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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Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Family could not get enough! I’ve tried several of the recipes on this site and my son says I’m the “best cooker”, thanks!
Wow, that is the greatest compliment ever. Thanks for sharing that with us, Jessica. I hope that you and your family will love every recipe that you will try.
This used to be my mother’s favourite more than 50 years ago so I’m glad to rediscover it after all this time.
I fried a couple of bits of bacon before adding the chicken Because I think that’s what she used to do that for the rest I followed yours.
I do hope I can freeze it for more than a couple of days, I will give it a try
I hope you enjoyed this recipe Jeremy!
I want to add asparagus (thin) and mushrooms, should I add that before it goes in the oven or sometime during the 45 mins?
Hi Annie, I have not tested that but I imagine that should work! If you experiment please let me know how you like that.
I want to add asparagus (thin) and mushrooms, should I add them before going in the oven or sometime during the 45 mins?
Hi Annie, mushrooms could be sauteed with the carrots and onions and added at the same time but asparagus will get mushy. You might consider blanching it and adding it in at the end or serving asparagus on the side.
I made this last night Very good! A keeper. I used carrots and asparagus and the herb I used was fresh sage from the garden, I also do not like bone in chicken so used boneless breast.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Brad!
would this be good with fresh sage as the herd? Im kind of tired or thyme right now. have fresh sage in garden. I want to make this tonight .
Hi Brad, I haven’t tested this with sage but I bet that could work. If you experiment please let me know how you like that.
It was very good I suggest you try it
So good! I used Dry Riesling as white wine, halved the heavy cream and served it over cilantro-lime rice. Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Made this for our shut-in dinner and served it over rice. Could not stop eating, it was so good… Had to go for evening walk afterwards. You’ve got to try this recipe, it’s a keeper for sure!
Thank you for that wonderful feedback, Pat! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Made this tonight with mashed potatoes and even my husband, who doesn’t love chicken, said it was good… even went back for seconds! I love all your recipes that I’ve tried.. thank you!
I’m so happy you both enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Made the chicken fricassee tonight and it was super delicious (even without the cream to cut down on calories. Every recipe of yours that I have made (20 or so, so far) has been a winner. So glad I discovered your website.
That is awesome that you’ve already tried about 20 of my recipes! Glad to know that you loved all of it. Thank you so much for your great review and feedback.
I think I can safely say I am obsessed with Natasha’s recipes. Prepared chicken fricassee with mashed potatoes last night for dinner. My family again gave a thumbs up, the sauce was so savory and the chicken was flavorful. So far, out of the 5-6 of Natasha’s recipes I have prepared my husbands favorite is the fricassee!
That’s so great Tammie! Thank you for that wonderful review!
Hi Natasha this is so delicious.If I want to add the broccoli what is the best time to add it .
Hi Marimar, thank you for sharing that! According to Julia (the original author), you could add broccoli when adding carrots but since broccoli doesn’t take as long to cook, I would just add it in a couple of minutes before adding the garlic to the pan.
Beautiful recipe thoroughly enjoyed by myself and my partner. Will definitely be trying more of your recipes.
Great to hear that you both loved it! I hope you love every recipe that you try.
Can you freeze this recipe
You should be able to but I wouldn’t suggest freezing it for more than a few days
I made this tonight, we didn’t, have wine, so I put in a little apple cider vinegar. The dish was amazing. My wife and I Really enjoyed it . Thank You
That’s a great substitute thanks for sharing!
Hi Natasha,
This recipe sounds wonderful! Can I make this with boneless skinless chicken thighs?
I so appreciate all you do!
Hi Neil, that should work! If you experiment please let me know how you like the recipe.
I made with boneless skinless chicken thighs and the dish came out perfectly.
That’s so awsome!
Everyone licked their plates clean. Fab recipe and easy to follow. I had to use breast and de-boned chicken pieces as I had fussy eaters, but the chicken was still tender and delicious. I added mushrooms, green beans and baby potatoes into the dish and served with rice. It made for a filling and tasty meal. I wouldn’t hesitate to make again
I’m so glad you liked that, Ayse!! Thank you for the wonderful review.
If I don’t have white wine on hand can I substitute red wine instead? I know it’ll change the color a little ..
I haven’ tried that with red wine but I do worry that the color would be unpleasant.
A lot of times you could substitute chicken broth for white wine, of course it will be different but I’m sure good as well.
You leave the skin on the carrots?
Hi Elena, I usually peel carrots unless they are fresh from the garden but even then I will scrub them which gets most of the skin off.
Delight!
Very very tasty!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe.
Hi Natasha! You are amazing and your recipes as well. I love your way of cooking and I did this fantastic yummy chicken fricassee. We all enjoyed it. Thanks again that you shared with us.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
This recipe brings back great memories of my childhood. Growing up on the Texas Louisiana border on the Gulf Coast, we were raised on Cajun cuisine. The only difference in my mom’s recipe and yours is instead of the wine, my mother used a little oil with the flour and made a roux. When Mom said we were having chicken fricassee for dinner, I would get so excited. I followed your recipe but subbed the oil for the wine and it was spectacular. Thank you for this delicious recipe and bringing back such wonderful memories of my childhood.
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles!