This meal is surprisingly easy to make and full of flavor.
This Coq au Vin recipe simmers tender chicken and fresh vegetables in a rich, savory wine sauce. It’s a special kind of meal with little fuss.
What is Coq au Vin?
Coq au Vin (AKA ‘rooster with wine’) is a French dish made by braising chicken in a wine-based broth with bacon, carrots, mushrooms, and fresh herbs. Braising is easy; it simply means browning the chicken and then slowly cooking it partially covered in liquid.
This Coq au Vin recipe is a simplified version of Julia Child’s recipe that packs all of the flavor of the original into an easy one-pan dish.
Ingredients for Coq au Vin
- Bacon – Bacon adds flavor and salt to this dish.
- Chicken – Bone-in thighs and drumsticks are dark meat which makes them extra flavorful and naturally juicy. Skin-on split chicken breasts can also be used in this recipe.
- Vegetables – Mushrooms, onions, and carrots are staples in this coq au vin recipe. If you’re feeling fancy, use pearl onions in place of yellow onions.
- Wine –Any wine works for Coq au Vin; when cooking with wine, skip the cooking wine or overly expensive ones. Go for table reds like burgundy, merlot, or pinot noir. Since this is a chicken cooked in wine, it is not recommended to replace the wine.
- Broth – I use beef stock as it has a rich flavor; however, it can be replaced with chicken broth or chicken stock.
How to Make Coq au Vin
Coq au Vin is an elegant entree with chicken and veggies cooked in a savory wine broth!
- Cook the bacon and transfer to a plate.
- Brown the chicken in batches according to the recipe below.
- Cook the vegetables until slightly softened. Stir in the remaining ingredients and add the chicken and half of the bacon to the skillet.
- Bake uncovered (per recipe below) until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.
Tips for Coq au Vin
- If desired, you can thicken the broth with a slurry or separate it from the other ingredients and simmer the sauce on the stovetop in a small pan over medium heat.
- Coq au Vin can be made in advance and kept refrigerated for up to 2 days (the flavors will continue to blend)! Reheat in a Dutch oven on the stovetop on low heat.
- Freeze Coq au Vin in airtight containers for up to 3 months and thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat in a Dutch oven on the stovetop on low heat.
Perfectly Paired Side Dishes
Serve Coq au Vin in wide bowls with thick slices of garlic bread to soak up all that rich broth or over homemade mashed potatoes or egg noodles. Add a tossed salad with a tangy lemon vinaigrette.
More Elegant Entrees
Did you love this Coq au Vin dish? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Coq au Vin
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon chopped
- 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 4 chicken drumsticks
- ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 1 ½ cups sliced carrots
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups dry red wine such as burgundy
- ½ cup beef stock or broth
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme or ¾ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 2 dried bay leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Add the bacon to a deep 12-inch skillet or a braiser and cook over medium heat until crisp. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate leaving the bacon grease in the skillet.
- Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and cook the chicken thighs skin side down for 5 minutes or until golden brown and then transfer to a plate. Repeat with the drumsticks, turning until browned and add to the plate.
- In the same pan add sliced mushrooms, carrot, and onion (adding butter or additional oil if needed) and cook just until the mushrooms and onions start to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle in flour, stir, and cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the red wine and beef stock, a bit at a time, stirring after each addition until smooth. Add thyme, bay leaves, and half of the bacon. Stir to combine.
- Gently place the chicken on top of the vegetables.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is golden.
- Remove and discard bay leaves. Garnish with the remaining bacon and serve over mashed potatoes or pasta.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, French© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
amazingly delicious, this dish seemed intimidating by the name, but it was very easy! I will be making this again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Shelly!
What is the best non alcoholic substitute for the wine?
Hi Leatha, I have only made this recipe as written so I can’t say for sure. Wine is a major flavor in this recipe so you could try a non-alcoholic red wine for similar flavors. Otherwise you could substitute more beef broth, and while it will change the flavor it will still be delicious. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Delicious recipe! I didn’t add mushrooms as my husband doesn’t like them…just increased the amount of carrots. Served with fresh bread & butter. Will definitely make again.
I have made this several times and it is excellent. Even better the next day if reheated for 30 minutes in a 350 oven, so perfect for company. Freezes well too.
This was fun to make . I’m glad you simplified it- I have found that French recipes are unnecessarily time consumming with extra steps. I am of French descent and my family’s coq au vin recipe takes three days ! Ridiculous.
Made it tonight and it was delicious, and the neighbors loved it, I have them try almost everything I haven’t made before
Those are some very lucky neighbors, Julie! ❤️ Glad they enjoyed it.
Excellent!
Made this tonight. It was great.
Glad you enjoyed it, Robert!
Excellent meal that tastes like Julia Child’s recipe for coq au vin. I’ve tried other recipes on here for oven baked but they don’t have the flavor depth your does. It’s absolutely crucial to bake the in the oven for the time posted or else you won’t get that deep, rustic taste of a coq au vin. Another crucial, in my opinion, is using a good, hearty red wine—red wine only if you want close to an original recipe. This is a simple recipe that I really enjoyed my first time, I have since made it using a 4-5 pound stewing hen which ups the flavor immensely. Thank you for posting your recipe.
What happened to carrots in the video?
Good eye Diane ;). We didn’t include them when we made the video, but they would be added along with the mushrooms. Enjoy the coq au vin!
Do I have to bake it?
Yes, this is baked for 1 hour in step 8 of the recipe.
Coq au Van. My husband’s new favorite. This recipe turns out to be beautiful abd delicious. Serving it over mashed potatoes was brilliant.
So happy you enjoyed it!
My son and wife loved this so much they ask me to make it every other week.
Excellent recipe. I have used red, pink and white wine with this recipe, as well as bone in and boneless chicken and it always turns out great. I prepared the recipe as written.
This was fabulous! Yes it is simpler than other versions that call for pearl onions and whatnot, but soooo much better!
Thank you so much.
You’re very welcome!
Can you freeze this? If so, for how long?
This can be frozen for three or four months, Enjoy!
hi holly. would like to know if there is a zucchini salad. have lots of zucchini to use up. thanks for your help greatly appreciated. sinerely ted youmg
You can find zucchini salad here and find more zucchini recipes here.
Why do you use beef stock or broth when you are cooking chicken?
The beef broth compliments the red wine flavors but any broth will taste great!
I made a similar recipe: no bacon and cooked in a slow cooker. It was delicious.
My daughter hated mushrooms any other tips
You can leave them out. Enjoy the recipe!