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Skillet Chicken and Mushroom Wine Sauce

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A skillet with chicken and mushrooms with fresh thyme

Tender and flavorful, this Skillet Chicken and Mushroom Wine Sauce is easy enough for a weeknight family dinner and good enough for an elegant dinner party with your best company.

I adore everything about this dish and bet you will too! This delicious recipe was first posted in 2015 and has been a favorite ever since. I’ve streamlined the process a little and tweaked the recipe just a bit, but it’s still the same one-pan, moan-worthy, restaurant quality chicken dish we love and depend on.

 

A strainer filled with fresh mushrooms

What kind of mushrooms are best for this Skillet Chicken and Mushroom Wine Sauce?

I’m not stuck on using one kind of mushroom for this recipe. I often see what looks best when I get to the store. Baby bella mushrooms are the variety featured here. These earthy mushrooms are a smaller version of the portabella mushroom. Baby bella’s are cremini mushrooms that have been allowed to mature for 7 days longer than commercial cremini mushrooms. For this dish you can also use white mushrooms or a mixture of the two.

What’s the best way to clean mushrooms?

Mushrooms grow in a damp environment so they are fine to be washed. However, I never let mushrooms sit in water or they’ll eventually start to soak up the liquid. I clean each mushroom individually by wiping with a water soaked paper towel to remove the dirt. You can lightly rinse the mushroom under a stream of water, but if the gills are exposed under the cap I usually don’t turn the mushroom upside down in the water. Allow the mushrooms to dry in a strainer or pat dry with paper towels.

Is it okay to cook the mushroom stems too?

Yes, please use the entire mushroom. Just cut off the rough, woody, dried up end of the mushroom before using.

 

A close up of Skillet Chicken in Mushroom Wine Sauce with fresh thyme

What are the secrets that make this dish so flavorful?

Building layers of flavor is the simple, easy way to make a dish flavorful. First the chicken is quickly browned to seal in the juices then set aside to rest. All those nice flavorful bits of chicken goodness remain in the pan for the next step. Next the mushrooms are cooked, undisturbed until golden brown on one side, then flipped and stirred until the moisture is released and then evaporated. A hefty pile of thinly sliced shallots are added to the pan and sautéed until tender and starting to caramelize.

Minced garlic is quick cooked with the mushrooms until fragrant, and finally white wine is poured into the hot pan. The bottom of the pan is deglazed and all those crusty bits of flavor are stirred into the sauce. The dish is finished by adding fresh thyme sprigs, chicken broth, Dijon mustard and a little cream.

Can you double this sauce / gravy in this dish?

Yes you can!

 

A skillet filled with chicken cutlets in a mushroom wine sauce

Chicken breasts are cut in half diagonally into cutlets for quick cooking.

This is not just any old dried up piece of bird. These cutlets are tender, moist, juicy and delicious bites of chicken! Cutting chicken breasts into thinner cutlet size pieces helps the chicken cook quickly and more evenly. You can cut your own chicken breasts or buy them from your local grocery store packaged as cutlets. Chicken tenders would be fine here too, just adjust the cooking time.

If you prefer, use whole chicken breasts that have been pounded to an equal thickness. Or, use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in this chicken mushroom recipe too. It’s all good!

 

A plate with chicken in mushroom wine sauce with broccoli and mashed potatoes

What’s the best way to serve this Skillet Chicken and Mushroom Wine Sauce?

We like to serve this chicken with something fresh and green like a salad, steamed broccoli, green beans or oven roasted Brussels sprouts. In addition to something green, serve this creamy chicken with wild rice, buttery mashed potatoes or a nice flat noodle. Don’t forget the crusty bread to soak up the wine sauce. Yummy!

 

A skillet with chicken cutlets in a rich, mushroom wine sauce with fresh parsley and thyme

Reheat leftovers gently in the microwave for another delicious meal.

 

Thanks for PINNING!

A skillet filled with chicken and mushrooms with herbs

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PRINT THE RECIPE!

4.88 from 16 votes
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Skillet Chicken and Mushroom Wine Sauce
Prep Time
35 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Total Time
1 hr
 

Fork tender, easy to make, flavorful and delicious!

Course: Dinner
Servings: 6
Author: Tricia
Ingredients
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut diagonally into cutlets
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 12 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and thick sliced
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 large shallots, sliced thin
  • 1 ½ cups chicken broth, low sodium
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 2 large springs of fresh thyme
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water or broth
Instructions

  1. Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels. Cut each breast in half diagonally into 2 thinner cutlets. Alternately, place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound to an even thickeness.

