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


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, before using dried up the end of the mushroom.



What are the secrets that make this dish so 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 is added to the pan and sautéed until tender and starting to caramelize.

Minced garlic is quickly 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.


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

These cutlets are tender, moist, juicy, and delicious bites of chicken and not any old dried up piece of bird.  Cutting chicken breasts into thinner cutlet size pieces helps the chicken cook quickly and more evenly.

You can cut your chicken breasts or buy them from your local grocery store packaged as cutlets. Chicken tenders would be fine here too, just adjusting 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!



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!


Reheat leftovers gently in the microwave for another delicious meal.

Skillet Chicken and Mushroom Wine Sauce Recipe

    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 tablespoon 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:

·       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 thickness.

·       In a shallow bowl combine the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

·       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.

·       Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pan and heat until melted. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook, undisturbed, 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.

·       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 are thickened and the chicken warmed through. Remove the thyme sprigs, and season the dish with salt and pepper to taste. 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 number of mushrooms, shallots, garlic, wine, thyme, chicken broth, mustard, and cream. Enjoy!


Let’s be a friends! When you try our recipe please feel free to leave a comment on this post. I’m sure your experience and insights will help all our readers, and it helps me too.


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