Learn to Make a Sensational Chicken Fricassee

Chicken is a favorite in our house. There are just so many ways to cook poultry. This week a fricassee – meaning meat browned and then cooked in a white sauce. It’s a homey, old time kind of dish. Just perfect for winter.

Although I do buy chickens parts (legs, thighs, breasts) individually, more often than not I just buy a whole bird. Usually a whole chicken is cheaper, and it’s not hard to break it down. One of my favorite things is to cut our the backbone then spatchcock it open and flat for grilling or baking.

Anyway, for a fricassee you need parts.

If you don’t want to use a whole chicken, then quartered legs, thighs or breasts, all bone in and skin on, would work. I try to cut the bird into 8 parts: 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks, and each breast side cut into 2 for 4 pieces. This keeps the piece sizes about the same for even cooking, and if edible for someone who does not want a large chunk of breast.

Backbone removed, and the breast split into 2 halves
One Half is quartered

A heavy pair of kitchen shears which come apart for easy cleaning, poultry shears or a meat cleaver will assist in cutting up a chicken.

And since most chickens come with the giblets, I can save the backbone, neck and giblets in the freezer, then make stock, or giblet gravy or stuffing when I have time. A bonus for my money.

The chicken in dredged in seasoned flour,then saute quickly to brown the skin.

Dredged in seasoned flour ready to saute

Use a large skillet or Dutch Oven

The fricassee chicken can be browned in a large skillet – I use my beloved cast iron chicken fryer , which lives on my stove top to brown the chicken in batches. I also tend to put this much chicken into my Dutch oven to bake. Otherwise you could fry up in a smaller skillet then put everything in a casserole dish to bake.

The bacon is cooked first so the bacon grease can be used to saute vegetables and later the chicken. More flavor!! I had in the fridge half a red onion and half a yellow onion, so I used both plus some mushrooms for the gravy base.

bacon cooked to render the fat for browning the chicken
Next, in go the onions and mushrooms
the sauce made in the Dutch oven

Once the onions and mushrooms have softened, in goes the wine – let it simmer a few minutes to reduce and lose some of the alcohol. Then the chicken soup and stock go in. Then pile in the chicken. I keep the pieces with the most skin on top, as the baking will crispy up the skin even more.

Chicken browned then nestled into the pot
Deliciousness comes out of the oven

If you prefer to not use white wine, then replace it with more chicken stock. To elevate flavors even more, add in your preferred seasonings: Italian herb mix, crushed juniper berries, Za’tar, or go Oriental with ginger and 5 spice powder. Use your imagination, follow your palate and have fun. That’s what cooking for loved ones is all about.

Tonight I served it with a few noodles – scoop out as much or as little sauce as you want to go on the chicken and pasta. Also good with the chicken over spaghetti!

Print

Fox Pines Sensational Chicken Fricassee

A great way to serve a whole chicken in serving size pieces, in a white sauce that goes well with noodles, spaghetti or penne pasta.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword baked chicken casserole, chicken fricassee, easy chicken main dish

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken cut into 8-10 pieces skin on
  • ¾ cup flour
  • 1 tsp salt kosher preferred
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • ½ tsp granulated garlic/garlic powder
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 4-5 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ lb bacon or at least a few slices, sliced into ¼” strips
  • 1 large onion sliced
  • 4 oz mushrooms sliced.
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 1 cup good white wine
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 ½ cups chicken stock

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F
  2. Dredge chicken in the flour and spices (through paprika). In a heavy skillet over med high heat, brown chicken in the olive oil.
  3. In a Dutch oven, cook bacon until desired crispiness. Remove bacon and drain off half of the bacon fat. Sauté onion & mushrooms in the pot . Once they start to caramelize, lower heat to medium low, and add the 3 tbsp. flour, stirring, and cook 3-4 minutes.
  4. Add the white wine and reduce by half. Return the bacon, and add the soup and stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Nestle the chicken pieces into the sauce.
  5. Bake 25 minutes at 400F. Reduce temperature to 325F and bake for 2 hours. Chicken should be very tender and sauce should have thickened. Serve over pasta.
  6. Can also be cooked in a slow cooker, but the chicken skin will not stay crispy.

Have some crusty bread and a salad or vegetable side to round this out into a meal.

Suggested equipment