Coq au Vin Blanc

Bring a taste of effortless French cuisine to the dinner table with the savory and comforting flavors of tender braised chicken in Coq au Vin Blanc. This rustic one pot dish is elegant enough to entertain with yet easy enough for any Sunday dinner.

Coq au Vin Blanc

This chicken in white wine sauce is swimming with flavor. From the crisp, salty bites of pancetta to the sweet burst of pearl onions, this dish is both decadent yet cozy. If you’re looking for something different to serve up during the holiday season, braised chicken in white wine is the answer. Just serve this up with a beautiful salad like Mediterranean Farro Salad and crusty bread, and you have a meal that will leave your friends and family talking.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

French Stewed Chicken in White Wine Sauce
  • Easy Process – This truly is a one pot recipe. The chicken is simply seasoned and then seared in pancetta drippings. A quick sauté of the vegetables and then into the oven or onto the grill to braise until succulent and fall off the bone tender. It’s a dish that looks impressive, yet anyone can make this.
  • Simple Ingredients – Julia Child said it best, “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces–just good food from fresh ingredients”. Besides the chicken and the white wine, the rest of the ingredients are easily accessible vegetables like mushrooms and sweet leeks. And no worries about peeling fresh pearl onions, go ahead and reach for the bag of frozen.
  • Something for Everyone – Using a whole chicken allows everyone to be happy. Whether you crave the juicy meaty bite of a thigh or the mild and delicate flavor of breast meat, everyone is satisfied.

What is Coq au Vin Blanc?

Chicken in White Wine Sauce

When most people hear the words coq au vin they probably immediately think of Julia Child and chicken marinated overnight in Burgandy wine before being braised low and slow. However, with all of the diverse wine regions in France coq au vin comes in a variety of variations utilizing different wines region by region. From coq au champagne to coq au Riesling found in Alsace, this dish is truly regional.

Coq au vin blanc replaces the popular red Burgandy wine with a dry white wine. Use your favorite variety. Pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, and pinot gris are all excellent options. You can even use a chardonnay for coq au chardonnay, a version also found in the Burgandy region of France.

Regardless of the type of wine used the components of coq au vin remain pretty consistent. Coq au vin literally translates to rooster in wine. Very few people use rooster anymore, but you will find bone in chicken simmered in wine with earthy mushrooms, sweet shallots or pearl onions, and generous chunks of bacon or lardon.

How to Make Coq au Vin Blanc

  • Season the chicken and allow it to dry brine. Break your chicken down into 8-10 pieces. I like cutting the chicken breasts in half for even cooking and also easy serving. Pat the chicken dry and season it with salt, pepper, and garlic seasoning or granulated garlic. Place the chicken pieces on a wire rack fit into a baking sheet and allow it to refrigerate for at least a couple hours up to overnight.
  • Sauté the pancetta. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. Heat a large braiser or Dutch oven over medium heat and add the pancetta. Let the pancetta cook until the fat has rendered and it’s crispy. Remove it from the pan.
  • Sear the chicken. Increase the heat to medium-high. Working in batches, place the chicken into the hot pot skin side down. Allow the first side to cook for 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Flip the chicken and let it cook for another 6-8 minutes. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
  • Cook your vegetables. Add the leeks, carrots, and celery into the pan along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook them until the leeks are wilted and the vegetables are tender-crisp. Add the mushrooms and allow them to cook until they’ve released their liquid. Next add the garlic and let it cook for one minute. Add the thyme, bay leaves, and pearl onions and stir to combine.
  • Deglaze the pan and bring the wine to a simmer. Pour the wine into the pan, making sure to scrape up any brown bits. Allow it to come to a simmer and slightly reduce, and then add the chicken broth.
  • Let the chicken braise. Sprinkle most of the pancetta back into the pot. Nestle the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables and cover the pot. Place it in an oven or grill preheated to 350 degrees. Allow the chicken to braise for 30-45 minutes or until it is 165 degrees.
  • Thicken your sauce. Remove the chicken, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs from the pan and place the pan on the stove at medium heat. Knead together flour and room temperature butter until a paste is formed. This is called a beurre manié. Drop little knobs of the mixture into the sauce and stir continuously until it melts and the sauce has thickened.
  • Serve the coq au vin blanc. Nestle the chicken back into the pan. Garnish with the remaining pancetta, parsley, and extra thyme if desired. Bon appetite!

Substitutions

  • Instead of using a whole chicken, you can use all chicken thighs, thighs and breast, or chicken legs. You’ll need between 3-4 pounds of chicken for this recipe.
  • If you can’t find pearl onions that’s not a problem. Add halved or diced fresh shallots.
  • You can also replace the leek in the recipe with a chopped sweet onion.
  • The pancetta can be replaced with bacon. You’ll need about four slices of bacon for this recipe.

Equipment

Coq au Vin Blanc
  • Oven or grill safe Dutch oven or braiser with a lid
  • Measuring cups/spoons
  • Cutting board/knife
  • Stirring spoon
  • Tongs
  • Instant read digital thermometer

Tips From the Beach

Coq au Vin with White White
  • If you don’t have the time to dry brine the chicken, it’s okay. You can go ahead and season it up and sear it. However, it helps make the skin extra crispy and deeply flavors the meat.
  • When you nestle your chicken back into the pan before baking it, make sure that it’s not fully submerged by liquid. You want it sitting on top. This is a braise; you’re not boiling it.
Print

Coq au Vin Blanc

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Bring a taste of effortless French cuisine to the dinner table with the savory and comforting flavors of tender braised chicken in Coq au Vin Blanc.

  • Author: Nicole Stover
  • Prep Time: 120
  • Cook Time: 60
  • Total Time: 3 hours
  • Yield: 4-6 1x
  • Category: Entree
  • Method: Braising
  • Cuisine: French

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 34 pounds chicken cut into 810 pieces
  • 4 ounces pancetta, diced
  • 12 leeks, white and light green portion only, cleaned and sliced
  • 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
  • 1/3 cup celery, diced
  • 8 ounces baby Bella mushrooms, quartered
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup frozen pearl onions, defrosted
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 34 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • Kosher salt
  • Black pepper
  • Garlic seasoning or granulated garlic

Instructions

  1. Cut the chicken breasts in half if desired. Pat your chicken pieces dry. Season both sides of the chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and garlic seasoning. Place the chicken on a wire rack fit into a baking sheet and allow it to refrigerate for at least two hours up to overnight.
  2. Preheat your oven or grill to 350 degrees. If using a charcoal grill set it up for two zone cooking leaving a cooler side.
  3. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
  4. Heat a braiser or Dutch oven over medium heat and add the pancetta. Allow the pancetta to cook until the fat has rendered and it’s crispy, 5-8 minutes. Remove from the pan leaving the drippings.
  5. Increase the heat to medium high. Add the chicken skin side down, careful not to crowd. You may need to work in batches. Let the first side sear for 5-8 minutes until golden. Flip the chicken and allow the second side to cook for another 5-8 minutes. It won’t be cooked through. Remove from the pan and continue with remaining chicken
  6. Add the leeks, carrots, and celery to the pan along with a pinch of salt. Stir and let the veggies sauté until the leeks are tender and the celery and carrots are tender crisp.
  7. Add the mushrooms and allow them to cook until they’ve released their liquid, about 6-8 minutes.
  8. Add the pearl onions, bay leaves, thyme, and most of the pancetta.
  9. Pour the wine into the pan and use your spoon to scrape up any brown bits. Allow the wine to come to a simmer and slightly reduce, about 5 minutes.
  10. Pour in the broth and stir to combine. Nestle the chicken back into the pan and cover it. Place the pan into the oven, or on the grill on the indirect side. Allow the chicken to cook for 30-45 minutes or until it is 165 degrees.
  11. Place the softened butter and flour into a small bowl and use your fingers to knead it together until smooth.
  12. Remove the pan from the oven. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan along with the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Place the pan on medium heat.
  13. Break off pieces of the flour butter mixture into the sauce and stir until it’s melted. Allow the sauce to come to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened and glossy. Stir in the Dijon mustard and taste for seasoning. Turn off the heat.
  14. Nestle the chicken back into the pan. Top with the remaining pancetta, fresh parsley, and more thyme if desired. 

Notes

  1. You can use other cuts of bone in chicken for this recipe such as all thighs, thighs and breasts, or legs. Make sure you have between 3-4 pounds total.
  2. Instead of leeks you can use a diced sweet onion.
  3. You can substitute four slices of diced bacon for the pancetta. 

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Leave a Comment

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star