Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

Rich and flavorful, my chicken with mushroom sauce is an ultra comforting braised chicken dish to cozy up with on a chilly evening. Prepared with dried porcini mushrooms for a deep, earthy flavor, a hint of white wine, plus fresh thyme, this chicken recipe has lots of silky, savory sauce to spoon over top of warm, buttered pappardelle noodles!

A Rich and Delicious Chicken Dish To Cozy Up With

When the evenings turn wonderfully chilly, with a crisp wind that drives us all indoors to curl up on couches with our favorite blankets, I begin to think about all of the comfy-cozy meals that I'd like to prepare for my hubby and I to enjoy and be warmed by...

The autumn and winter season is our favorite time of year, as rich braises and dishes with extra sauce start to really beckon to us.

These are the wonderfully rustic meals, our favorite meals, which are perfect to prepare mid-week as they'll feed us for a couple of days, and we absolutely adore that.

One of our beloved chicken dishes during this time of year is my chicken with mushroom sauce, which is a rich braised chicken recipe brimming with earthy porcini mushrooms, shallots, garlic, white wine, and fresh thyme.

Prepared with an abundant sauce enriched with a touch of butter for flavor, we love to enjoy this chicken dish with warm, buttered pappardelle noodles to mingle with that silky mushroom sauce, making it extra cozy.

Ideal as a simple mid-week meal, or elegant enough to be served to friends and family, this chicken with mushroom sauce is a comfy-cozy favorite!

My Recipe for Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

I often like to use a mix of chicken pieces when preparing a braise, and have found that an eight-piece “cut-up” is a fantastic pick for this chicken with mushroom sauce recipe.

Seasoning and searing off the chicken pieces first helps to create a layer of flavor before building the sauce, and then when everything is slowly simmered and braised stove-top, the delicious flavors really come together.

While you could use fresh mushrooms for this recipe, I find this dish a terrific opportunity to use dried porcini mushrooms which I re-hydrate with boiling water. These mushrooms tend to be deeply flavorful. Plus, I use the liquid that's left over from re-hydrating the mushrooms—the mushroom “stock”—in the actual dish to reinforce the flavor.

Here's a glance at my chicken with mushroom sauce recipe: (or just jump to the full recipe...)

1. To get started, I re-hydrate my dried mushrooms and then strain them, reserving the liquid.
2. Next, I season and sear my chicken pieces in a large, heavy-bottom Dutch oven or braiser
3. Once the chicken is done, I remove it and build my delicious sauce, right in the same Dutch oven, with the mushrooms, aromatics, white wine, chicken stock and the reserved mushroom liquid.
4. Next, I return my seared chicken pieces back to my pan, and gently braise the chicken, stove-top, for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until tender and cooked through.
5. While the chicken cooks, I cook my pappardelle pasta according to package instructions, and keep warm.
6. To finish the chicken with mushroom sauce, I mix a touch of cold butter with a small amount of flour and then whisk it into sauce, to thicken it slightly.
7. When the sauce is done, I toss my warm pappardelle noodles with butter, and serve the chicken over the noodles with lots of the sauce and some fresh thyme leaves.

Recipe

Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

by Ingrid Beer

Print Recipe

This rich, saucy chicken with mushroom sauce is prepared with earthy porcini mushrooms, white wine, plus fresh thyme!

Category: Entree
Cuisine: American

Yield: Serves 6

Nutrition Info: 788 calories per serving (includes pappardelle pasta)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 (½ ounce) packages of dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 ½ cups boiling water
• 1 package (8 pieces cut-up) chicken, bone-in, skin on
• Salt
• Black pepper
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons flour, divided use
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ½ cup chicken stock/broth
• 2 sprigs thyme, plus 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, divided use
• 12 ounces (uncooked) pappardelle egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon cold butter, plus 2 tablespoons room temp, divided use

Preparation:

