Nigel Slater’s Coq au Riesling
Deeply savoury and delicious, Nigel Slater’s Coq au Riesling will quickly become a favorite quickly. Chicken cooked with white wine, cream and mushrooms.
For my birthday a week or so ago, I was spoiled with something I have wanted for a very, VERY long time. A perfect, white Le Creuset 30cm Buffet Casserole. Well that was my idea anyway. I went to my local Le Creuset store very much intent on buying one of the pristine beauties but was told that the white range only gets made twice a year in France and as it’s also a very popular range, it gets sold out relatively quickly.
I took to Twitter to see if anyone could help me and within minutes the amazing folk at Le Creuset South Africa tweeted me back saying they are going to search high and low and within 24 hours they had located the very last white buffet casserole in the country and had it sent to my local store. I mean, is there anyone that does customer service better?
Anyway, so buffet casserole purchased, I needed something to christen it with. A good friend suggested that I make Nigel Slater’s Coq au Riesling from his book Real Food and I knew it had to be. I tweeted about it (well of course) and what do you know, Mr Slater himself shared my sentiment that this dish was made for my dish.
You should make this if you like chicken. If you like mushrooms. If you like creamy sauces. If you like Food. And most importantly if you like a bit of plate licking. This recipe is so gosh-darn delicious that I did, in fact, lick my plate. While it’s cooking, the scent of onion, garlic, mushrooms and wine will waft through your house, teasing your senses and when you take your first bite, you will swoon.
The chicken was soft and succulent and the sauce deeply savoury. Serve it with steamed rice or on top of al dente pasta or as I did, with a loaf of crusty bread to mop up the sauce. A zesty green salad won’t be out of place either.
Ingredients
- 50 g butter
- splash of olive oil
- 2 onions finely chopped
- 125 g bacon/pancetta sliced into thin strips
- 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 8 chicken pieces on the bone I used 4 thighs and 4 drumsticks
- 250 g portabellini mushrooms sliced
- 500 ml Riesling or dry white wine of your choice
- 250 ml cream
- salt & pepper to taste
- handful chopped parsley
Instructions
- Melt the butter and oil together in a large pan.
- Brown the chicken pieces all over and remove from the pan.
- Add the onions and bacon and allow to fry until the onions are soft and translucent and the bacon has rendered it’s fat.
- Add the garlic and allow to saute for another 30 seconds before removing the mixture from the pan (leaving the fat behind).
- Add the mushrooms and allow to fry for 5 minutes.
- Add the onion and bacon mixture along with the browned chicken back to the pan.
- Pour in the wine and allow to come up to a boil. Turn down the heat and cover. Allow to simmer for 15-25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- After 15 minutes, uncover, turn up the heat and add the cream. Allow to cook for another 10 minutes.
- Add the chopped parsley and season to taste.
- Serve with rice, pasta or crusty bread.
Other chicken dinner recipes you will love:
Easy coconut curry chicken thighs
Creamy Dijon mustard chicken thighs
Pan-roasted chicken with lemon garlic butter
Just … A dream
Could you make before hand and heat up? Or for example, make, cool, heat, then add the cream?
Yes absolutely – Add the cream and re-heat before serving.
Just discovered this recipe and would like to make it tonight. Can I use creme fraiche for the cream? I have it already. Looks fabulous.
Yes, that should be fine.
I love white wine sauces. In this case if I make again, I would half the wine and add a cup of chicken broth instead, to make the flavour of the sauce a bit more robust. And some fresh thyme.
Such an appetizing lunch recipe, Alida! I would love to give it a try!
Thanks so much Agness!
Is there a conversion chart tso we Americans don’t blow it?
Haha Kathy, of course: https://simply-delicious-food.com/conversion-chart/
How awesome that you heard back from Mr. Slater himself! I will definitely be giving this recipe a try Alida! I guarantee there will be a whole lot of plate licking going on at my house too! Well done and thanks so much for sharing this amazing dish!!
You must! It is the ultimate weeknight comfort food. Plate licking guaranteed. 😉
This was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. I ended up using 5 bone-in, skin-on thighs in my enameled casserole. It was the perfect amount of sauce to chicken. Will serve with orzo next time. I had already planned on roasted potatoes so I warmed up some bread I had in the freezer to mop up the sauce. This goes on my meal for guests list. 🙂 I am going to check out his book!
