Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (2024)

Coq au Vin, sounds fancy right? In reality, this classic French dish is a simple, one-pot wonder full of layered, rich flavors that is perfect for your next family meal or dinner party.

Categories:

  • One Pot
Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (1)

The Best Coq au Vin at Home

When you hear “coq au vin” what comes to mind? Labor intensive? Too fancy to be practical? Maybe just a bit intimidating? Well none of that is true! In reality, this classic French dish is a simple recipe made in one pot, and is as good for a weeknight dinner as it is for a celebratory dinner party. If we haven’t convinced you yet, please read on!

Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (2)

What is Coq au Vin?

Translated from French, coq au vin means “rooster in wine.” Despite its straightforward name, coq au vin is a dish full of nuanced, deep, savory flavors (not unlike its counterpart boeuf bourguignon). Served over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or a good parsnip puree, it’s the kind of dish that makes anyone you serve feel special. Coq au vin takes humble chicken thighs and drumsticks and elevates them with a braise in wine (red or white) infused with bacon, garlic, herbs, and vegetables. The result is a dish full of fall-apart chicken and the most succulent sauce. Because we aren’t trying to be the next Julia Child, we’ve taken the liberty of simplifying the recipe and skipping a few (non-essential) steps to transform classic coq au vin into a weeknight dish that anyone can cook with ease.

Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (3)
Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (4)
Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (5)
Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (6)

What Should I Cook My Chicken Coq au Vin In?

In true French fashion, coq au vin is best cooked in a Dutch oven or cast iron braising dish. If you don’t have either of those, we highly recommend adding one to your collection. It will become your most beloved pot, guaranteed. The heavy lid of a Dutch oven creates the perfect environment for keeping in steam while your coq au vin braises away in the oven, resulting in supremely tender meat and veggies.

Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (7)
Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (8)

Which Wine is Best for Coq au Vin?

Coq au vin is traditionally made with red wine. White wine (and even champagne!) is a fun variation on the classic, but we love the bold flavor that a good red has to offer and so we've decided to stick with tradition on this one. Red wine from the French wine growing region of Burgundy is most common, and we like using Pinot Noir or another lighter bodied red wine for this coq au vin recipe.

Recently we have discovered (and enjoyed thoroughly) the wines of the Rioja region of Spain. The wines of Rioja are the only ones in the world that are not released until they are ready to drink. The cool growing conditions in Rioja produce fruity wines with moderate alcohol and low acidity, making them the perfect wine for pairing and cooking virtually any dish, especially this coq au vin.

We’ll be frank, a big old Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot boxed wine is going to be just as tasty after everything is cooked together in the red wine sauce, so don’t sweat it!

Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (9)

How Do You Make Coq au Vin?

While coq au vin is a relatively simple dish, these key steps will set you up for success:

  1. Start with a Dutch oven. You will be using this pot for the entire dish.

  2. First, brown your bacon (or lardon or pancetta), then remove it from the pan leaving all that nice grease and fond (the bits that stick to the bottom of the pot as the meat cooks).

  3. Next, brown your chicken in a single layer in the bacon grease. Get those skins nice and crispy, and then remove the chicken from the pot and set it aside.

  4. Cook the garlic and herbs and add the chicken and bacon back into the pot, nestle the carrots around the chicken and cover with wine and chicken stock. (Go ahead and pour a glass of wine for yourself while you’re at it.)

  5. Cover, place the pot in the oven, and cook for 30 minutes.

  6. Finally, remove from the oven, uncover, and add all the mushrooms, and shallots (or pearl onions), along with the melted butter and flour mixture for thickening. Cook this on the stove over medium heat for 5-8 minutes and then garnish with a little sprinkle of parsley and you're good to go!

Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (10)

Nous T'aimons Chicken Coq au Vin.

See, we told you it was easy. We love this recipe for coq au vin, because it is:

  • Easy.
  • Comforting.
  • Great for company.
  • Perfect for winter.
  • Insanely delicious.
  • Makes us feel fancy, without stressing us out with too many complicated steps.
Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (11)

What do I Serve With Coq au Vin?

We love this recipe for coq au vin. It’s way easier to make than it sounds, and makes us feel like we’ve mastered a pillar of classic French cooking without too many complicated steps. Coq au vin is a comforting meal (especially in the depths of winter) that is great for company. Coq au vin really is a one-pot meal. It has protein and vegetables all together in one pot. You don’t need to serve it with anything else, but it really would be a shame to not have something to soak up all that sauce. We recommend making a big batch of these Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes or Herby Rhodes Rolls to do just that. Alternatively, you could eat this wine-braised goodness with egg noodles, cauliflower mash, or parsnip puree. This dish is the perfect winter meal; hearty, cozy, full of depth, and blissfully uncomplicated. Even though the French are known for their beautiful confections, home cooks tend to keep dessert simple. Make a Skillet Caramel Apple Crisp or a couldn’t-be-easier-to-make Baileys Chocolate Bundt Cake (trust us, it’s impressive and delicious).

  • Roasted Garlic Mashed PotatoesThese roasted garlic mashed potatoes take a simple potato to the next level with lots of butter, whole milk and of course a long roasting of whole garlic.
  • Herby Rhodes RollsQuick and delicious, this herby garlic dinner roll recipe is a total snap thanks to a shortcut secret ingredient: a bag of frozen Rhodes rolls.
  • Sourdough BreadYour sourdough starter is finally ready! Let’s bake some sourdough bread!
  • Crispy Shallot Mashed PotatoesMashed potatoes are transported to the next level with crispy shallots and the oil they are cooked in, with butter and milk, of course!

