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You are here: Home / Recipes / Coq Au Vin

By Karina 25 Comments Filed Under: Chicken

Coq Au Vin

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Coq Au Vin, or chicken in wine, is a popular classic French Chicken Stew made easy with crispy chicken pieces!

An easy chicken recipe with crispy chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs and bacon. This Coq au vin gets everybody talking! Serve with creamy mashed potatoes, rice or cauliflower mash smothered with butter! The most delicious chicken dinner is ready on the table!

Coq Au Vin, or chicken in wine, is a popular classic French Chicken Stew made easy with crispy chicken pieces!
COQ AU VIN RECIPE

Coq Au Vin, translated as Rooster In Wine, is traditionally made with chicken on the bone and red wine (traditionally Burgundy. But any wine could be used, with Riesling being a popular choice).

Similar to a well-known Beef Bourguignon, both recipes include bacon (lardons) sautéed onions and garlic. Browned meat needs enough wine to cover and simmer, while mushrooms sautéed in butter are added at the end. Slowly braised until the meat is tender on the inside, our version includes crispy skin on chicken pieces for the best flavour and incredible texture!

Pot or Dutch oven

This recipe is easiest when prepared in a Dutch oven or a heavy based pot (or casserole dish). It starts on the stove and gets finished in the oven, however you can certainly make it without an oven if needed.

Normally, the longer you cook it, the richer the flavour. With this version, we managed to shave off an hour of cook time from the traditional Coq Au Vin recipe, while still getting tender and flavourful chicken.

Coq Au Vin is the most delicious chicken recipe is ready on the table!

What wine do you use for coq au vin?

Which wine to use? An authentic coq au vin is made with a red Burgundy wine, like a good quality Pinot Noir. I use Shiraz for ours and love the flavours that develop when cooked in with the flavours in the chicken juices and the stock.

Most cooks, however, are beginning to use a dry white wine for their coq au vin, and during testing, we didn’t mind using either! I’d recommend a Pinot gris or Sauvignon blanc.

Coq Au Vin, or chicken in wine, is a popular classic French Chicken Stew made easy with crispy chicken pieces! An easy chicken recipe with crispy chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs and bacon, this Coq au vin gets everybody talking!

How do you make coq au vin?

  • Start with frying your bacon first. When your bacon is done, keep the bacon grease in the pan to sear your chicken pieces. If your bacon has released too much oil, you can drain some of it before adding in your chicken.
  • For the sake of keeping this recipe as simple as possible, we use drumsticks and thighs (bone in and skin on), but feel free to use any chicken pieces you have.
  • When adding your thighs, make sure you sear them skin side down first so that the fat renders and the skin becomes a crispy, golden browned.
  • Once your wine, stock and thyme has been added into the pot, you can continue cooking it on the stove over low heat until the chicken is completely cooked through. Or, follow the recipe below for the oven method. We have tried both versions and do prefer the oven method for the depth of flavour.
  • Mix your butter and flour into a paste with a fork or the back of a spoon. When adding it into the sauce, the paste will look lumpy like it won’t dissolve through the sauce. Keep it simmering because it will dissolve and thicken your sauce beautifully!

Coq au vin

Sautéed mushrooms

You can leave them out if you wish! BUT sautéing them in butter while the chicken is in the oven — then adding them in at the end to simmer with the rest of the ingredients — adds another dimension of flavour. You will LOVE them! If you love garlic mushrooms, add 1-2 teaspoons of garlic to the softened mushrooms in the pan! Y.U.M!

What do you eat with coq au vin?

Mashed Potatoes, Mashed Cauliflower, noodles or plain rice.

Looking for more recipes like this? Try these!

