: Dried or fresh work just as fine.
Chicken Broth: Regular chicken broth has a lot of sodium, which makes it very difficult to control the salt if you add any more. I would use reduced-sodium or no salt chicken broth if you can find it.
Dry White Wine
Fresh Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice brings out more flavor in dishes. Never use the squeeze bottle lemon juice. The lemon you squeeze by hand has less time to oxidize and no funny preservatives, which means its flavor is brighter and more pronounced compared to the bitter or muted bottled versions.
Nutmeg: You just need a pinch. Nothing more, otherwise it’ll completely overpower the dish.
Heavy Cream
Fresh Parsley: For garnish.

Pat the chicken with a paper towel, then season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Melt the butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken thighs first, skin side down. Brown for a few minutes until the skin is golden brown, then flip and cook for a minute more. Remove from the skillet, then brown the thighs 2 minutes on each side. Set aside with the thighs. Add the mushrooms, shallot, bay leaf, thyme, and tarragon right into the skillet. Cook until the mushrooms are lightly golden (they won’t go deep golden brown). Add the garlic, stir until aromatic, then sprinkle in the flour and cook for a minute, stirring to coat the veggies in the flour. Add the wine, chicken stock and lemon juice. Return the chicken back into the sauce with the skin side up. Bring up to a simmer (not rapid) on medium or medium-low heat and simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Uncover and cook for 10-15 minutes more until the internal temperature reaches 165F. Remove the chicken from the sauce, then add in the heavy cream and nutmeg and stir. Allow it to come to a simmer, then turn off the heat. Return the chicken to the pan, spoon some sauce over it, sprinkle parsley and serve.

Tips & FAQs

Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free option: Make a cornstarch slurry with water and add it to the chicken broth when pouring into the skillet. You can substitute the heavy cream for either coconut cream or almond milk. It will change the taste.
You want the sauce to stop simmering before adding the cream. Pouring it in while it’s simmering will result in a separating sauce.
Storage: Keep it in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
- To reheat: microwave for 3 minutes or reheat in a skillet on medium heat.
Why does the chicken need to have the skin on and bone in? It needs to be skin on, bone in pieces so they don’t overcook and dry out. If you are dead set on making this with boneless breast, brown it per recipe, simmer sauce with lid off for 15 minutes (to reduce), then add breast and simmer with lid on for 6 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 155F. For boneless thigh, do the same except you want the temperature to be 165F.
Any dry white wine works with this recipe. You don’t want anything too sweet or too woody. Chardonnay works best because it adds good flavor. Find a chardonnay with a buttery, fruity profile, such as this chardonnay. Not heavy oaked. If you don’t have wine or want to add it, replace it with more chicken broth.
Serving Suggestions: Serve it family style in a serving bowl on the table, or just let them take from the stove. This pairs best with mashed potatoes or rice. Short pastas like penne or ziti are another great choice. As for the veggies, make a nice side salad, roasted veggies, sauteed spinach, or roasted asparagus.

Want the recipe? Click print below! Let me know how it came out for you by tagging me on Instagram (@missravenskitchen) and using #missravenskitchen! Follow my Facebook page for updates as well! Let me know if I need to tweak anything.

Servings 4-6

Author Dani Marcus

Prep time

10 Min

Cook time

45 Min

Total time

55 Min