Coq au Vin
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Learn how to make traditional coq au vin, a classic French recipe with tender chicken braised in a rich red wine sauce. This flavorful stew is the perfect dish to warm you up on a chilly day.
If you’re craving something cozy and a little special, this coq au vin recipe is just the thing. A classic French stew from the Burgundy region, coq au vin (literally “chicken in wine”) features chicken braised in red wine with mushrooms, onions, and crispy pancetta until tender and full of rich, savory flavor.
Like my traditional French beef stew, it’s the perfect weekend cooking project—comforting to make, satisfying to eat, and even better the next day. Serve it with buttered egg noodles, mashed potatoes, creamy polenta, or a good crusty bread to soak up every bit of the luscious red wine sauce.
“Oh my goodness, this was off-the-charts good…We are living in Paris now and I have to say this is better than any other coq au vin we’ve eaten locally. Merci beaucoup!”
What You’ll Need To Make Coq au Vin
- Pancetta: Unlike American bacon, which is smoked, pancetta, or Italian bacon, is cured with salt and spices before being dried. It’s readily available at the deli counter or pre-cut and packaged in the refrigerated gourmet foods section.
- Chicken thighs: While traditional recipes call for a whole cut-up chicken (a coq is an old rooster), I prefer to use only bone-in chicken thighs only. The thighs remain tender and succulent when braised for a long time, whereas white meat/chicken breasts tend to dry out.
- Onion and garlic: These aromatics form the flavor foundation for the stew.
- Cognac: A type of French brandy, cognac adds complex flavor (similar to how it used in other French-style dishes like chicken pot pie, steak au poivre, and turkey gravy).
- Red wine: The classic choice is a Burgundy or Pinot Noir, but any light or medium-bodied red wine, such as Merlot or Zinfandel, will work. You don’t need to use an expensive bottle; just make sure it’s a wine you’d enjoy drinking—no supermarket cooking wine!
- Chicken broth: The base of the sauce.
- Tomato paste: Brings depth, richness, and a subtle tang that keeps the flavors bright and balanced.
- Fresh thyme sprigs and bay leaf: Infuse the dish with herbal notes.
- Carrots and cremini mushrooms: These classic vegetable additions add sweetness, earthiness, and texture to the dish.
- Butter and all-purpose flour: Combined to form a paste (called beurre manié or kneaded butter) used to thicken the sauce.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cook the pancetta. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and it’s nice and crispy, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the pan—you’ll add it back at the end.
Step 2: Brown the chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then brown over medium-high heat until golden and crispy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Step 3: Cook the aromatics. Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or so, just until fragrant.
Step 4: Build the sauce. Pour in the Cognac and cook, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot, until it’s almost evaporated. Add the wine, chicken broth, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, sugar, thyme, bay leaf, and salt, then bring everything to a boil.
Step 5: Simmer the stew. Reduce the heat to medium and let the sauce gently boil, uncovered, for about 15 minutes to thicken and concentrate the flavors. Return the chicken, any accumulated juices, and the carrots to the pot. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes, until the chicken and carrots are tender.
Step 6: Cook the mushrooms. While the stew simmers, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they’re golden brown and any liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
Step 7: Make the beurre manié. In a small bowl, mash together the softened butter and flour until it forms a smooth paste—you’ll use it to thicken the cooking liquid into a silky sauce.
Step 8: Remove the chicken skin. Pull the chicken out of the pot and use a fork and knife to remove and discard the skin—it slides off easily. It adds great flavor and helps keep the meat moist while cooking, but it turns soggy, and the dish is more appealing without it.
Step 9: Thicken the sauce. Increase the heat in the Dutch oven/pot to medium and stir in three-quarters of the beurre manié. Gently boil until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes, adding the remaining paste if needed to make the sauce thicker.
Step 10: Finish the dish. Return the chicken and any juices to the pot and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes to let the flavors come together. Stir in the mushrooms and pancetta just before serving, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve right away, or cool and refrigerate for up to 2 days (it only gets better with time). The stew also freezes beautifully for up to 3 months.
Video Tutorial
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Coq au Vin
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 oz diced pancetta (or bacon)
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 4 lbs/1.8 kg), trimmed of excess skin (see note)
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup Cognac
- 2½ cups red wine, preferably Burgundy or Pinot Noir
- 2½ cups chicken broth
- 1½ tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 1½ teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into ½-in (13-mm) chunks on the bias
- 8 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large (5-qt/4.8-L) Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until the fat has rendered and the pancetta is crispy, 5 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the pan.
- Season the chicken all over with 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Increase the heat to medium-high and brown half of the chicken in a single layer, skin side down, until golden and crispy, about 5 minutes (brown on the skin side only). Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate; set aside. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat.
- Return the pot to the stove and reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the onions to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened and just starting to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add the Cognac and cook, stirring to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until the Cognac has evaporated. Add the wine, chicken broth, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, sugar, thyme, bay leaf, and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and gently boil, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
- Add the chicken and any accumulated juices from the plate back to the pot, along with the carrots. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, or until the chicken and carrots are cooked through.
