Classic French Coq Au Vin Recipe (Chicken Cooked In Wine)

Learn how to make this classic French recipe for coq au vin that is slow-cooked with vegetables and mushrooms in a delicious wine broth.

Coq au vin translates from French to English as a rooster in wine. While roosters are a little hard to find in America, the female hen is most often used in this recipe here. The process of this recipe is marinated and seared chicken that is then braised with vegetables in wine and stock.

This recipe isn’t all that difficult to do and if you are interested in the culinary arts, you will hone your skills since it requires chicken fabrication, pan-searing, cutting and chopping, and braising.

Ingredients for this recipe:

For the Marinade:

• 2 roughly chopped stalks of celery
• 2 peeled and roughly chopped carrots
• 3 smashed garlic cloves
• 1 peeled and roughly chopped yellow onion
• 1 fabricated whole chicken
• 2 cups red wine
• ¼ cup cognac
• ½ cup olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste

For the Chicken:

• 6 strips chopped thick-cut bacon
• 1 peeled small diced yellow onion
• 4 peeled thickly sliced carrots
• 2 finely minced garlic cloves
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 leek, peeled
• 1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 cups red wine
• 5 cups beef or chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups button mushrooms, sliced in half
• 1 cup peeled pearl onions
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Marinate Time: 12 hours

Cook Time: 2 hours

Procedures:

1. For the Marinade: Place the celery, carrots, garlic, onions, chicken, red wine, cognac, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a plastic zip bag and mix until all of the ingredients are combined, and the chicken is completely coated in the marinade. Place in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 4-6 hours.
2. Remove the chicken from the marinade, discard the marinade, and season the chicken lightly on both sides with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. For the Chicken: Add the bacon to a large Dutch Oven Pot over medium-high heat and cook until crisp and browned.
4. Set the cooked bacon lardons aside and then add in the chicken and sear until golden brown, about 4-6 minutes per side.
5. Set the chicken aside, remove ½ of the oil in the pot and then quickly sauté the carrots, onions, and garlic quickly for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the flour until combined to make a roux.
6. Pour in the wine and add in the leek, parsley, and thyme bouquet garni (watch video), the stock, salt, and pepper, and the pan-seared chicken.
7. Add on the lid and cook over low heat for about 90 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and tender.
8. With about 15 minutes left in the cooking process add the olive oil to a large sauté pan over high heat and add in the mushrooms and pearl onions and cook for 5-7 minutes or until lightly caramelized.
9. Transfer the mushrooms and pearl onions to the coq au vin pot and mix in.
10. Serve hot.

Chef Notes:

Make-Ahead: While this recipe is fantastic as soon as it’s done, you can make this recipe up to 1 day ahead of time by reheating before serving.

How to Reheat: Plate the coq au vin in a pot with a lid and cook over low heat until hot, about 20 minutes.

How to Store: Place covered in a refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw for 1 day in the refrigerator before reheating.

You can use thick-cut bacon or regular cut if you’d prefer.

Celery is also a great addition when braising the chicken.

Other herbs you can use in your bouquet garni are rosemary or chervil.

You may use just chicken breasts, thighs, drums, or any combination of each of these.

When searing the chicken you may have to do it in batches if your pot is not big enough.