  2. In a shallow bowl combine the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Set aside.

  3. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large skillet. Heat over medium until the butter is melted. Dredge 3 chicken cutlets in the flour mixture, coating both sides, shaking off the excess flour. Add the coated chicken to the skillet and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook another 3-5 minutes. Remove the cooked chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm. Repeat until all chicken is browned.

  4. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pan and heat until melted. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook, undistrubed, until the mushrooms are well browned on one side. Stir and turn the mushrooms and continue cooking until the moisture is released and evaporated, and the mushrooms are all well browned.

  5. Add the sliced shallots to the pan and cook until softened. Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Pour the wine into the pan and scrape the bottom to deglaze. Add the thyme sprigs, chicken broth, mustard and cream. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch. Bring the sauce back to a light simmer and add the chicken. Heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce is thickened and the chicken warmed through. Remove the thyme sprigs, and season the dish with salt and pepper to taste.

  6. Garnish with parsley or additional thyme and serve with rice, potatoes or noodles.

Recipe Notes

Any dry white wine will do for this sauce. For this recipe I typically use a Chardonnay. If you don't drink wine, substitute white grape juice or additional chicken broth in this recipe.

If you prefer more sauce / gravy, double the ingredients starting with 2 extra tablespoons of butter in Step 4. Then double the amount of mushrooms, shallots, garlic, wine, thyme, chicken broth, mustard and cream. Enjoy!

Looking for more delicious chicken and mushroom recipes?

If you follow along SRFD, you’ve probably noticed I have a chicken and mushroom recipe obsession. We’ve combined these two favorite ingredients in our Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Herb Pan Sauce, a luscious Chicken Wild Rice Casserole, everyone’s favorite classic Chicken Cacciatore, the incredible Chicken Marsala, and our Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. Each recipe is a favorite in our house. I hope you’ll try them all!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Tricia

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97 Comments

  1. Rachelle says

    5 stars
    Yes! Yes, you should make this dish. Yes, it is amazing and you will absolutely love it.
    I made this on a spur of the moment tonight. What a wonderful treat! There are several steps, and I had a busy night, but I prepped ahead and worked in stops and starts as my schedule allowed. It was worth every bit of it! I served this with roasted green beans and mashed potatoes. Absolutely decadent! My teen son doesn’t love mushrooms and he never mentioned them. My tween daughter had two helpings.
    My husband loves chicken, so this was a no brainer in a creamy delicious sauce. I’ve hidden the leftovers. They’re mine.

    reply to this comment >

  2. Kristi says

    5 stars
    Wow! This was a restaurant-worthy meal, maybe even better because it didn’t cost an arm and a leg and it was homemade! We are cutting out carbs so we had this over mashed cauliflower and it was SO good! Looking forward to leftovers but I’ll have to make more of the sauce because I don’t think there’s enough, plus it really seemed to have thickened after sitting. Going into the favorites file!

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Thanks Kristi! So happy you enjoyed this wonderful chicken. For more sauce, double the gravy ingredients starting in Step 4 and you’re good to go 🙂 Gravies and sauces tend to thicken as they set. You can thin it with a little extra wine or chicken broth when reheating. It’s all good.

      reply to this comment >

  3. Danya Croft says

    Oh my goodness! This is one of the best chicken recipes that I have ever had. Simply delicious. I would not skip out on the wine in this recipe though. It is the wine that adds such an incredible flavor. My family has found a new favorite.

    reply to this comment >

  4. Jennifer says

    Hi! This was a dish that reminded me of an Italian restaurant I use to go to and so happy to be able to recreate this in my home! May you please tell me how to make it more saucy?! I needed more sauce it was lacking that juice . Thank you!

    reply to this comment >

  5. Emily Katzenmeyer says

    5 stars
    This was so good!! I thought I had Dijon mustard but I didn’t, so I couldn’t use that, and then I only had half and half instead of heavy cream, but it was still so good!!! My boyfriend ate his first plate in seconds!! I had made it with mashed potatoes. Will definitely make again.

    reply to this comment >

  6. Cookie says

    5 stars
    This was a winner! Relatively easy with a final product that was tender and moist with nicely seasoned sauce. We served it over buttered noodles along with a salad…approved by my chief food critic (husband).

    reply to this comment >

  8. Summer Yule says

    5 stars
    Loved this dinner recipe! I cut the chicken breasts the wrong way but no big deal, I just cooked them in the sauce another 10 ish minutes at the end. Great over brown rice with a side of Brussels sprouts 😋

    reply to this comment >

  9. Julie Jensen says

    5 stars
    Wonderful chicken dish – love that it uses only one pan. My husband (who prefers his beef) thought this was the best chicken dish I had ever made. I swapped out thighs and it worked great.