- While the chicken cooks, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Also while the chicken cooks: In a small bowl, mash the softened butter and flour to make a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked chicken to a plate.
- Increase the heat in the Dutch oven/pot to medium and stir in three-quarters of the flour and butter paste. Gently boil until the sauce is thickened, 5 to 7 minutes; add the remaining paste if you'd like the sauce a little thicker. Fish out and discard the bay leaf.
- Using a fork and knife, pull the skin off of the chicken and discard.
- Add the chicken and any accumulated juices back to the pot and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Right before serving, stir in the browned mushrooms and pancetta. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary, then serve.
Notes
- Sometimes chicken thighs have excess skin and/or fat. Before cooking, using kitchen shears, trim any skin that extends farther than the edges of the chicken thigh, and snip off any excess fat.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: Prepare the stew as directed, then cool it to room temperature before refrigerating for up to 2 days. Reheat over medium-low heat on the stovetop before serving. (For best results, store the sautéed mushrooms and crispy pancetta in separate containers in the refrigerator and add before serving.) If you want to freeze the dish, transfer it to an airtight container once it has cooled and for up to 3 months. Before serving, defrost the stew in the refrigerator for 24 hours and then reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat until hot.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This is my both of my teenage boys’ favorite dish I make!! It does take a long time to make but is totally worth it. If I am a little short on time and feeling lazy I use boneless and skinless thighs. I am sure the flavor is better the way it is written but we still love it this way. I also always pull the chicken out to debone it and chop it into little pieces to be more like stew. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!!!
I have made your recipe several times as well as having tried the Cook’s Illustrated version and the Julia Child version. Yours wins HANDS DOWN! I plan on making it for Christmas dinner this year and want to make it several days ahead so that, for once, I can spend my Christmas enjoying family and not spending it in the kitchen. Can I freeze it (minus the mushrooms and pancetta)? Thanks for your many wonderful contributions!
So glad you like it, Theresa! You can definitely freeze it.
Made this today (4 Dec 2024) ; comment was made to add more carrots – just a preference of who I made the meal for. We bought ~ 4 lbs of thighs – this ended up being a package noted as having 10 thighs – actually was 11 — pushed the limits of the roasting pan I used and the liquid not enough to cover. I adapted by adding more broth and wine to make sure all the chicken was covered when I cooked.
Summary ; yum !
I’ve made this wonderful recipe several times, and I’m always asked for the recipe! I want to make it this weekend for a friend who can’t have gluten. Would this work with all purpose gluten free flour?
Definitely (and so glad you like it)!
Would you suggest a particlar GF flour? I make my own blend using Chef Alina’s #2 blend.
Hi Bev, a lot of readers have had great luck with Cup4Cup and King Arthur’s Measure for Measure flour.
Emily I have a husband who has a gluten free diet as well. I would suggest adding xanthan gum to the all purpose GF flour should it NOT have any binder like xanthan gum to it. Either that or I would suggest using cornstarch instead?? I also found that tapioca flour/starch helps thicken as well.
Thank you
This weekend will be the first time making this recipe. I have a husband with a GF diet. When I made Beef Stew from Jenn, I used a cornstarch slurry (hot tap water with cornstarch mixed well). Most cornstarch is GF and it turned out well.
If you have an all purpose GF flour without any binders like xanthan gum, I suggest adding that in to your flour. Bob’s Red Mill xanthan gum has on the back how much flour to what amount to use. Also I found tapioca starch/flour is helpful as a binder.
I plan to experiment and see what works best.
This was amazingly delicious! We enjoyed it with homemade artisan bread.
This recipe is incredible! The dish turned out, absolutely scrumptious.
Jenn:
I just finished making this masterpiece, and it’s absolutely fabulous! Thank you for a superb combination of flavors. It was time consuming, but it’s worth every hour spent in the kitchen. My husband suggested I put it in the frig and serve it tomorrow so that the flavors can meld, but honestly, it’s perfect and I would like to enjoy it tonight. I’m serving your polenta and green beans.
Thank you for creating this wonderful dish.
I would like to make this for a Christmas Gathering that would serve 10. Would doubling the recipe be enough or just add more meat? Would serving it over mashed potatoes be good? I am aiming for a no knife dinner as people will be not eating at a table. Thank you for your help.
The portions are generous so doubling it should be enough. And I think it would be delicious served over mashed potatoes. Hope everyone enjoys!
Can I use boneless chicken thighs in this recipe?
Hi Mary Ann,The bones add a lot of flavor, so using boneless thighs will have an impact on the finished dish. Also, you won’t need to cook the chicken as long so it won’t get quite as infused with the other flavors. Last, it’s pretty hard to find boneless chicken thighs that have skin on them. All that said, technically you can do it!
Rich, complex flavors. Heavenly!