1. Begin by gathering and prepping all of your ingredients according to the ingredient list above to have ready and organized for use.
2. Re-hydrate the porcini mushrooms by placing them into a bowl, and adding the 1 ½ cups boiling water. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow them to soften a bit for about 15-20 minutes.
3. Once slightly softened, strain the mushrooms out of their soaking liquid, and reserve this liquid, or “mushroom stock” (there will be roughly 1 cup). Set the mushrooms and the hot mushroom liquid/stock aside for a few moments.
4. Next, season the chicken pieces with a couple of pinches of salt, black pepper, and the paprika, as well as the 1 tablespoon of flour, and toss to coat.
5. Place a 4-quart braiser or large, heavy-bottom Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces in, skin-side down (work in batches to not over-crowd the pan), and allow the chicken to sear and become golden-brown, about 4 minutes. Then, flip the chicken over and sear the bone side for about 2 minutes.
6. Remove the chicken pieces, and set aside for a moment onto a clean plate. Next, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the shallot into the pan, and stir. Add in the re-hydrated mushrooms and stir to combine, sauteing for a minute.
7. Next, add in the garlic, and once it becomes aromatic, add in the wine, stirring to scrape up any yummy bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken pieces back into the pan, along with the chicken stock/broth, the reserved mushroom stock and two sprigs of thyme, and allow this to come to the boil. Then, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and braise/gently simmer the chicken until tender, for about 45 to 50 minutes.
8. While the chicken braises, prepare the pappardelle pasta according to package directions. When cooked, drain the pasta in a colander, and lightly toss with a little olive oil. Keep warm until ready to serve.
9. Once the chicken has simmered and is tender and cooked through, remove the chicken pieces from the pan and place onto a clean plate to hold. Mix together the 1 tablespoon of cold butter with the remaining 1 tablespoon of flour with your fingers until well combined, and add it to the sauce, whisking it in very well until melted and the sauce has slightly thickened. Turn the heat off, and return the chicken back into the pan to keep warm.
10. Place a large non-stick pan over medium heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to it, and once melted, add the pappardelle pasta to the butter, with the pinch of salt and black pepper, to lightly coat the pasta and warm through.
11. To serve, add a portion of the buttered pappardelle pasta to a shallow bowl or plate, top with a piece or two of chicken, and spoon some of the porcini-wine sauce over the chicken and the pasta. Garnish each serving with a small sprinkle of the fresh thyme leaves, and serve.

Tips & Tidbits for my Chicken with Mushroom Sauce recipe:

• Eight piece cut-up, or your preferred chicken pieces: Since I like the various cuts from an 8-piece cut up of chicken, I simply use a package of that. You can substitute all bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs or even legs, or a combo of both, if you prefer. You could also sub 2 pairs of split chicken breasts (4 breasts) with skin-on and bone-in, if you prefer light meat.
• Dried porcini mushrooms for deep earthy flavor: Dried and re-hydrated mushrooms are ideal for this preparation, and they bring lots of earthy flavor. You can use any variety of dried mushroom here, even a mix. You can also substitute fresh mushrooms if you prefer, using about 8-10 ounces.
• White wine for a kiss of flavor: To create a bit of brightness and wine flavor in this dish, I'm opting for about ½ cup of dry white wine. If you prefer to leave it out, feel free—simply use a bit more chicken stock and brighten things up with a small squeeze of lemon (about 1 teaspoon), instead.
• Pappardelle pasta, or your favorite accompaniment: The wide pappardelle pasta is delicious with this dish as it sops up the silky sauce and is very comforting. Other terrific accompaniments are mashed potatoes, gnocchi, quinoa, rice, or your favorite pasta shape.

Hungry for more delectably rustic recipes? Check out these Braised Chicken Thighs, this Chicken Cacciatore, these Italian Drunken Noodles, this Chicken Stroganoff, this Mushroom Pasta, or this Mushroom Stroganoff!

Cook's Note: This recipe was originally published in 2012, and has been updated with even more love!