So glad you liked it. You must, his books are all excellent.
What is the difference between a Le Creuset braiser (what I have) and a buffet casserole (what you have)? I’m wondering if I can use my 5qt braiser to prepare this. Looks super yummy!
The buffet casserole is the one pictured. It’s deeper than a frying pan and heavier but still flat enough to allow the sauce to reduce nicely.
This dish was superb! I made it and realized I didn’t have any wine half way through, so my hubby stopped by the store on his way home and picked up a Moscato. I was reluctant to use such as sweet wine in cooking, but that’s all I had. I continued on with the recipe, using a little flour mixed with the sauce in a separate bowl, then whisked into the rest of the sauce to thicken it a bit. My family LOVED it!! I did try the recipe a week later using riesling just to see, but I was little more partial to the sweet notes the moscato lent. Amazing recipe either way though!!! Thank you so much for sharing.
So glad you liked it Andrea. It’s always interesting to play around with different wines when they are such a star ingredient in a recipe. I’ve made this with almost all of the styles and it results in a different dish every time. Thanks for your lovely comment!
Made this today and it turned out great. I didn’t have riesling so I used white cooking wine and chicken broth. Also used half and half for the cream – bowing to diabetes. Will definitely make again. thanks so much for sharing.
Glad you liked it Theresa!
I made this last night for my husband. We were amazed at the dimension of the flavors from such simple ingredients. I make a lot of Indian food with A LOT of spices so this one a complete 180 for me. I gave the chicken a very good browning and I think that played a very important role – don’t skimp on that part! I will definitely make this again. Thanks for posting this wonderful recipe!
Thanks for your lovely comment Natalie! Yes, that browning is incredibly important as that adds a lot of deep, caramelised flavours.
I have found the next recipe I’m making for my blog!! We eat so much chicken and fish I’m always on the lookout for different recipes. This looks wonderful — I wish I could get another Le Crueset . And Oh Hallelujah I just found a great German Riesling in our stage. You can’t see me but I’m doing a happy dance. Thank you so much for introducing us to this recipe. Buona Giornata!!
It’s only a pleasure! I hope you enjoy it !
Judy, Mine is the 30cm/3.2 litre buffet casserole. I’m not sure how many quarts that is.
The cream shouldn’t curdle, unless you’re using reduced fat cream.
Is your pan the 3.5 quart or the 5 quart? Also is there a problem adding the cream to the hot liquid already in the pan? Will it curdle?
I’ve done variations on this recipe many times, always with goof results, though I have not tried it with Riesling, so, thanks to your lovely review, I’ll revisit the dish with a different inflection! Thanks for the review and the photos!
Thanks for your lovely comment!
Lara, I do leave it on because often the chicken isn’t submerged completely. It definitely adds a lovely bit of extra flavour. 😉
After seeing the photos and re-visiting this page today I couldn’t resist…. I’m now making this for dinner tonight! On the menu for tomorrow? Your garlic roasted chicken and cauliflower puree. Thanks for all the fantastic recipes xx
Thanks for your lovely comment! I get such intense pleasure when people try my recipes. I hope you enjoy both!
Such a delicious recipe! It’s my go-to when I’m entertaining, and comes out brilliantly every time. Just curious – do you leave the skin on the drumsticks or thighs? I’ve previously removed the skin, but this time I’m debating leaving them on… just don’t want to risk that horrible, chewy skin you sometimes get after letting it simmer.
Wow… this was fantastic. Rich and creamy, but not too much so. The freshly chopped herbs really elevated the dish to another level. I served it with sugar snap peas sautéed in olive oil, garlic, fresh black peppercorn, and sea salt, with a butter leftover multigrain boule for grains. This one is certainly a keeper in my book! 🙂
Great to see this dish again, I bought the book when it first came out and made this wonderful recipe for years…then much like Nigel I forgot about it till I came across this page, safe to say this is on the menu again this week once I’ve done my shopping.
Absolutely not. 😉 This is delicious whether made in a crappy pan or a fancy-pants pan.