Crispy Beer Chicken with a Creamy Beer Mushroom Gravy
Beef Bourguignon
Chicken Cordon Bleu & Dijon Cream Sauce

COQ AU VIN NOW ON VIDEO

Coq Au Vin, or chicken in wine, is a popular classic French dish made easy in one pan! With crispy chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs and bacon, this Coq au vin gets everybody talking! Serve with creamy mashed potato or cauliflower smothered with butter, and the most delicious chicken dinner is ready on the table! | cafedelites.com

Coq Au Vin

Coq Au Vin, or chicken in wine, is a popular classic French dish made easy in one pan! With crispy chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs and bacon, this Coq au vin gets everybody talking! Serve with creamy mashed potato or cauliflower smothered with butter, and the most delicious chicken dinner is ready on the table!
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Serves: 6 people

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 ounces (120g) diced bacon
  • 8 chicken pieces (4 drumsticks and 4 thighs), skin on, bone in
  • 2 teaspoons salt (plus more to season)
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (plus more to season)
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 8 oz (250g) carrots cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup brandy (OPTIONAL)
  • 350 ml good quality red wine (Burgundy, Pinot Noir, Shiraz)
  • 1 1/4 cups low sodium chicken stock or broth
  • 5 sprigs thyme
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 8 ounces (250g) frozen small whole onions (pearl onions)
  • 8 ounces (250g) cremini (brown) mushrooms thickly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, to garnish (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F | 175°C.
  • Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook until crispy (about 8 to 10 minutes). Transfer bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.
  • Pat chicken pieces dry with paper towel and season with salt and pepper. 
  • Add the chicken pieces in batches of two to the leftover bacon grease (skin side down for chicken thighs). Sear for about 5 minutes each side, until skin is rendered, crispy and browned. Transfer chicken to the plate with the bacon. Set aside.
  • Add the onions, carrots, salt, and pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, while stirring occasionally, until the onions are transparent and lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). 
  • Pour in the Cognac/brandy, wine and chicken stock; stir to combine. Add the thyme, bacon, chicken, and any juices leftover from the plate into the pot. Bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid or foil and transfer to the oven for 20-30, or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle.
  • While chicken is in the oven, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium heat. Cook the mushrooms for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and browned. Set aside.
  • Remove casserole from oven and place on stove. Mash the remaining butter with the flour and stir into the casserole (the heat will cook any lumps out). Add the pearl onions; bring the casserole to a simmer and cook for a further 10 minutes, until sauce has thickened. 
    Season to taste, if desired. Garnish with parsley and any extra thyme leaves, and serve immediately over mashed potatoes.

Notes

Adapted from Ina Garten
OPTIONAL: BROIL AT THE END OF COOKING TO GET A NICE, GOLDEN SKIN ON THE CHICKEN.

Nutrition

Calories: 507kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 138mg | Sodium: 108mg | Potassium: 172mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 6745IU | Vitamin C: 10.9mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 2.1mg

Coq Au Vin, or chicken in wine, is a popular classic French dish made easy in one pan! With crispy chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs and bacon, this Coq au vin gets everybody talking! Serve with creamy mashed potato or cauliflower smothered with butter, and the most delicious chicken dinner is ready on the table! | cafedelites.com
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lori Kurochkina says

    June 18, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    First, I want to say THANK YOU for including the ingredients in grams, mls, metric version, and Celcius. I am an American living in Europe, so it makes it so much easier when I go to the grocery store to purchase the ingredients 🙂
    Second, I hate making changes to a recipe when trying it the first time, but I am not sure that I will be able to find pearl onions in my little Russian grocery stores 🙂 Do you think using regular yellow onion and regular white button mushrooms would alter the taste too much?
    Thank to so much!

    Reply
  2. tom says

    April 14, 2020 at 9:26 am

    Made it for easter dinner. It was better than sex.
    Only made some slight changes …. I couldn’t find any
    pearl onions so I used some green onions instead and
    I was lazy and just added a can of mushrooms instead of
    using fresh mushrooms and frying them in flour and butter.

    I used merlot as the wine and made it in a cast iron dutch oven
    on a weber charcoal grill.

    The leftovers were even better today.

    Reply
  3. Imelda says

    January 27, 2020 at 11:43 am

    Just savored the wonderful flavors from this recipe the detailed steps were great to follow. My only concern/complaint is the mushroom step seems to be missing at the end, I just added them after the pearl onions, they all tasted amazing!

    Reply
  4. Jessica says

    January 23, 2020 at 1:48 am

    This looks great and I can’t wait to try it! This might be a silly question but does anyone know if the alcohol content is too much for a toddler?

    Reply
    • annalisa smith says

      February 01, 2020 at 4:19 am

      Alcohol content burns off while cooking. Only the flavor or the wine/cognac subtly remains.