Tools You’ll Need

C’est Magnifique le Coq au Vin!

Once you’ve made this easy coq au vin recipe, we have tons of other great one pot meals just waiting for you to make:

  • In the mood for noods? Try One Pot Creamy Mediterranean Chicken Pasta or Beef Stroganoff

  • Stew on this: Meatball Stew or Classic Beef Stew or a Spiced Vegetable Stew

  • Rich and flavorful: Osso Buco, Chicken Adobo, and Red Curry Beef

  • Our full round up of one pot wonders is here–Best One-Pot Dinners

Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (16)

How'd it all Turn Out?

Did you make this coq au vin? Julia Child would be so proud! Post a picture and tag @themodernproper and #themodernproper so we can see how it turned out!

Easy Chicken Coq au Vin Recipe | The Modern Proper (2024)

FAQs

Do you leave skin on chicken for coq au vin? ›

Coq Au Vin Ingredients

These are the ingredients you'll need to make this coq au vin recipe: Chicken: This coq au vin recipe starts with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Seasonings: Season the chicken with salt and ground black pepper. Bacon: Bacon (and its drippings) add tons of meaty flavor and depth.

How do you thicken coq au vin sauce? ›

Use 1 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp butter to start and whisk it in bit by bit, then make more if you need to. Make sure you boil the liquid for a couple of minutes to cook out any raw flour. Use this method in our coq au vin recipe.

What goes best with coq au vin? ›

Classically, boiled or mashed potatoes are served with it, but I think spätzle, noodles, or a creamy potato gratin work better. In the old days, an old rooster was used. I like using a younger chicken and only braising for 45 minutes or so.

What does coq au vin contain? ›

A coq au vin is a classic French stew in which chicken is braised slowly in red wine and a little brandy to yield a supremely rich sauce filled with tender meat, crisp bits of bacon, mushrooms and burnished pearl onions.

Why is my coq au vin purple? ›

Why is my Coq au Vin purple? If your Coq au Vin has a purple hue, it could be due to the type of wine used or overcooking the dish. To avoid this, use a red wine with a lighter color and be mindful of the cooking time.

What does coq au vin mean in French? ›

Coq au vin (/ˌkɒk oʊ ˈvæ̃/; French: [kɔk o vɛ̃], "rooster/cock with wine") is a French dish of chicken braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic.

What is the best wine to use for coq au vin? ›

If you prefer a lighter wine, go for a Saint-Amour (Beaujolais) or a Pommard (Bourgogne), which will go perfectly with the tender texture of the meat. In both cases, it is important to choose a wine that is fresh enough to balance with the slightly dry element of the poultry.

Is there any alcohol left in coq au vin? ›

If you want to minimize alcohol content, choose a recipe such as coq au vin, which is chicken braised in red wine sauce, rather than a flamed dish. These dishes contain as much as 75 percent of the original alcohol after the flames go out.

Is coq au vin better the next day? ›

Like all braises, coq au vin is best made a day ahead, so the flavors have a chance to intensify. Let it cool completely, then store it in the refrigerator. To reheat, first spoon off and discard any solidified fat on the surface, then place the pot over a low flame for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

What would Julia Child serve with coq au vin? ›

Coq au vin is traditionally made with mushrooms, lardons (or bacon), and pearl onions. I've also added carrots to the recipe below. Julia Child suggested serving coq au vin with a side of potatoes or salad.

How to eat coq au vin? ›

I also add a small amount of dark chocolate at the end to intensify the rich flavor. Coq au Vin is wonderful served with crusty bread, mashed potatoes, or creamy polenta, and a glass of Pinot Noir or Burgundy to complement the flavors of the dish.

Can kids eat coq au vin? ›

Per the USDA, you have to cook, simmer or boil a dish that contains wine for more than 2 1/2 hours to remove the alcohol. Accordingly, if you must prepare a dish with wine, only give it to your kids if it's been cooked longer than that so the alcohol evaporates.

What is a interesting fact about coq au vin? ›

Coq au Vin is probably the most famous of French dishes. It literally means rooster in wine. Traditionally, it was a peasant dish made of an old rooster. The reason an old rooster was used is this was the food of the poor man and he needed the rooster to perform his duties until he was too old.

Can you overcook coq au vin? ›

The sauce is often thin and acidic, a weird purplish color, and the chicken itself is hard and dry. The problem is that by the time the sauce has sufficient depth and weight, the chicken is way overcooked.

Is it better to cook chicken with the skin on or off? ›

Leaving the skin on chicken helps imbue both flavor and moisture in the meat itself during the cooking process, especially when roasting chicken—the skin traps moisture, natural juices, fat, and flavor, which results in tender meat and succulent skin.

Should I remove skin before baking chicken? ›

Of course, it's the fat from the skin that can give the meat such a succulent flavor. Fear that fat will melt and drip onto the meat during the cooking process -- increasing the calorie content -- has prompted dietary guidelines that recommend removing the skin before broiling, baking, stewing or fricasseeing.

Do I need to remove chicken skin before cooking? ›

The skin protects the meat while it's cooking by preventing it from drying out, it also adds flavour but it's where a lot of the fat is kept, just under the skin. It's of course healthier to remove the chicken skin before it's cooked, Because the fat underneath the skin won't melt onto the chicken when cooking.

Should I leave the skin on chicken? ›

Chicken Skin is High in Unsaturated Fats

Here's another surprise: Unsaturated fats can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. The skin also has omega-3, -6, and other fatty acids that are just as favorable for your overall well-being. Plus, leaving the skin on keeps your chicken more moist and flavorful.

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