My pans are crap. Lol. Should I just avoid this dish until I get the fancy pan?
That is absolutely an amazing recipe. I can’t wait to make this.
However, since dry white wine is not available in my region, may I use red wine instead?
Lee, sure you can use red wine but it will then be a Coq au Vin and not a Coq au Riesling anymore. Also, with red wine you’ll have to omit or reduce the amount of cream the recipe asks for.
This looks delicious, thank you for sharing. I’m thinking of doing this in a slow cooker for a few hours. Would you add any stock with the wine for slow cooking and then add the cream at the end?
I would definitely add a little stock if you’re going to try it in a slow cooker and then just add the cream towards the end.
Oh Mags, thank you so much for your WONDERFUL comment. I really am so happy that you and your family loved this recipe. You can trust Nigel Slater’s recipes again and again. They always work and they are always drop-dead-delicious!
This absolutely, hands down, THE BEST chicken in wine sauce recipe I have ever made. But be forewarned if you are going to make it, make it with a Reisling that you will DRINK (i.e., a GOOD ONE, not a cheap one in a box) and buy two bottles so you can have that extra bottle for dinner. If you buy cheap crappy wine you get nothing but what you put into the dish. (And PLEASE PLEASE don’t substitute chicken broth, if you are a tee-totaler, just forego the dish….) That said, I have tried making Coq Au Vin using many many many recipes and despite the best intentions I could really never warm up to purple chicken. Sorry, just me. But now THIS recipe…. I cannot say enough good about it…. Served to my son and DIL and mad NO substitutions except used boneless skinless thighs out of deference to my DIL who does not eat bone in chicken. It was WONDERFUL, we ate it with a green salad made from my porch-side garden, and freshly baked ciabatta bread. No one had room for dessert, so I suggest you choose something simple and refreshing like cookies and sorbet or fruit. There were four adults that ate this and I made it with nine chicken thighs… and had enough leftovers for my son for lunch the next day (yes, he snatched them up on his way out the door, along with the strawberry orange cobbler we had for dessert).
When I make it again (and there will be an again, and again and again and again) I may experiment with different wines and different mushrooms or shallots instead of onions, but made exactly as written this is just FABULOUS. You. Must. Make. It. (unless as mentioned you don’t cook with wine, please do not diss this recipe with anything else, if the name of the wine is part of the recipe, there is a REASON!)
Can you tell me if you made any changes in timing or browning considering you used boneless skinless thighs? Hank you.
If you use boneless thighs you could reduce the cooking time by 5-10 minutes.
No, you leave the fat in the pan to saute the mushrooms in. If there’s a lot of fat from the bacon in the pan, you can pour some of it off but you’ll need a little fat to fry the mushrooms in.
So glad you liked it Rita. Unfortunately I don’t have the nutritional content of this recipe but I do know it will be quite hight in fat and calories due to the cream. If you wanted to make this every week and are worried about the calories/fat content, perhaps try to use reduced fat cream? The only worry with that is that some reduced fat creams can split if they are boiled so you will have to only add the cream right at the very end and cook the chicken in a little chicken stock.
I soooo loved this recipe!! I made this tonight and it was delicious! Does anyone have the nutrition content on this to show the amount of calories/cholesteral/protien/etc that is in this per serving? I would love to know so that I could make this once a week!
Rita, look at the ingredients, you don’t WANT to know. Some things are special occasion… this is one of them. Don’t look so you won’t regret. My husband has cancer, we eat whatever we want when we want. I understand others have dietary concerns. All things in moderation.
Hi Alida, lovely recipe– I only have question about step 4(leaving the fat behind) Do you mean that I pour it out of the pan? Thanks 🙂
This recipe is so delicious. I love using white wine and cream. Thank you for the interesting and oh so delicious take on the classic. I modified the recipe just a bit as I had to translate the measurements 🙂 but it was still so good. My family loved it and we had it twice in the same week. Thank you!
So glad you liked it!
Kelly, if you’d like you can mix a little cornflour with a little water and mix that in and allow to cook through or you can just allow the sauce to simmer uncovered until it reaches the thickness you are after.
I made this tonight and loved the flavors. I am wondering if anyone felt it was too runny? Mine was and I was looking for how to thicken up the sauce a bit.