      Reply
  5. Alex says

    June 08, 2019 at 2:15 pm

    5 stars
    Made this for a french themed dinner. Was delicious – what a flavour filled recipe! I think it will become a regular in my house during the winter months.

    Reply
  6. Gabi Ziegler says

    April 23, 2019 at 7:32 am

    5 stars
    Made this recipe for Easter this year. My family loved it so much we doubled the recipe. The sauce was to die for! The only thing I’d do differently next time I cooked this is using a lid on the pan when cooking the bacon & searing the chicken because so much grease was splattered!

    Reply
  7. Angela Ceberano says

    January 26, 2019 at 7:26 pm

    5 stars
    This was AMAZING! Thanks so much. I followed the recipe and it was easy and delicious. Great depth of flavours.

    Reply
    • Karina says

      January 27, 2019 at 1:50 pm

      That’s so great Angela! Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
  8. Susan says

    December 24, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    No oven so I have to cook it on the stove. Do I cover with lid while cooking on stove and not transferring to an oven? How much additional time do I cook on the stove? and do I use low heat or a simmer ?
    Would like to try this maybe for Christmas

    Reply
    • Susan says

      December 26, 2018 at 1:41 pm

      2 stars
      Made this tonight for dinner and it was just ok. Needed more flavor to me. Maybe it was because I did it all on stove stop and not in the oven. I left out the brandy and used the wine.

      Reply
  9. John Hanrahan says

    December 15, 2018 at 9:41 am

    5 stars
    I don’t seem to be able to keep the skin from sticking to the pan, any advice for me?

    Excellent recipe, everyone loved it.

    Reply
    • Karina says

      December 18, 2018 at 5:22 pm

      Hello John,

      I have learned that sometime lowering the temperature just a little can help with this. I am so glad that everyone loved it. It really is a great recipe! Thanks for following along!

      Reply
    • Doug says

      July 29, 2020 at 7:05 pm

      5 stars
      Turn the heat down a bit. If you’re searing the chicken on max, try 3/4 or 2/3 on the dial.

      Reply
  10. Kris says

    November 29, 2018 at 11:15 am

    What would you change if using boneless chicken breast?

    Reply
    • Karina says

      December 02, 2018 at 12:14 am

      You will want to reduce the cooking time for chicken breast. Hope that helps! Enjoy! XO

      Reply
  11. JOHN TROMBLY says

    November 29, 2018 at 3:50 am

    The recipe does not say when to add mushrooms

    Reply
    • Kimberly Sierman says

      June 04, 2019 at 12:44 pm

      That’s is what I was wondering too. Going to just add them at the end. Cooking it right now.

      Reply
  12. Victoria T. says

    November 27, 2018 at 5:10 am

    5 stars
    Prepared it for thankgiving dinner, and substituted the chicken for Morning Star Veggie grillers (had a few vegetarian guests). Everyone enjoyed the dish so much! Very flavorful, even without thr bacon qnd chicken. Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
  13. Julie says

    November 21, 2018 at 11:43 pm

    5 stars
    I made this last night…truly one of the most amazing, flavorful, perfect recipes I have ever made! I have gluten issues so I substituted tapioca starch for the flour and didn’t use the brandy, only added red wine. The house smelled amazing and tasted even better! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Karina says

      November 22, 2018 at 12:09 am

      That is great to hear! I am so happy that you loved it! Thank you so much for sharing! XO

      Reply
  14. Ingrid miller says

    November 20, 2018 at 8:10 am

    Love this recipe to speed this up I’ve cheated and used a rotisserie chicken boned and removed the skin only you’ll know happy holidays

    Reply
  15. Joni Haugse says

    November 19, 2018 at 3:19 am

    This recipe looks delicious! I can’t wait to cook it for my family. I’m sure it’ll be a keeper. Your pictures are amazing too! Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  16. Violet Sackmann says

    May 08, 2018 at 2:41 am

    How much wine in cups?

    Reply
    • Karina says

      May 09, 2018 at 10:33 pm

      It is about 1 1/2 cups of wine.

      Reply

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Welcome! My name is Karina and this is my internet kitchen hang-out. A self-confessed balanced foodie sharing some waistline friendly recipes that are full of flavour. Life is too short for bland and boring. …

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