Description
Coq au Vin is a classic French dish featuring tender chicken braised slowly in red wine with savory vegetables, bacon, and aromatic herbs, resulting in a rich, flavorful stew perfect for a comforting main course.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken and Meat
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 4 chicken drumsticks
- 4 ounces lardons or slab bacon, diced
Vegetables
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut diagonally in 1-inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces peeled pearl onions
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
Liquids and Stock
- 1 bottle (750ml) red wine, preferably Burgundy or Pinot Noir
- 3 cups chicken stock, homemade or store-bought
Others
- 2 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Beurre manié: 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon softened butter (optional)
- ⅓ cup chopped parsley
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat the oven to 350ºF to prepare for braising the chicken.
- Season chicken: Pat the chicken thighs and drumsticks dry with paper towels, then season generously on all sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
- Cook bacon lardons: In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add diced lardons or bacon and cook until golden brown, about 6-8 minutes. Remove lardons with a slotted spoon and reserve, leaving the drippings in the pot.
- Brown chicken: Add more oil if necessary, then add chicken pieces in batches to avoid overcrowding. Brown the chicken on all sides until golden, about 8-10 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate with reserved lardons and set aside.
- Prepare vegetables: If excess fat rendered from chicken, drain or wipe off most but leave about 1 tablespoon in the pot. Lower heat to medium and add chopped onion and carrots. Cook until onions soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in minced garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.
- Add tomato paste and flour: Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add flour and cook another minute to eliminate raw flour taste.
- Deglaze with wine: Pour in the red wine, add thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen browned bits. Simmer until wine is reduced by half, about 10 minutes, skimming off any foam.
- Add stock and simmer: Add chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then return the chicken, lardons, and any accumulated juices to the pot.
- Braise in oven: Cover the pot and transfer to the preheated oven. Cook for 45 minutes until chicken is tender.
- Prepare pearl onions and mushrooms: With about 15 minutes left on the chicken, heat 1 tablespoon oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add pearl onions and a pinch of salt, cooking until browned, about 5-8 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add another tablespoon of oil and 2 tablespoons butter, sauté mushrooms until browned, about 8-10 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove and reserve with pearl onions.
- Finish sauce: Remove chicken from pot and tent with foil to keep warm. Discard bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Optionally, mix 1 tablespoon softened butter with 1 tablespoon flour to make beurre manié. Return pot to stove over medium-high heat, add beurre manié to sauce to thicken as desired, adjusting consistency with more chicken stock or wine if needed. Taste and adjust seasoning. Stir in ¼ cup chopped parsley and reserved pearl onions and mushrooms.
- Serve: Serve the chicken either back in the pot with the sauce and garnish with remaining parsley, or plate chicken and spoon sauce over it, garnishing with parsley.
Notes
- Coq au Vin tastes even better the next day, making it a great make-ahead dish. Refrigerate cooled leftovers for up to 5 days.
- You can freeze Coq au Vin for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- When reheating, remove any solidified fat from the top, then reheat gently on the stove or in a 350ºF oven for about 30 minutes, adding stock or wine if needed.
- If pearl onions are not available peeled, blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, then plunge into ice water and peel the skins off easily.
- Use a Burgundy or Pinot Noir wine for authentic flavor, but any dry red wine will work.
- If the sauce is too thin after cooking, use beurre manié gradually to thicken without lumps.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 550 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 700 mg
- Fat: 35 g
- Saturated Fat: 12 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 18 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 40 g
- Cholesterol: 110 mg