If you leave the lid off and simmer it after adding the cream, then by the time the bread bakes and you have tossed the salad, the sauce should have thickened up nicely on its own.
Just made this for dinner tonight, absolutely delicious! I used sauvignon blanc with dried porcinni and fresh shiitakes because I had those on hand. Amazing dish, will be making it for company soon.
That sounds amazing Bernie. So glad you enjoyed it.
Im probably being stupid but Step 8 starts by saying ‘after 15 mins’ : does this mean after 15 mins of the 15-25 mins already mentioned in Step 7 or does it mean that after the dish has cooked for 15-25 mins (as mentioned in step 7) you then wait and leave it sit for 15 mins before adding the cream/bringing up heat again etc? Bit confused. Thanks 🙂
The dish needs to cook for approximately 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked but after 15 minutes you can uncover it and add the cream so that the sauce can reduce slightly. Hope that clears it up! 😉
The garlic is spot on — you won’t notice it after all the cooking. If you are afraid HE will, mince it finely. The smaller the cut, the milder the taste. I actually just coarsely chopped mine, we love it, but for the ONE GRANDCHILD who is a PITA, I would mince it.
I would like to make this but I noticed that the recipe calls for 4 cloves of garlic. Both my daughter and I love garlic but my husband HATES the smell and taste of it. So, I need to know how strong the garlic smell/flavor is in this dish. I made a dish the other day with 2 cloves of minced garlic and he was OK with that as it did not taste/smell garlicky but I am concerned that 4 cloves will have a much stronger taste/smell. Please advise.
Carol, I think start with 2 cloves and see how he feels with that. Instead of using 4 and then he doesn’t like it. Maybe the next time you make it you can add a little more? And be sure to really cook it out so that it becomes mellow and sweet instead of being pungent.
The garlic is spot on — you won’t notice it after all the cooking. If
you are afraid HE will, mince it finely. The smaller the cut, the
milder the taste. I actually just coarsely chopped mine, we love it,
but for the ONE GRANDCHILD who is a PITA, I would mince it
This recipe is an absolute hit! My husband and I LOVED it and will definitely be making it again very soon. The flavors and textures were heavenly – even with half-fat cream. I’m SO glad to have found your beautiful blog! Thank you!
So glad you liked it Michelle. Thanks for the lovely comment.
Wow, what a wonderful compliment. But what else do you expect from Nigel? 😉
I made this last night for my husband and I. He said the first mouthful took him back to Paris!!! Now, how’s that for a recommendation!!!??
Hi there! I pinned your recipe months ago and finally got round to making it tonight to christen my new Le Creuset 🙂 It was every bit as delicious as your picture looked! I hope you don’t mind me blogging it (adapted down for two to four people) http://www.fifigoesnom.com/2014/01/coq-au-riesling/ I’ve credited the original recipe back to you (and Nigel Slater) of course. Thanks ever so much for sharing this in the first place.
So glad you liked it!
No, I used what we call in SA Fresh cream or Whipping cream. I think it’s called Heavy Cream in the US?
Cream?? Sour cream right??
This is beautiful! Peter @Feed Your Soul Too
That looks delicious. Can’t wait to make it, sans mushrooms. Gorgeous pan, BTW. I wish it were easier to find Le Creuset in white and in black too.
We love the way you write and adore this recipe. Found you on Pinterest and have a lovely new blog to follow!
Of course, you can use any mushrooms you have on hand.
Lizzy, I think you could perhaps use a little cornflour mixed with water just to thicken the sauce slightly and use a little chicken stock instead of the cream.
Glad you liked it!
This was great! It was a tad rich for me, but it was still very enjoyable. My husband and kids absolutely loved it!
I’m lactose intolerant. What can I use instead of cream?
From someone who occasionally had that problem, try either Almond Milk (you will need to thicken the sauce) or soy-based coffee creamer….hope it works for you.
Can we use another kind of mushroom? I have white button mushrooms and would love to use that in place of portobellini. My husband hates portobellini.
Did anyone make this with boneless chicken? I have some picky eaters.
Jen, I’m sure this would be just perfect with boneless chicken. Just adjust the cooking time as bone-in chicken takes longer to cook.
great thanks!
