Chicken Fricassee is a classic French dish that is timeless. The chicken is browned, then slowly braised with onions, garlic, herbs and carrots in a white wine cream sauce.
Serve this amazing chicken fricassee recipe with our creamy mashed potatoes and a crusty bread to experience the fullness of French cuisine. Your friends and family will be so impressed!
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Chicken Fricassee Recipe
French cuisine has always had a shroud of mystery surrounding it and rightfully so. Many countries’ cuisines have been influenced by it! However, it doesn’t mean that attempting French dishes like this Chicken Fricassee Recipe at home should be complicated.
What is the Origin of Chicken Fricassee?
This chicken fricassee recipe is not the one that comes from Michelin star restaurants. This recipe is the heritage of country cooks aka home cooks like you and I. It is rustic and simple. This recipe doesn’t require precise measurements but instead relies on quality ingredients and a slow braising technique for its savory and rich taste.
What is Chicken Fricassee?
It is more of a method of cooking than an actual recipe. Chicken Fricassee literally means cut up and fried chicken, so what you add to the chicken is up to the cook entirely.
However, what is nowadays accepted as a chicken fricassee is chicken braised in white wine cream sauce.
What Vegetables can I put in Chicken Fricassee?
Good news is you can add any vegetables that can sustain a slow braising process without falling apart. So carrots, mushrooms, green beans or even broccoli will all work well here.
How to Make Chicken Fricassee:
- Brown chicken pieces until golden and removing them to a separate plate.
- In the same pan, sautee onions, carrots, garlic and your choice of herbs.
- Next we need to thicken the sauce by adding flour and quickly cooking it until it’s mixed with the butter and smells slightly nutty.
- Add white wine and mix with a wooden spoon until you have a thick sauce.
- Return the browned chicken with the juices back to the pan and cook in the oven uncovered for 45 minutes.
The final touch is the addition of cream. It’s important to add it last, so it doesn’t separate under the intense heat of the oven. After your chicken has finished its time in the oven, stir in a splash of heavy cream.
We used heavy cream for thicker sauce, however you can add light cream, which will result in a slightly thinner sauce with less calories. The choice is yours. We love to enjoy this with Sourdough Bread or Sourdough Dinner Rolls.
More Chicken Recipes
- Spatchcock Chicken – best way to roast a whole chicken
- Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo – in a lighter cream sauce
- Korean Chicken – sticky glazed chicken thighs and legs
- Chicken Madeira – famous Cheesecake Factory copycat
- French Chicken Casserole (Vikalinka) – creamy and excellent
- Chicken Marsala in a mushroom wine sauce
I hope this Chicken Fricassee Recipe becomes a new favorite for you. It is an excellent staple for any kitchen and you can change the vegetables and herbs based on what you have on hand.
Chicken Fricassee
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 8 chicken thighs and legs, combined
- salt and pepper , to taste
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 small onion , chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 carrots, cut in large pieces
- 3-4 sprigs thyme, (leaves only)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup dry white wine , such as Sauvignon Blanc
- 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Pat dry chicken with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Place a large deep pan over medium/high heat with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Brown chicken approximately 4 minutes per side until golden on each side but not cooked through. Remove to a plate and set aside until needed. Discard excess fat leaving 1 Tbsp in the pan.
- Add 1 Tbsp butter to the pan and saute chopped onions and carrots over low heat for 7-10 minutes. Add minced garlic and fresh thyme leaves and cook briefly for 30 seconds. Add 2 Tbsp flour and cook while stirring until flour is completely absorbed by the fat and mixture smells nutty. Add 1/2 cup white wine and simmer until slightly reduced. Pour in 1 1/2 cups chicken stock.
- Return chicken to the pan together with the juices and bake uncovered at 350˚F for 45 minutes.
- Take the chicken out of the oven and add 1/2 cup heavy cream, stir until combined. Taste and season with salt if needed.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
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Do you think this would be good with rosemary instead of thyme? Thyme tastes like mold to me. But this recipe looks so good! Or any other suggestions?
Hi Amy! Yes, I think rosemary, marjoram, and oregano would all be great in fricassée, even combined.
I’ve been playing around with this recipe for a while now and experimenting with different seasonings and wines and it seems to come out delicious every single time. I tried marinating the chicken thighs overnight and it came out so good. I always know I can rely on your recipes
What can be the substitute of white wine?
Hi Aisha, the taste will change since wine contributes to it quite a bit but it will still be delicious without the wine.
I added extra carrots and garlic otherwise I followed the recipe. My mom used to make chicken fricassee when i was a kid. This recipe is dead on. Love it!
When my bf and I started dating 3.5 years ago he asked if I knew how to make chicken fricassee. He’d never had it but wanted to try it. So never having made or had it I promptly replied “sure!” And headed over to Pinterest and found your recipe. I add mushrooms because we love them. Now I make more sauce because it’s amazing. I serve it over mashed potatoes. It absolutely one of our favorite meals and I’ve been making it over 3 years now. Making it tonight in fact.
I’m so happy you loved it and found it on my blog, Jennifer! Thank you for your wonderful review.