Mom’s Famous Chicken in Wine Sauce

Did your family have a special meal for holidays and special occasions? Ours did! My mom always made her Famous Chicken in Wine Sauce on special nights. We enjoyed this dish on birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas Eve, and other celebrations (like when I came home from college).

Today Chicken in Wine sauce is one of my family’s favorites too!

Why You’ll Love It!

This meal is so delicious and so easy! It looks, feels, and tastes fancy, but it comes together in under an hour. And most of that time is hands-off, so you can focus on last minute prep or just enjoy your guests,

Chicken in wine sauce is one of the first meals I learned to prepare on my own. I can remember whipping it up in my first college apartment for my roommates. Back then, it probably took me two hours. And I think I used every pot we had to prepare the meal. But my roommates were suitably impressed, so it was worth it.

How to Make Chicken in Wine Sauce

The first step in making chicken in wine sauce is prepping your ingredients. I prefer thin-sliced chicken breasts for this dish because they cook quickly and soak up all that delicious wine flavor. Plus they are nice and tender and truly melt in your mouth. If you can’t find thin-sliced chicken breasts at your grocery store, just buy regular breasts and use a chef’s knife to slice them in half. Trim off any fat and give a quick rinse.

I know washing chicken is controversial. Supposedly, it’s unnecessary and you are just spreading germs to your sink. But old habits die hard. I grew up washing my chicken and I will forever wash my chicken. Raw chicken kind of grosses me out (I know, that’s a weird admission for a food blogger), but I like to rinse off the slimy coating. I just make sure I clean up really well when I am done.

Once the chicken is ready you need to prepare the egg wash and bread crumbs. Crack two eggs into a shallow bowl. Add some water and whisk together. In another shallow bowl (or even on a small plate) combine bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. I do not recommend Panko bread crumbs as they don’t stick as well to the chicken and get soggy in the wine sauce.

Dip the chicken breasts in the egg wash and then coat in breadcrumbs. Transfer to a plate.

Heat about two tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, transfer four or five chicken breasts to the pan. The exact number depends on how big your pan is. You don’t want them to overlap. Cook on each side about two to three minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan and place on a clean plate.

Continue cooking until all the chicken is browned. Add some more oil as needed. (In case you are wondering, that’s my Caraway fry pan and it is my absolute favorite. It cooks beautifully. And cleans up like magic).

Then return all the chicken to the pan and cover with the wine and chicken brother or water. You can just use more water, but then you’ll have less to drink with dinner. And once up of wine is plenty to give your dish lots of delicious flavor. Cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to low.

Allow chicken to simmer for about fifteen minutes and then add the mushrooms. Cover again and continue cooking for about fifteen more minutes. Keep an eye on the pan to make sure the liquid hasn’t evaporated. It shouldn’t, as long as you pan has a tight-fitting lid. But sometimes it does. It’s a mystery. If you see the liquid getting low, add some wine, chicken broth or water.

Enjoy it!

The alcohol in this dish cooks off so chicken in wine sauce is appropriate for guests of all ages and safe for friends avoiding alcohol.

Growing up, my mom always made this dish with Sutter Home White Zinfandel. So, I suppose the traditional version of Mom’s Famous Chicken in Wine Sauce should call for that rose. But, many years ago I switched up my recipe and started using white wine to make this. For a long time we used Pinot Grigio, Now we mostly use Sauvignon Blanc. Occasionally, we use a dry rose. I’ve even made it with red wine. They are all delicious!

You can really use any wine you want to. I suggest picking something you enjoy drinking. You should always use good quality for cooking. Don’t buy the cheap stuff. Once the alcohol burns off, the flavor is even more concentrated. You don’t need to buy expensive wine, just pick something you enjoy the flavor of. You only need a cup for cooking, so there will be plenty to sip on at dinner. (But it never hurts to have a second bottle on hand).

I love to serve chicken in wine with mashed potatoes. Again, this goes back to my childhood when mashed potatoes were daily staple. Check out my smashed red skin potatoes. But chicken in wine also tastes delicious over rice. The rice soaks up all that delicious wine sauce and it soooo good.

I know you’re going to ask . . . so yes, you can omit the mushrooms. But I recommend that you don’t Even if you don’t like mushrooms, they add a richness and complexity to the dish. It’s pretty easy to pick out sliced mushrooms. Or leave them whole to make it even easier. But if you can’t eat them, or you really hate them, go ahead and leave them out.

Happy Eating!