Last updated on March 10th, 2019 at 12:31 pm
This Coq Au Vin with Mashed Potatoes is a popular French dish is made with chicken braised in red wine with mushrooms, onions and green beans, lots of herbs, perfect for fall!
It’s freezing cold outside and spring is nowhere to be seen. When the weather is like this, it’s time for stews of slowly braised meats in yummy sauces and mashed potatoes. It’s time for comfort foods and sweaters and hot cocoas. It’s time for coq au vin!
WHAT IS COQ AU VIN
Coq au vin simply means chicken in wine, and no I didn’t take out that French dictionary or bring up google translator to figure that out, but those French classes in grade school and high school are finally paying off. Plus, it’s a dish I’ve been making for years and it’s really one of our favorites.
It’s my kind of soul food. Eat a plate of this with some hot mashed potatoes and you’ll be happy, your belly will be happy, it’s all good!
HOW DO YOU MAKE COQ AU VIN
Coq au vin is really the classic one pot dish, however it’s also a labor of love. Braise the chicken in red wine and chicken broth, until it falls off the bone. Use chicken with bone in and skin on for that extra flavor. Trust me this dish has many layers of deep rich flavor.
Make sure you savor this slowly. Put some French music on and open a bottle of red wine as you’re eating. Go for the full experience, my friends. In classic coq au vin there are no green beans, which is why I’m not claiming this is a classic recipe. However, I wanted some more veggies, so I threw in some haricots verts which were perfect! See, I know my French!
This truly is my kind of weekend cooking, though I totally make this during the week as well and serve it with creamy mashed potatoes. Best part is you have leftovers for the rest of the week which makes for some awesome lunches.
Did I mention there’s bacon in this? Oh yeah, there’s bacon!
WHAT WINE DO YOU USE FOR COQ AU VIN
Traditionally Coq Au Vin is made with a Burgundy wine, a Pinot Noir or a Shiraz. While the purists will swear by Burgundy wine, I’m here to tell you that the red wine doesn’t matter quite as much.
However, my advice to which wine to cook with is always to cook with the wine you drink, not the cheap cooking wine. So if you buy yourself a good bottle of Pinot Noir, then by all means use Pinot Noir in this recipe.
TRY THESE OTHER FRENCH DISHES:
Coq Au Vin with Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon chopped
- 8 chicken drumsticks *
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 cup cipollini onions cut in half or 1 large onion, chopped **
- 1 lb mushrooms cleaned and sliced
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 cup red wine ***
- 2 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 3 sage leaves
- 8 oz green beans
- 8 tbsp butter unsalted
- 1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
For Mashed Potatoes
- 3 1/2 lb potatoes peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 tbsp butter unsalted
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 F degrees. In a large Dutch oven fry the chopped bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot but leave the fat there, if you have more than 1 or 2 tbsp of bacon fat, discard the rest.
- Season the chicken drumsticks generously with salt and pepper and add to the pot. Cook the drumsticks on both sides over medium-high heat, until they start to brown, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. The chicken doesn't have to be cooked through as we will braise it later on and will continue to cook. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside together with the bacon.
- Add the cipollini onions and the mushrooms to the pan and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the onions start to caramelize and the mushrooms start to brown. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until the garlic starts to get aromatic.
- Deglaze the pan by stirring in the red wine, scraping all the brown bits as you go along. Stir in the chicken broth, then add the bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and sage leaves. Add the bacon and chicken back to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a medium, cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes.
- Add the green beans to the pot. Whisk the melted butter with the flour and stir it into the pot. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as needed. Place the pot without the lid into the oven and cook for another 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove the bay leaves, thyme, rosemary sprigs and sage.
- Garnish with parsley.
For Mashed Potatoes
- While the chicken is braising in the wine you can make the mashed potatoes. Boil the potatoes in water with a bit of salt until fork tender, should take about 15 minutes, but depends on size of potato cubes.
- Drain the water from the potatoes and add them to a large bowl. Add the butter to the hot potatoes, and the butter should start to melt right away. Add the heavy cream, salt and pepper. Using a potato masher or electric beater, slowly mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy.
- Serve the Coq au Vin over the mashed potatoes.
Notes
- *Any part of the chicken can be used here, even chicken breast, but to get the ultimate flavor, I recommend leaving the skin on and bone in.
- **Cipollini onions literally mean "little onions" in Italian and are great for caramelizing and roasting.
- *** You can use pretty much any red wine, usually a Burgundy wine would be perfect, but even a white wine can be substituted
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition
Hi!
I am also a die-heart fan for chicken.I like this recipie alot.Thanks for giving information about this delicious recipie.
This looks amazing! I was wondering if there was anyway to reduce the amount of butter. Could I use olive oil instead, or a combination of both?
I would do half and half for olive oil and the butter!
can you do this in an Instant Pot? it sounds delicious!
Absolutely! It would cook a lot quicker. I don’t have exact instructions for you, since I haven’t done it myself, so if you do try, I’d love to hear how it turns out. 🙂
Hi, you need to add Dejon mustard… a heaping tablespoon or so to the mix. Also, go with about two dozen pearl onions instead of the sliced onion… more visually pleasing than otherwise. I use a couple of chickens, pieced out instead of just chicken drumsticks!! I love Coq au Vin!
Your gorgeous photography and fantastic recipies compelled me to cook this on a week night. I am never disappointed by anything you provide. You’re an artistic master of the kitchen. Thank you for lending your talent. You made me look good tonight as always. My husband and I hope you have a cookbook. That may be too old school but I like cookbooks and I was born in the late 70’s ; )
Just saw the cookbook link! 🙂
I do! Glad you found the link. 🙂
what would you use for flavor besides the wine, if you couldn’t use wine?
I’d go with chicken stock.
Wow! Love this recipe so much. I wanted to lick the plate. I do think that once the beans are added you could skip the oven and just simmer for 10-15 minutes uncovered, stirring frequently until the beans are done. I will definitely be making this many more times.
So glad you liked it, Kelly!
Those drumsticks are such an eye catcher! I have never been much into French cooking, but this dish is really a favorite of ours. I have never used green beans, but they look just wonderful there, I will keep that in mind for next time.
Thanks Adina! Hope you try this, and yeah the green beans are a bit different in this dish, but it really works. 🙂
Scrumptious! I could devour a bowl right now and it’s 94°F outside!
94°F eh? No such luck here, though it is a beautiful sunny day here in Calgary!
Absolutely wonderful! I made it and increased the sauce considerably. Everyone and I mean everyone loved it. Even dear old dad who only likes a hamburger with ketchup, lettuce and tomato. The green beans were a very nice addition.
Oh that’s great, glad you all enjoyed it!
I made this last evening for dinner! Fantastic!! Love your blog all the way down in south Texas!
Thank you, Jody!!!
When you do you add in the green beans…. looks like an awesome fall dish
Oh silly me, added it to step 6. Hope you try it, it’s really good and perfect for this time of year!
That pan sauce looks so flavorful and delicious. Lovely photos as usual!
Thank you Karen!