Chicken marinated in red wine and slowly cooked until tender.

This is one of those French dishes that proves patience pays off. Thank you, chef, for showing me this 40 years ago.

The chicken, baby potatoes, and button onions spend 36 hours marinating in red wine, taking on deep color and flavor before anything even hits the pan.

Then sear the chicken, turn the wine into a rich sauce, and bring everything back together, cooking slowly until the chicken is tender and the potatoes are ready to fall apart under your fork.

This is not fast food.

This is French comfort food.

And yes, if you are opening a bottle of wine for the marinade, pour yourself a glass first.

You are cooking, after all.

Serves: 2
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Marinating Time: 36 hours, refrigerated
Cook Time: Approximately 60–90 minutes
Total Time: About 37½ hours including marinating
Difficulty: Moderate
Cuisine: Traditional French
Main Ingredient: Chicken & Red Wine

Chef’s Tip: Use a bold red wine with good color and structure. Do not overthink the grape variety. If you would happily drink a glass of it, you can cook with it.

Ingredients

For the Marinade

2 chicken breasts
2 chicken legs or other dark-meat portions
1 bottle red wine
(A glass for you, the rest for the dish.)
12–16 small button or pearl onions, peeled
12–16 new baby potatoes, washed
16 baby Portobello mushrooms

For Cooking

2 tablespoons organic avocado oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1½ cups chicken stock
Fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons heavy cream, optional

To Serve

Steamed green beans
Broccoli
Buttered leeks
French bread or a crusty baguette

And yes, I recommend the bread.

You will want something to mop up the sauce.

Recommended Kit2Cook Tools

Large food-safe container or resealable bag
Large heavy-bottomed pan or Dutch oven
Medium saucepan
Small saucepan
Chef’s knife
Cutting board
Wooden spoon
Whisk
Tongs
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Paper towels
Meat thermometer
Ladle

Method

1. Marinate the Chicken — 36 Hours

Place the chicken, button onions, mushrooms and baby potatoes into a large food-safe container or resealable bag.

Pour over the red wine, making sure the chicken is well covered.

Seal or cover and refrigerate for 36 hours.

Yes, 36 hours.

Not 6.

Not 12.

Give it time.

The wine will gradually penetrate the chicken, build flavor, and give the meat that beautiful deep-red appearance.

2. Prepare the Ingredients

Remove the chicken and onions from the marinade.

Keep the potatoes and reserve all of the wine.

Do not throw that wine away.

That is about to become the sauce.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.

This is important.

Wet chicken does not sear properly.

Dry chicken browns.

Brown is flavor.

3. Sear the Chicken

Heat the avocado oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan or Dutch oven over high heat.

Add the chicken and sear until beautifully browned on all sides.

You are not trying to cook it all the way through at this point.

You are building color and flavor.

Add the button onions and garlic.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cook briefly until the onions begin to color and the garlic becomes fragrant.

Remove the chicken and onions from the pan and set aside.

Make the Red Wine Sauce

4. Boil the Reserved Wine

Pour the reserved wine marinade into a separate saucepan.

Add 1 cup of the chicken stock.

Bring it to a full boil.

This step is important because the wine has been in contact with raw chicken.

Give it a proper boil before using it in the sauce.

5. Make the Roux

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.

Add the flour and stir or whisk continuously.

Cook for about 1–2 minutes.

Do not overcook it.

You are looking for a smooth, pale roux.

Not brown.

Not burnt.

If it smells burnt, it is burnt.

Start again.

6. Build the Sauce

Gradually whisk the hot wine-and-stock mixture into the roux.

A little at a time.

Keep whisking until smooth.

The sauce should begin to thicken, but do not make it too thick.

It is going back into the pan with the chicken and will continue reducing as everything cooks.

You want sauce.

Not wallpaper paste.

Bring It All Together

7. Return Everything to the Pan

Pour the red wine sauce into the chicken pan.

Return the seared chicken and onions.

Add the marinated baby potatoes and mushrooms

Stir gently to bring everything together.

If the sauce looks too thick, add more chicken stock a little at a time.

Do not drown it.

You are looking for a rich sauce that will slowly reduce around the chicken.

8. Simmer Until Tender

Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low.

Allow everything to cook gently for approximately 60–90 minutes.

Check and stir occasionally.

The potatoes should become tender and the sauce should deepen in color and flavor.

The chicken should be fully cooked and tender.

Watch the Chicken Breasts

Chicken breasts will usually cook faster than the dark meat.

Check them earlier and remove them once they reach 165°F / 74°C internally.

Leave the dark meat cooking if it needs more time.

Dry chicken breast is not part of the French tradition.

At least not in my kitchen.

9. Let It Settle

Once all the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are tender, remove the pan from the heat.

Let everything sit for a few minutes.

The sauce will settle, the flavors will calm down, and you will resist the temptation to put your face directly over the pan.

Hopefully.

Finish and Serve

10. Plate It

Place one chicken breast and one dark-meat portion on each plate.

Add the wine-infused baby potatoes and button onions.

Spoon plenty of that rich red wine sauce over everything.

Finish with:

Fresh flat-leaf parsley
A small swirl of heavy cream, if you like

The cream is optional, but it creates a beautiful contrast against the deep red sauce and adds another level of richness.

Chef’s Serving Note

Serve with:

Green beans
Broccoli
Buttered leeks
Or another simple green vegetable

Keep the side dishes fairly simple.

The Coq au Vin is doing all the talking.

And then add some French bread.

Trust me.

You will want to mop up every last bit of that sauce.

Yum.

Chef’s Tips

Use a Big, Bold Red Wine

Do not get too caught up in the grape variety.

You want something full-bodied, deeply colored, and flavorful.

And ideally something you would actually enjoy drinking.

Because remember:

One glass for you. The rest for the chicken.

Give the Marinade Time

The 36-hour marinade is a big part of this recipe.

Keep everything refrigerated throughout and let the wine do its work.

Patience now means better flavor later.

Do Not Rush the Cooking

Once the chicken is seared, turn the heat down.

A gentle simmer gives the wine, stock, onions, garlic, potatoes, and chicken time to become friends.

High heat will not make that happen faster.

It will just make you angry.

Watch the Sauce

If it gets too thick, add a little chicken stock.

If it looks too thin, let it cook uncovered for a short time to reduce.

You are looking for a sauce that coats the chicken beautifully without becoming heavy.

Add a Touch of Cream

A small swirl of cream at the end is completely optional.

I like it.

It softens the sauce slightly, adds richness, and looks great on the plate.

Cooking for Four?

Easy.

Double the ingredients and use a larger pan.

The cooking time will still depend on the size of the chicken pieces, so use your meat thermometer rather than your watch.

Chef’s Note

Coq au Vin is not complicated.

It just asks you to slow down.

Marinate properly.

Sear properly.

Build the sauce properly.

Then let the whole thing cook gently until the chicken, wine, onions, and potatoes come together.

And once you have that plate in front of you with a piece of French bread ready to hit the sauce...

You will understand why this dish has lasted for generations.

Bon appétit.

Coq au Vin