Chicken With Mushrooms and Wine

Chicken With Mushrooms and Wine
Yunhee Kim for The New York Times; Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.
Total Time
About 45 minutes
Rating
4(1,317)
Notes
Read community notes

The boneless, skinless chicken breast is as simple to prepare as a burger, nearly as ubiquitous and generally seen as both classier and “healthier.” But in the kitchen, it has two major shortcomings. First, its intrinsic flavor is minimal, more akin to pasta than to even an egg. (An egg is exciting by comparison.) Second, preparing a burger isn’t that simple: unless you’re looking for well done, you have to get the timing just right. In preparing chicken breasts, the cooking time should be just long enough for all but the last traces of pink to vanish — and no longer. The breast can be done in as little as six minutes, for a thinnish one subjected to high heat, or it might take as long as 10 minutes or even a bit more — but never 20, unless you are cooking the thing on a radiator. Overcooking is easy, and the results are predictably undesirable. Here's a simply wonderful way to prepare the humble breast with just a little wine (practically any kind will do) and mushrooms.

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Ingredients

  • 4chicken-breast halves (about 1½ pounds)
  • 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3tablespoons butter, divided
  • ¼cup flour
  • 1pound mushrooms, sliced
  • ½cup wine
  • Parsley, for garnish
  • Salt and pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

211 calories; 10 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 21 grams protein; 398 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Put a large skillet over medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Add extra-virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet and swirl it around.

  3. Step 3

    Put flour on a plate. When the butter foam subsides, dredge the chicken in flour, shaking to remove the excess.

  4. Step 4

    Add the breasts to the skillet and cook so there is a constant sizzle but no burning.

  5. Step 5

    Cook, turning once, until the chicken is browned on both sides and nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

  6. Step 6

    Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

  7. Step 7

    Add mushrooms to the skillet and cook, undisturbed, until the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates completely.

  8. Step 8

    With the heat still on medium-high, add wine to the skillet and let it bubble, stirring, until it is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.

  9. Step 9

    Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and cook until the sauce is thickened; return the chicken breasts to the skillet, turn them in the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

  10. Step 10

    Garnish with chopped parsley.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,317 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I used Marsala wine and added some cream towards the end. Absolutely delicious.

Try dry vermouth as your wine. It's an easy way to dress up chicken.

Made August 10, 2015. Used sherry (1/4 cup), and 1/4 cup chicken broth witj 1/2 cup heavy cream at the very end I used enosis, white button, no oyster mushrooms. Served with egg fettuccine with some parmagiano reginiano cheese. Very nice. Chicken should cook in the broth and wine after browning and definitely use the butter (along with a minced shallot) at the beginning.

Make sure all the mushroom liquid has evaporated in step 7 before moving on. Hope that helps! :)

I have made this and the sauce does thicken, but not as if you had corn starch or flour. If you look at the picture, you can see that the sauce is clear. The butter imparts a silkiness that is what you want. I thought it was very good.

Use white wine and sauté onions with the mushrooms. I also add a sprinkle of lemon juice. serve over rice. divine.

I added reconstituted dried French wild mushroom mix, chopped coarsely, as well as the 1lb button mushrooms. You can never have too many mushrooms. Wonderful, layered flavor. May add a touch of cream next time...

I made this with no substitutions. Only alteration was pounding chicken breasts before dredging. Simple and delicious. Classic Bittman.

Made with chicken thighs and sauvignon blanc (sipped on while cooking as well!) Added onions to the mushrooms. Delicious! Bittman does it again :)

Also, cut the breast into two thinner pieces by slicing through with knife parallel to cutting board. Faster cooking, plenty for two servings.

Needs something. Thyme, rosemary?

Added a chopped shallot just before mushrooms. Served with roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Excellent. Combined all for leftovers and reheated at 325. Maybe even better!

I've made this recipe many times but the "sauce" never "thickens" as it says it will in step 9. There never is a sauce, just a thin liquid which I do not serve. It's fine really; the chicken with mushrooms is perfectly good without any sauce. But the words in step 9 make me feel like it's not coming out right.

Pretty good and simple - might put in a little chicken broth as well

Very good, as well as fast and easy - I will definitely be adding this to the weeknight dinner rotation. Next time I will probably cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise.

Only used half the mushrooms with 3 chicken breasts weighing 1.5 lbs and that was more than enough mushroom

This came out beautifully. The chicken was lovely and tender. Followed the recipe exactly except used red wine as I didn’t have white. I served it with buttered noodles and added some pasta water toward the end to thicken the sauce as it was pretty thin. Oh, and used chicken stock along with the wine as I was following this recipe but also the one in Bittman’s cookbook, which is the same recipe, just more descriptive/instructive and uses stock.

Good, and I had pounded my chicken so I didn't cook it quite as long as recipe called for. Think I would add some shallots to enhance the flavor when making in the future.

Great! Just great! Wonderful smokey taste. An easy Saturday night dish. Yum!

This was simple and delicious. Made exactly as directed.

Add chopped shallot thyme and little cream at end Maybe slice breast in half to reduce cooking time

This chicken made for an easy and lovely meal. Good enough to serve for company as well. I served it with roasted broccolini and steamed butternut squash. Easy to add a rice or potato. Attractive, tasty meal. Preparation was quite easy and came together quickly.

By mistake I added the mushrooms after the wine had cooked down. We eat a lot of chicken prepared in many different ways. This is an excellent recipe-simple seasonings but great flaver. I did use a very nice french butter.

I chopped the mushrooms finely instead of slicing them.. but I wish I had added some heavy creams it still wasn’t much of a “sauce”. More of a topping.

I cut the chicken into strips when I add it back in and add chicken broth and the wine. SO delicious! I will try cream next time as well!

Made this for book club since we read "Remarkably Bright Creatures" and in the book one character makes chicken breasts with a mushroom/wine sauce for his lady friend. This was a success. Increased most ingredients by half again. Cooking for 8 people so I used 6 breasts, cut them in half because of varying appetites, cooked them in two batches in the skillet, put them in a 9x13 baking dish and poured the sauce over them when it was done.

From NYT NOTES: Granny: Made August 10, 2015. Used sherry (1/4 cup), and 1/4 cup chicken broth witj 1/2 cup heavy cream at the very end I used enosis, white button, no oyster mushrooms. Served with egg fettuccine with some parmagiano reginiano cheese. Very nice. Chicken should cook in the broth and wine after browning and definitely use the butter (along with a minced shallot) at the beginning.

So simple yet delicious. After reading reviews, I sautéed some shallot and added fresh thyme before adding wine. Will make often as it was easy, delicious and uses pantry ingredients

5 mins per side for chicken? Y’all eating salmonella.

Boneless skinless, and it cooked through quickly for me. I did 6 minutes a side. It's going to depend on how thick your chicken pieces are.

Simple and delicious weeknight dinner. I tripled the sauce, and added a glug of cream per the suggestion of another commenter. Served over brown rice, topped with a ton of fresh parsley. Definitely going into my rotation!

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