I made this with boneless chicken. Was great 🙂
Do you drain the grease after cooking the bacon?
Angelique, I didn’t as I like to fry the mushrooms in the fat but if you like, you can remove the fat.
Roe, I’m sure if you Google you’ll be able to find an online converter.
Hi, maybe I am misunderstanding something in the recipe but it says to brown the chicken pieces twice. Could you please clarify this for me. Do I just brown it a little bit the first time? Thanks, can’t wait to try this.
Nadine, I amended the recipe. So sorry for causing so much confusion!
Can this recipe be converted to pounds and cups
Of course Denise. 🙂
The recipe looks delicious. Can I use a Dutch oven to make this?
This is a wonderful dish. Made it today. Only thing I did different was I used half and half
Glad you likeds it Patricia.
So glad you liked it.
I made this tonight, it was delicious and my family loved it. I can’t wait to make it again.
for those of you who need a conversion chart I have it. 50g. = 2tlbs, 125g. = 4OZ. ,250g.=9oz, 500ml=1pt/2c., 250ml=1c. hope this helps
Thanks Linda!
i believe 50g. = 3 1/3 T
thank you so much!
Fabulous recipe!!! What great flavor!! I am adding this to my new favorites, thank you for sharing such a tasty dish <3 I found it on Pinterest 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comment Michelle. So glad you liked it!
Saw the picture of this dish and thought I MUST make it ….until I read that there are mushrooms in it. I know, I know….how can i not like mushrooms?!?! Sadly, they are my greatest food aversion!! Is it possible to make this without them and still end up with a wonderful dish? Thanks for your help!
Julie, I completely understand. I HATE mushrooms in anything other than a creamy sauce. Can’t stand it on pizza, hate them on their own. People think I’m weird ALL the time.
Yes, you can make this without the mushrooms and it will still be delicious. The only thing mushrooms add to this is that rich, meaty umami taste. If you can tolerate the flavour of them, I would say cook them with the mushrooms and just take them out before you eat OR soak a few dried porcinis in hot water and use that to cook the chicken in. Just so you get that deep flavour the mushrooms lend to this.
Though I like mushrooms, I can’t eat them. My boeuf bourguignon hasn’t suffered one bit from a lack of mushrooms, and I’m sure this dish won’t either.
I make a dish a lot like this but use artichoke hearts in it. If not in season, use canned, well rinsed or even better, frozen ones.
plan on making this tonight , but have to convert the measurements , so I hope it turns out …lol
Barbara, with cooking you can relax a little more than with baking where exact measurements are a must. With this dish, go on taste and tweak it to suit your own tastes. 🙂 I hope you love this dish as much as I do!
Dawn, it could but you won’t get the same flavour as with the wine. After all, this dish is named after wine. But the dish will still be tasty if you substitute.
have you tried it with boneless chicken? with it alter the flavor too much?
Kendall, depending on where you’re based I’m sure you can Google “Le Creuset” or follow the suitable handle on twitter. They are incredibly helpful.
Chicken breasts on the bone should cook in a similar amount to the thighs. The flavour will have less depth only because the thighs are so very flavourful but chicken breasts will do fine as well.
My husband is not a dark meat chicken lover so I’m wondering if I can substitute with chicken breast? Would that change the cooking time or flavor?
Alida!!! I have to have that pan. No really. I have to have it! Can you e-mail me more about the process of finding it if you have a moment? I actually may want the whole line. Thank you so much!
kendall boggs
Thank you for this recipe. I made this on Sunday, I am in love with the flavors. This was a hit!
Could this dish be made in a regular deep sided frying pan?! I want to try it. I am suffering from pan envy right now lol
Yes of course Carley.
This looks and sounds delicious! I WILL be trying this out soon!
I made this over the weekend for my boyfriend, we enjoyed it very much, especially with some crusty bread. However, I did find that the sauce was a bit too thin and not thick. Is there anyway, I can thicken up the sauce next time round?
Nandi, you could add a little cornflour mixed with water and allow it to cook through if you want the sauce to be a little thicker.
