Garlic Braised Chicken in a Creamy White Wine Sauce

Serving chicken for dinner is a no-brainer. It's a classic because it's usually relatively simple to prepare, the flavors are so comforting and usually even picky eaters like chicken, and also because it's affordable. I personally really enjoy a good braised chicken. In this recipe, the sauce itself is packed with so much flavor, it will bring you to your knees. The chicken is so juicy and falls apart from tenderness as it braises in the sauce. The sauce is smooth and luscious, as you can see from the picture, but when you taste it, I hope you'll be as blown away as I was when I first took a bite. The garlic, onion, white wine, chicken broth and cream all marry together to create a spectacular union. 

Ingredients:

2 ½ lbs (about 8 pieces of dark meat chicken, thighs and drumsticks)

1 - 2 Tablespoons oil (avocado, grape seed, sunflower, or any other high smoke point oil)

2 onions, minced

1 large head of garlic, peeled, whole cloves (10-15 cloves)

¼ cup all purpose flour

½ cup dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc

1 ½ cups chicken broth

½ cup heavy cream

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dry herb seasoning

salt, ground black pepper, to taste

fresh herbs, minced, to garnish, optional

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Trim the chicken thighs from all extra fat.

Dark meat is best in this recipe since it will be braised for quite a long time and white meat (chicken breasts) will be as dry as leather if they are cooked for that amount of time.

Dry the chicken very thoroughly on both sides with a paper towel. Season the chicken with salt and ground black pepper on both sides.

Heat the oil on high heat until smoking hot in a large tall sided skillet or dutch oven. You will need about a tablespoon of oil because the chicken will exude a lot of oil too. Brown the chicken on both sides really well until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes owe sides. Don't try to flip the chicken over until it's completely golden, otherwise it will stick to the pan and tear.

Depending on the size of the dutch oven/skillet or how much chicken that you're using, you might need to brown the chicken in 2 batches. The chicken will not be cooked through at this point, just seared on the outside. They will continue cooking later in the sauce. Set the chicken aside while you make the sauce.

While you are browning the chicken, a lot of fat will render, which is a good thing, since you can get rid of it and the sauce will not be very greasy and pool in the sauce and all over the chicken as it braises. This is why I like to sear the chicken on the outside first before braising it. The brown bits left behind in the dutch oven will also give a lot of flavor to the sauce.

Drain most of the fat that was rendered off while browning the chicken, leaving behind about 2 Tablespoons. Add the minced onions to that same pot, season with salt and ground black pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes, on medium low heat, until the onions are tender and golden. As the onions get tender they will also exude some liquid. Use a spoon or a whisk to scrape up the golden bits (called fond) from the bottom of the pan, until the bottom of the pan is smooth and all the golden bits are incorporated into the onions.

Add the whole garlic cloves and then the flour. Mix the flour into the onions and oil until incorporated. Pour in the white wine and the chicken broth gradually, whisking the liquid until the sauce is smooth. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Pour in the heavy cream. Add the bay leaf, the dry herb seasoning and more ground black pepper and salt to taste. Mix to combine. Return the chicken to the sauce, layering it on top of the sauce, but being careful that the sauce is not covering the chicken skin, because it will get flabby if you cook it in the sauce.

The heat of the oven will keep the skin somewhat crisp while the bottom portion of it braises. If you don't care about maintaining the crisp skin, you don't need to be too careful about it. If you'd rather, you can just pull of the skin layer before serving it. It's best to use bone in, skin on chicken in this recipe, since it will keep it much more moist than if you use boneless skinless chicken, unless you have it completely covered in the sauce the entire time that it braises.

If your dutch oven/skillet is not oven proof, transfer the sauce and a chicken into a deep oven proof dish, otherwise you can keep it in the same pan that you started it in. I try to avoid extra dishes if I can:).

Braise the chicken, uncovered, in the preheated oven for at least 1 hour and up to 1 hour and 45 minutes. You can turn up the heat of the oven up to 450-500 degrees Fahrenheit for the last 5 minutes to crisp up the skin even more before serving it.

Remove the chicken out of the sauce.

I like to take one extra step and pour the sauce through a fine mesh sieve, to make it extra smooth. Cooking dark meat on the bone leaves behind some things that are not very pleasant, to put it mildly, so to make it more presentable and to make the sauce really smooth and velvety, I take 1 extra minute for this last step.

Serve the sauce on the side or over the chicken. Garnish with fresh herbs. The meat of the chicken is so tender and just melts in your mouth. 

Garlic Braised Chicken in a Creamy White Wine Sauce

Olga Klyuchits

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Entree

Servings 4 -6

Ingredients

  

• 2 ½ lbs about 8 pieces of dark meat chicken, thighs and drumsticks
• 1 - 2 Tablespoons oil avocado, grape seed, sunflower, or any other high smoke point oil
• 2 onions minced
• 1 large head of garlic peeled, whole cloves (10-15 cloves)
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup dry white wine such as sauvignon blanc
• 1 ½ cups chicken broth
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dry herb seasoning
• salt ground black pepper, to taste
• fresh herbs minced, to garnish, optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Trim the chicken thighs from all extra fat. Dry the chicken very thoroughly on both sides with a paper towel. Season the chicken with salt and ground black pepper on both sides.
• Heat the oil on high heat until smoking hot in a large and deep skillet or dutch oven. Brown the chicken on both sides really well until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes owe sides. Don't try to flip the chicken over until it's completely golden, otherwise it will stick to the pan and tear.
• Depending on the size of the dutch oven/skillet or how much chicken that you're using, you might need to brown the chicken in 2 batches. The chicken will not be cooked through at this point, just seared on the outside. Set the chicken aside while you make the sauce.
• Drain most of the fat that was rendered off while browning the chicken, leaving behind about 2 Tablespoons. Add the minced onions to that same pot, season with salt and ground black pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes, on medium low heat, until the onions are tender and golden. As the onions get tender they will also exude some liquid. Use a spoon or a whisk to scrape up the golden bits (called fond) from the bottom of the pan, until the bottom of the pan is smooth and all the golden bits are incorporated into the onions.
• Add the whole garlic cloves and then the flour. Mix the flour into the onions and oil until incorporated.
• Pour in the white wine and the chicken broth gradually, whisking the liquid until the sauce is smooth. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Pour in the heavy cream. Add the bay leaf, the dry herb seasoning and more ground black pepper and salt to taste. Mix to combine.
• Return the chicken to the sauce, layering it on top of the sauce, but being careful that the sauce is not covering the chicken skin, because it will get flabby if you cook it in the sauce.
• If your dutch oven/skillet is not oven proof, transfer the sauce and the chicken into a deep oven proof dish, otherwise you can keep it in the same pan that you started it in.
• Braise the chicken, uncovered, in the preheated oven for at least 1 hour and up to 1 hour and 45 minutes. You can turn up the heat of the oven up to 450-500 degrees Fahrenheit for the last 5 minutes to crisp up the skin even more before serving it.
• Remove the chicken out of the sauce. I like to take one extra step and pour the sauce through a fine mesh sieve, to make it extra smooth. Serve the sauce on the side or over the chicken.