Chicken au Champagne

Name: Chicken au Champagne
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 4 chicken breasts or thighs ((skin-on, bone-in)); sea salt and black pepper ((to taste)); 1 large shallot ((minced)); 1 cup champagne; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 cup sliced mushrooms; 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon ((chopped)); fresh lemon juice ((to garnish))

June 9, 2014February 17, 2022

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Bonjour, bienvenue à la nourriture de ce mois-ci du monde, la France! Hello, welcome to this month’s Food of the World – France! Let me just start by saying, this Chicken au Champagne is going to blow your mind!! The flavors are absolutely amazing. I am not a Champagne lover, I actually can’t stand the taste of it. When combined with chicken, and tarragon, il est magnifique!

Chicken thighs covered in a mushroom sauce in a cast iron skillet.

How crazy is it, that I used a cast iron skillet to make a meal with Champagne? It worked perfectly, and adds a nice rustic touch to this gourmet meal. Oh yes, this is a restaurant quality meal that you can surely impress your dinner guests with!

Impressive, elegant, delicious, and simple to prepare. That is a perfect meal in my book. 😉

Chicken thighs cooked in a cast iron skillet with a creamy mushroom sauce.

Don’t want to use Champagne or mushrooms? Then give this Coq au Riesling with leeks a try!

How do you make Chicken au Champagne?

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Seer the chicken, about three minutes on each side.

Four chicken thighs browned in a cast iron skillet.

Remove chicken, and place on a plate.

Remove pan from heat, and add shallots.

Shallots simmering in a cast iron skillet.

Have the champagne ready to go BEFORE you add the shallots. They cook very quickly! Add the champagne.

Champagne and shallots in a cast iron skillet.

My shallots got a bit too brown, but don’t worry, it didn’t ruin the dish. 😉 Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove the cooked bits, and add the chicken back to the pan.

Four chicken thighs in a cast iron skillet with shallots and champagne.

Baste chicken with the sauce and place in preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes, until thoroughly cooked.

While the chicken is baking, heat butter in a non-stick pan. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.

Sliced mushrooms and butter in a non-stick skillet.

Remove chicken from oven, and add the mushrooms and tarragon to the skillet.

Four baked chicken thighs in a cast iron skillet with champagne, sliced mushrooms and chopped parsley.

Gently stir to combine and drizzle with fresh lemon juice. Serve with brown rice and Hericot Vert (French green beans).

Chicken au Champagne on a plate with brown rice and green beans.

Pour sauce over the chicken and oooh, la la!!

Recipe Notes & Tips:

*Disclaimer* I did not use French Champagne – blasphème! I just could not wrap my head around the thought of using a $60 bottle of Veuve Clicquot, in a main dish. That is a champagne to savor and enjoy! I used Korbel Brut, at $14 a bottle it is a much better choice.
This dish would traditionally be made with skin on, bone in, chicken breasts, but those can be difficult to find. I used chicken thighs, and probably always will.
Sorry, there is no substitute for the champagne in in this dish.

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Enjoy!!