Hi there Alida! I just made this dish. It was wonderful, but I had to do some things differently than you described. I drained the butter and oil off after the first browning so that the bacon wouldn’t boil/steam. (I detest flaccid bacon.) Then I drained off some of bacon grease before working on the mushrooms next. This actually took quite a bit of time and I did use a pretty large Le Cruset pan. I’m wondering if it is still too small, but I butchered a whole chicken into 4 large pieces and they all fit without overlapping. Why did we need to brown twice? I’m just curious. Overall it was absolutely scrumptious and I will definitely make it again. Thank you for posting this. This is my first recipe from your site I’ve made, even though I’ve “pinned”….100? Lots. You site is fabulous and your sticky Indian chicken is next on my list.
Dana, you don’t need to brown the chicken twice. You simply brown the chicken once after you’ve fried the bacon and mushrooms and then cook it in the wine and stock.
I’m still confused about this. In step 2 the recipe says: “Brown the chicken pieces all over and remove from the pan.”
Then step 6 says: “Allow to brown all over then add the mushrooms and allow to fry for 5 minutes.”
Did you omit step 2 when you made it?
So sorry to cause confusion. I’ve amended the recipe. 🙂
So sorry to cause the confusion. I’m having trouble updating the recipe but you only brown once, in the beginning then place the chicken back in the pot after the onions and bacon have been fried then add the mushrooms and proceed.
I was confused also. You say to brown in Step 2 and Step 6.
I agree with Dana…lots of oil, butter and bacon grease. As a chef, I prefer to render the bacon and then add the thighs. The dish is great. Browning twice is important; first to crisp and secondly to let dark meat finish to 165*. Excellent.
Made this tonight and I enjoyed every bite. I love french dishes and actually picked this one to celebrate my new job! Thanks for sharing! My family really enjoyed it!
So glad you liked it Sara!
I made this tonight for dinner! It. was. fabulous! Even better than I thought it would be! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you liked it Miranda!
What kind of cream do I use?
I used fresh cream. I think it might be called Heavy cream in the US?
Made this for dinner and… LOVED it. It’s a Must Keep indeed. Thanks so much for the recipe.
It’s become a definite favourite. Glad you like it too!
The second time you brown the chicken, do I need to use a new pan with the onion and bacon liquid in it?
Dahlia, I use the same pan for everything. If there is a ton of liquid, perhaps pour it off but I find that you are only left with a lot of liquid if you overcrowd the pan. IN that case, rather fry the bacon and mushrooms off in batches.
Great recipe, loved it – but I think it needs more sauce. 🙂 I’ve made it with half the meat you’ve used (2 thighs and 2 drumsticks), but with your measures for the sauce (because we love sauces), and the amount was just right, there was no leftover sauce – I’m afraid there simply wouldn’t be enough of it had we made this amount for 8 pieces of meat.
The amount of sauce in the photos actually was more than enough of us, and we’re also really saucy people. You could always just add more cream if you wanted it saucier. Glad you liked it.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit with the whole family. Kids really love it!
So glad you liked it Suz!
Hi, just made this and it was divine! The sauce is incredible, I could not stop eating! Thank you for sharing!!
I’ve been dying to make this recipe since I spotted it here last week. I made it for a family dinner tonight, served with olive bread and a rocket and avo salad. It was delicious and a real hit. My family of foodies adored it. Thanks, Alida. I love your website and blogs.
So glad you and your family enjoyed it Sue! And thanks for the lovely comment.
I made this for a small gathering last night, with homemade crusty bread and tossed salad. It was DELICIOUS! We’ve saved the recipe to our favorites and will be making this again.
That sounds like the perfect sides for this delicious recipe. Glad you liked it.
Excellent dish that my french husband thoroughly enjoyed. I, however,
found the sauce too thin. Any suggestions (and I don’t want to add a starch)>
You could simply allow the sauce to reduce, uncovered for a few more minutes.
I made this last night, it was really devine! Don’t have such an amazing pan like you, but definitely yummy! My new go to recipe xxx
So glad you liked it Heide-Marie!
I made this for dinner this evening. Absolutely delicious! Thanks Alida!
So glad you liked it Cindy. A new favourite in our household.
This looks so saucy and scrumptious!
Angie, it absolutely is!
Can chicken broth New substituted for the wine,?