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Hi Margaret. This recipe and our Chicken Marsala are very similar. In our Chicken Marsala the chicken is dredged in a flour mixture before it’s sautéed. A sweet Marsala wine is used in place of the dry white wine, shallots instead of sweet onion, and prosciutto is fried to render some of the fat. These few changes create a much different flavor for the Marsala. Both recipes are delicious, and easy to make.

      reply to this comment >

  14. Rachel says

    Tricia
    This looks delicious, I plan on making it for dinner tomorrow night, but I don’t drink! I see in your notes you mention substituting white grape juice or chicken broth for the wine. Regarding substitutions, I have read that white grape juice is good for adding sweetness/deglazing, and chicken broth is better in helping add depth of flavor. With that in mind, could you elaborate a little on what flavor the wine serves in the original recipe (Sweetness vs. depth) so I can pick the best substitute? 🙂
    Thanks!

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Hi Rachel. I don’t normally drink juice so adding additional chicken broth is the best plan for me. Wine enhances the flavors in this dish and adds an edge, or acidity, so more depth of flavor, in my opinion.You can purchase small individual size bottles of wine to use for cooking, if desired. Enjoy!

      reply to this comment >

  15. Jessica says

    Hi Julie,
    I was excited to make this recipe, but it ended up being bland. This came as a surprise as the ingredients and aroma while cooking were lovely! I used one of my favorite Sauvignon Blancs- would that negatively impacted the flavor? I promise I made it as directed. I ended up being it over roasted broccoli to avoid additional carbs. I appreciate your thoughts and look forward to trying the recipe again. Thank you!

    Jessica

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Hi Jessica. Thanks for the feedback. I wonder if you used enough salt and pepper? There are not that many ingredients in this recipe so making sure it’s well seasoned may be a factor. Getting a good char on the mushrooms also builds flavor. Different wines will make a difference, but if your wine has a good flavor, it should not negatively impact the recipe. Sorry it didn’t turn out as expected. We have never had it come out bland.

      reply to this comment >

  17. chickenmama says

    4 stars
    This is such a beautiful dish and was very tasty! I used a package of organic boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins which may have been a bit more meat than the recipe called for so there wasn’t enough sauce for the leftovers. After our meal I made a second batch of sauce and decided to add a bit more Dijon and some tarragon which made me even happier about the sauce! For this recipe to serve 6 people as stated, I think I would 1 1/2 to 2x the mushroom sauce. We had 3 adults and most of the sauce was devoured!

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Hi Heather. This is a great question and I’ve been considering what would be the best way to ease your dinner party preparation. If you make this the day before, I would not cook it all the way through. Remove from the stove top before the last step and cool completely before refrigerating. Just before serving, place the entire dish in a non-stick skillet and warm over medium-low heat until bubbly and cooked through. You may want to add a little more broth. I think it will be good if you gently cook it on the second day. Leftovers have always been great reheated in the microwave. Good luck – enjoy!

      reply to this comment >

  19. Julie G says

    5 stars
    This dish was so yummy we were fighting over who would take the leftovers for lunch! I made rice pilaf to go with it and put the chicken and mushrooms right on top of the rice. So many layers of flavor with the wine, garlic, slight hint of mustard, it was delicious. Next time I’ll need to make 1 1/2 times the recipe to have extra for the next day. LOL. I had chicken tenders on hand so that’s what I used and they were perfect.

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      You are amazing Julie! And, you really have a good eye for the best recipes. I tend to hide these leftovers in the back of the fridge so I can have them all to myself. It’s even delicious eaten cold, and this I know by experience. Thanks again, you’re the best 😉

      reply to this comment >

  21. Kristin says

    5 stars
    I made this tonight and it was delicious! I put it over white rice. Next time I might play around with the wine. I used Pinot Grigio but I think Chardonnay would be better. I think I might add a dash of nutmeg next time for depth of flavor.

    reply to this comment >

  29. John says

    I like Chardonnay wine a lot, but as a culinary educator I prefer Marsala, Port or Madeira wine in the sauce. Be sure you use real wine not cooking wines which are way to salty. Fettuccine pasta makes a great base, it tends to soak up the sauce slightly better. Great job you did explaining it, just wanted to share some other excellent options.

    reply to this comment >
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