Why This Recipe Works

Chicken fricassee recipes are old-fashioned. In addition to re-imagining this recipe, we wanted to make this dish with mushrooms, which lend meatiness and heft to the sauce. Bone-in chicken breasts work best in our Chicken and Mushroom Fricassee recipe—the white meat cooks relatively quickly, and the bones add flavor to the sauce. We browned the chicken first, with the skin on, then removed the chicken from the pan and discarded the skin. We then used the rendered fat to make the sauce. We used a lot of mushrooms in our Chicken and Mushroom Fricassee recipe for big mushroom flavor. Replacing half the chicken broth with beef broth reinforced the meaty quality of the mushrooms; reducing the amount of cream allowed the mushroom flavor to shine through. The dark gills on the undersides of the portobello mushroom caps turned the sauce an unappealing brown color. We used a teaspoon to remove the gills before cooking the mushrooms for a more appealing color without losing mushroom flavor.

Before You Begin

Serve this creamy stewed chicken with white rice, egg noodles, biscuits, or crusty bread.

Instructions

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken, skin-side down, until deep golden brown, about 6 minutes. Flip and brown on second side, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate; remove and discard skin. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot.

Cook onions in remaining fat until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released their juices, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown, about 7 minutes.

Stir in flour and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in broths and wine and bring to boil. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until meat registers 160 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to serving platter and tent with foil.

Add cream to pot and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken. Serve.