Recipe:
This classic French Chicken Tarragon recipe is made with seared and braised boneless skinless chicken thighs simmered in white wine, chicken broth, and heavy cream sauce with pearl onions and fresh tarragon.
If you want a thinner or just more sauce, add ½ cup to ¾ cup more chicken broth. The result will not be as creamy but the sauce is AMAZING and flavorful if you want to coat pasta in it.
If you want a thicker and more creamy sauce, reduce the chicken broth to 1 cup.
Don’t like chicken thighs? Use seared breasts instead but add to the reduced sauce 5-10 minutes before instead of cooking them in the sauce for the entire 25 minutes because they will get dry and tough if cooked too long.
There are a couple images here where the difference in the sauce color has to do with the color of the butter, but also and most importantly, the color of the chicken broth. The brighter yellow sauce pictures and video are made with an uber vibrant yellow chicken broth (Better than Bouillon Chicken Base).
The color of the dish and sauce will vary from brown to yellowish depending on the broth or butter you use and how brown or “hard” the sear is on the chicken. Either color and way tastes absolutely amazing. Trust! Also, the sauce will brown over time. The yellow sauce was vibrant initially but we ate it the next day it had changed to yellow brown.
The broth for the tarragon chicken below and the instructional video was a bright yellow giving the sauce a vibrant yellow color. I also added ½ cup more broth to the sauce because I wanted to have enough sauce to coat angel hair pasta in. The added broth resulted in a less creamy and thick sauce but was a beautiful light sauce for pasta.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
8 chicken thighs (~ 2 lb), boneless skinless
¾ cup pearl onions, frozen
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
⅔ cup white wine
1 ½ cups chicken broth
¼ cup tarragon, chopped
½ cup heavy whipping cream
salt
black pepper
Directions:
Salt and pepper the chicken thighs.
Bring a skillet to medium heat and add the butter and oil. When hot, add the chicken thighs (you may need to do this in batches – don’t overcrowd the pan). Sear the chicken on each side for 3-4 minutes or until brown.
Remove chicken to a plate, reduce heat, and add onions to pan. Cook ~3 minutes and add garlic. Cook 1 minute or until fragrant.
Add wine and simmer ~ 3-4 minutes or until reduced by half.
Add broth and tarragon and return chicken and any juices back to pan.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered ~ 25 minutes, flipping once, or until chicken is done (internal temp = 165F and juices run clear).
Stir in cream, bring to a simmer, and remove from heat. Let dish sit for 5 minutes (to thicken) before serving.
Add salt to taste and garnish with any additional tarragon if desired. Happy Eating! Beckie