I discovered this Dijon chicken recipe in the New York Times Cooking section while hunting around the web for ‘best one pan chicken recipes.’ At first glance I already knew it was going to be special. I cooked it for dinner and WOW, it was amazing!
One of those rare and treasured recipes with just a handful of simple ingredients that you can throw together with relative ease and provides the ultimate comfort meal you want to cook again and again.
I made a few minor adjustments to the recipe: less salt, sliced shallots instead of whole ones. And in my version of the recipe, the braising stage happens in the oven rather than on the stovetop. I prefer the oven mostly because when the lid comes off for the last 20 minutes of cooking, the sauce reduces and thickens as the chicken skin crisps and gets beautifully browned under the heat of the oven.
BRAISED DIJON CHICKEN THIGHS NOTES AND TIPS
If you want a nice golden brown crust on the chicken, the key is to pat the chicken dry and dust it lightly with flour. Then, when you sauté the chicken in butter, it browns beautifully and you get all those wonderful crisp tasty bits of skin sticking to the pan that melt into the sauce when you deglaze the pan with wine.
I like to trim excess skin from the chicken – the extra flaps of skin that aren’t attached to the meat. The easiest way to do this is with kitchen scissors. [I have a regular pair of sharp scissors I dedicate to this kind of task.] In addition to reducing the fat content of the dish, this technique makes the chicken thighs look neater and more elegant.
You’ll need a large heavy-bottomed skillet with a lid – one that can go from the stovetop to the oven. First you’ll brown the chicken and caramelize the shallots. Then you’ll deglaze the pan with wine, add mustard and herbs, return the chicken to the pan, and finish the dish in the oven.
DEGLAZE FOR A FLAVORFUL SAUCE
When the shallots are nicely caramelized, deglaze the pan by pouring in the white wine and, as it bubbles, use a wooden spoon to scrape up all those delicious browned bits of chicken skin and shallot that are stuck to the pan, to release them into the sauce.
Stir Dijon mustard into the sauce, add tarragon sprigs, return the chicken to the pan and tuck sliced cherry tomatoes in between the chicken pieces. Cover the pan tightly and pop it into the oven for thirty minutes. Take off the lid and cook for twenty minutes more, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked through and golden brown.
Serve this chicken hot with a side of crusty bread or mashed potatoes to sop up all the rich flavorful mustard wine sauce.
Here’s the recipe for Dijon Chicken with Shallots and White Wine. If you try this recipe, I hope you’ll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I’d love to know what you think!
PrintDijon Chicken with Shallots and White Wine
A simple yet outstanding recipe for braised chicken thighs with shallots and Dijon mustard wine sauce. Cooked in one pot. Easily dairy-free. Adapted from New York Times Cooking
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 75 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Braising
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 8 whole bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2–3 tablespoons unsalted butter (use light olive oil for dairy free)*
- 12 medium shallots, cut in half through the root, tip sliced off, and then peeled from the tip, keeping the root end intact so the shallot halves stay together.
- 2 cups dry vermouth or dry white wine*
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2–3 sprigs fresh tarragon
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Instructions
Equipment: Large, heavy-bottomed skillet or pot with a lid that can go from the stovetop to the oven.
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle with flour, salt and pepper, on both sides.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet over medium-high heat until foaming. Brown chicken in two batches until golden brown and crisp, 2-3 minutes per side. Set aside.
- If pan is dry, add last tablespoon of butter. Lower heat to medium and sauté shallots, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes, until softened and starting to caramelize. Pour in vermouth and scrape bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, as the wine bubbles, to deglaze and release all the tasty browned bits into the sauce. Let the sauce heat up for 30 seconds, then turn off heat, stir in the mustard, add tarragon sprigs, then chicken and tomatoes, tucking the tomatoes between the pieces of chicken. Cover pan tightly and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove lid and cook for an additional 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisped and browned.* Serve hot.
Notes
The best white wine for cooking: Use a wine that’s dry and crisp such as Dry Vermouth, Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. Avoid wines that are rich, sweet or oaky which can alter the flavor of your dish.
Make this diary free: Sauté the chicken in light olive oil (not extra virgin) instead of butter. Light olive oil has a higher smoke point than extra virgin olive oil and is better for high heat cooking.
For even crisper skin, at the very end of cooking turn the oven up high and broil for a minute or so, watching carefully to prevent burning.
Nutrition Information: The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and is not a substitute for the advice of a professional nutritionist.
Keywords: Mustard chicken thighs, braised chicken thighs, bone in chicken thighs recipe, one pot braised chicken
I had some boneless chicken thighs that I needed to use up, so found this recipe! Ultimately, it was WONDERFUL, but I should have checked my pantry better before I started, as I had to modify it due to shortages! First, my local store didn’t have fresh tarragon, so I had to use dry. Second, that bottle of wine on the shelf that I thought was a light white ended up being a merlot (ARRRGH!) so I only had a cup in an open bottle in the fridge. Sigh.
Tomatoes and Dijon mustard did not appeal to my sensibilities, so I used mushrooms instead. I added chicken stock as a replacement for the missing wine, and a table spoon of lemon. Lots of cracked black pepper.
It was absolutely delicious! 5 thighs, 5 shallots, 8 oz mushrooms made exactly enough sauce (which was disappointing, because I could eat it up with a spoon!) Served with roasted brussels sprouts/garlic cloves/balsamic glaze. Fantastic!
Thanks for the inspiration!
★★★★★
It’s a keeper! I saw this in NYT last year. Chose to follow your version for the oven aspect and adding tomatoes before braising. So rich and delicious. And easy! We served with sautéed zucchini & baby Bella’s with a splash of wine & creme fraiche. Thank you for enhancing the original version!
★★★★★
I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed!l Thanks so much for your comment. PS – that zucchini mushroom side dish sounds amazing!
I made this recipe this evening. It was super easy and so delicious!! Thanks for the hard work put into sharing this with us.
★★★★★
Hi Nia, I’m so glad you enjoyed the chicken! Very sweet of you to take the time to come back and leave a rating and a comment.
We adore this recipe. Absolute heaven!
★★★★★
Hi Lisa – I cooked this last week and it was amazing! (and the leftovers were even better…) I forgot to buy cherry tomatoes, so ended up substituting a combination of canned diced and sun-dried. The sun-dried added a nice touch – I think I’d do that again. Thanks for sharing this easy and delicious recipe!
This is divine! Thanks. You have such good recipes. I may add some mushrooms to see what they add.
Hi Lisa, I cooked this for a family gathering on Saturday night. It came out great. The chicken was tender and delicious. I tripled this recipe and if I were to do it again, I would not triple the tomatoes and shallots. I think they would be fine doubled. Otherwise it was awesome!
★★★★
Hi Barb, I’m so glad you were able to triple this to feed a crowd and I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed!
This recipe looks amazing but we don’t eat thighs so cane I use breasts??
Hi Paulette, yes you can use breasts. I would suggest that you follow the first part of the recipe but then turn the oven to 350ºF instead of 375. The breasts cook faster than thighs because they have less fat. We wouldn’t want them to dry out. I think the recipe will work well for you with breasts, using the reduced oven temp. You also may want to check the breasts for doneness when you take the lid off. I’d love to know how it turns out!
I love your style, I use wine in most of my recipes this looks delicious must try soon. you’re a good cook.
I’ll be back.
★★★★★