With family home over winter break and into the new year, we decided to celebrate with Pomegranate French 75 cocktails – https://northwestfrench.com/pomegranate-french-75-a-festive-french-christmas-cocktail-including-the-classic-version/. Such a fun, tasty, and pretty drink! After enjoying cocktails, the inevitable question arose….. “What to do with the left-over champagne?” My mind immediately went to a chicken and white wine sauce – but using champagne instead. This lovely Chicken in Champagne Sauce was born.

A brief history:

Champagne sauce emerged in French cuisine as an elegant way to showcase the region’s famous sparkling wine, pairing its acidity and aroma with rich ingredients like cream, butter, and shallots. It likely developed in the 19th and early 20th centuries as Champagne became firmly associated with luxury dining and chefs began incorporating it into classic French “sauce” preparations for fish, poultry, and seafood.

As I am writing this and thinking about it, the makings of a lovely romantic meal (Valentine’s Day?) can be found in the last few posts – from pre-dinner cocktail to dessert!

Romantic French Meal Menu:

You could start your evening off with a celebratory Pomegranate French 75 cocktail (https://northwestfrench.com/pomegranate-french-75-a-festive-french-christmas-cocktail-including-the-classic-version/), accompanied by Gougeres (https://northwestfrench.com/classic-french-gougeres-a-simple-cheese-puff-appetizer/).
Next, on to the main course of Chicken in Champagne Sauce – served with a side of sautéd green beans or broccoli.
Finish the meal off with the luxuriously flavorful and creamy Easy Raspberry Posset (https://northwestfrench.com/easy-raspberry-posset-rich-creamy-with-only-four-ingredients/). Perfection!

Whether or not you choose to make this Chicken in Champagne Sauce for a romantic meal, or simply because you think it sounds like a good plan for dinner, I would highly encourage you to do so! It has a couple steps, but each step builds the flavor. The final result is a chicken dish that will transport you to a bistro along the Seine. Enjoy.

Ingredients

Step One – Sauté

3 Large Shallots (or 4 small)
10 oz Crimini mushrooms, sliced
4 Tbsp Butter

Step Two – Sear

2 Tbsp Duck Fat Can substitute with butter
6-8 Chicken thighs, skin on You could also use one whole chicken, broken down into wings, legs, thighs, and breasts. Keep carcass for stock. *See Notes*
Salt and Pepper

Step Three – Deglaze & Reduce

1½ Cups (350ml) Champagne

Step Four – Roux & Velouté & Finish

3 Tbsp Butter
3½ Tbsp Flour
3 Cups Chicken Stock "Better than Boullion" works perfectly in this recipe if you are not making your own. See notes for "1 Hour Chicken Stock Recipe" if you would like to make your own.
3 Tbsp Sour Cream (or Crème fraîche)
3 Sprigs Thyme

Instructions

Peel and finely chop the shallots. Slice mushrooms.
In a large dutch oven, add 2T Butter. Melt and then add the Shallots. Saute for 5 minutes.
Melt 2T more Butter in with the Shallots. Add the sliced Mushrooms. Sauté for 10 minutes.
Remove the Shallot & Mushroom mix from the pan and set aside.
Melt 2T Duck Fat in the dutch oven. Add the Chicken, skin side down. Sear skin till golden brown. Flip Chicken and sear other side. Continue flipping the chicken for about 20-25 minutes, until it is mostly cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
Deglaze pan with the Champagne, scraping any bits of cooked on Chicken with a wooden spoon. Simmer for about 6-8 minutes, or until about a third of the Champagne has been evaporated. Remove from heat once proper amount has been evaporated.
While Champagne is cooking, in a separate pot, start the Velouté sauce by preparing a Roux. Melt Butter in pot. Once melted, add Flour. Whisk until a thick paste is formed, becoming slightly beige in color.
Add Chicken Stock – whisking continuously while adding to the pot. Continue to whisk/stir until slightly thickened and the Velouté sauce is formed – about 10 to 15 minutes.
Place Champagne back on the heat, and add the Velouté sauce. Whisk to combine. Add Sour Cream and whisk till combined.
Add the Mushroom & Shallot mixture back in. Stir and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken a bit. *At this point, taste the sauce and season with Salt/Pepper if needed.
Add Chicken back in by nestling each piece in the sauce. Add Sprigs of Thyme. Cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes to finish cooking chicken.
Remove Chicken to plates and top with Champagne Sauce. Enjoy.
*Note – One serving option is to nestle the Chicken into bed of rice and ladle the Champagne Sauce over. Very tasty!

Notes

If you want to make your own stock, it is simple, and adds another lovely dimension to your Veloutè Sauce. You would do this at the beginning of the recipe, after breaking down your chicken into pieces.

Add the following into a stock pot and cover with water. Season with Salt and Pepper. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer for an hour.

Chicken Carcass, 1 Medium Onion (peeled & chopped), 3 Cloves Garlic (sliced), 2 Medium Carrots (peeled and sliced), 1 Medium Leek (white part only, sliced), Salt & Pepper to taste.

Chicken in Champagne Sauce – Perfect for a French Menu

A brief history:

Romantic French Meal Menu: