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Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce

"Your website readers are going to love this," my father exclaimed when he finally finished his plate of chicken smothered in creamy mushroom sauce. Mom found the recipe from one of her favorite cookbooks* now long out of print. The note in the cookbook regarding this recipe is "Brides might well add this to their kitchen repertoire. It is easy to fix and never fails to make a hit." We all agree. Our six thumbs up on this one.

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Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 5-pound roasting chicken, cut into serving pieces (bone-in, skin on)
  • Flour, salt and pepper
  • 1 cup grapeseed oil, or canola oil (or other high smoke point oil)
  • Butter
  • 1/4 cup rich chicken broth
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • Salt and pepper

Note: If you don't have some homemade chicken stock available, you can simmer the giblets (gizzards and heart, not the liver) and neck in a cup or two of water to make some stock.

Method

1 Put a cup of flour, a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper in a brown paper bag. Piece by piece, put a piece of chicken in the bag and shake to coat the chicken with flour mixture.

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2 Preheat the oven to 350°F. On the stovetop, in a large frying pan, heat oil to medium high heat. Place the chicken pieces in the pan. Watch the oil carefully, you don't want the oil to be so hot as to burn the chicken, you just want to lightly brown it. Brown the chicken pieces on all sides, turning when necessary.

3 Butter a roasting pan generously. Arrange the chicken pieces in it, pour broth over it, and bake at 350°F until the chicken is tender and cooked, about 40-50 minutes for pieces from a 5-pound chicken. You know that the chicken is done by poking a thigh with a meat fork (the thigh meat is dark meat and takes longer to cook than white breast meat). If pink or red juice runs out of the hole made by the fork, the chicken is not done. If only clear juice runs out, the chicken is done.

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4 About 20 minutes before the chicken is expected to be done, start cooking the onions and mushrooms. In the same frying pan as was used to cook the chicken, empty the pan of all but 2 Tbsp of oil. Add the onions to the pan and sauté on medium heat until softened. Add the crushed garlic clove and the mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are no longer crisp. Remove and discard the garlic, and add the sour cream and the heavy cream to the onions and mushrooms. Lower the heat. Keep warm, but do not boil. Salt and pepper to taste.

5 When the chicken is done, remove from oven. Serve on a platter with the mushroom sauce spooned over it, or served on the side.

Serves 6 to 8.

Serve with noodles, rice, or Spanish rice.

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45 Comments

My family does something very similar to this but sometimes we add a little bit of mixed spice to the mushroom sauce. Adds a whole new dimension to it.

Posted by: Rosie on June 3, 2006 5:02 AM

Yumm!
But why discard the garlic? Other than that this dish looks delicious!

Posted by: psydad on June 3, 2006 9:00 AM

I have that same cookbook and I treasure it! Her recipe for Arroz con Jocoqui (Rice and Sour Cream Casserole) is no doubt the forerunner of the many versions of that wonderful dish that never fails to make a hit. It is wonderful dish to take to potlucks.
Thanks for sharing the Chicken recipe from her book -- it's on the "to try" list! Lou

Posted by: Lou on June 3, 2006 10:37 AM

Terrific! Living in Japan you don't get good ol' home cooking like this. I just made it for the family and it was a big BIG hit. Thanks!!

Posted by: Steve on June 4, 2006 2:35 AM

I would like to know why you discard garlic also. I just love garlic, ya know seems like a waste of good flavor.
Also, is there a reason why you used a brown paper bag to coat chicken with flour mixture? I usually use just a plastic for that.
Thanks for the yummy recipes!! Thank your family for sharing their recipes, too.

Posted by: Annie on June 5, 2006 3:52 PM

Regarding the discarding of the garlic - that's just what the original recipe called for. I suppose it is so that you just have hint of garlic in the sauce, but without bits of garlic that you might bite into. That said, if I really liked garlic, I would just mince it and keep it in the sauce.

Hi Annie - regarding the paper bag - paper, plastic, makes no difference. Plastic might even be better because it doesn't tear as easily. I think we just got into the habit over 40 years of shaking the chicken in a paper bag.

Posted by: Elise on June 5, 2006 4:11 PM

I am making this dish right now in my kitchen. The chicken pieces are browned and are baking in the oven. It smells great. Can't wait to finish the dish.....Will post again and write about the end results.

Posted by: Jennifer K. on June 9, 2006 2:21 PM

Well, we just finished eating the dish. Am reporting back as promised. It came out pretty nice. We liked it. Thanks for sharing a tasty recipe!
I used white button mushrooms (shitakes at the supermarket didn't look too great). Next time, I think I will add some wild mushrooms in there. Think that will add another depth of flavor to the dish. This was also my first time cutting the chicken into pieces myself. Actually it was pretty easy! Thanks again.

Posted by: Jennifer K. on June 9, 2006 5:46 PM

I tried this recipe on Friday and my wife and son LOVED it. I have to agree with Janet and Rosie, we are all garlic fanatics (lots of listerine in my house), so I put in 4 minced cloves and a shallot, just because I like them, and saute'd with the onions. It was really good. My wife actually asked me to make it again last night :).

One other substitution that I made, I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of the whole chicken, and served it over egg noodles.

Posted by: ferrett on June 12, 2006 6:06 AM

I prepared this recipe for my family, this past weekend and everyone loved it! I got high-fives all round. The only change I made was using chicken breasts instead of a whole roasting chicken. The dish turned out amazing and absolutely delicious. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the recipe.

Posted by: Iris on July 18, 2006 11:05 PM

I made this last night - it was delicious! The sauce went perfectly with egg noodles.

Posted by: Katelynn on September 20, 2006 9:35 AM

One word awesome, we are now cooking this for both of our families, so so tasty, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! This won't disapoint!!

Posted by: Jamie and Katie on January 19, 2007 8:58 AM

OH MI GOSH! I just did this recipe for my husband and I and I could not believe how good this was~! Thank you so much for the oportunity to make this fantastic dinner idea!

Posted by: Leigh-Abna Robey on February 10, 2007 7:55 PM

Elise,
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Tried this and love this so much. Everyone in the family loves this.

Posted by: Kejora on June 7, 2007 11:58 PM

I cooked this and loved it. I left the garlic in. It makes a wonderful pasta sauce on its own. Had a bit of trouble with the 'cup' measurements (being English) but got it in the end. Thanks.

Posted by: Mandy on June 14, 2007 6:03 AM

i tried this recipe and found that the sauce was awful and it had no taste to it i added salt and pepper and left the garlic in and there still was no taste maybe i did something wrong or maybe your suppose to let sit for a while i'm not sure. i'll try it again but it didn't taste good sorry if you have better sauces i would like to try them.

Posted by: roxy on June 18, 2007 1:05 PM

Really good and easy. to add flavor to the sauce I added creole seasoning and cayenne. Excellent and yummy!!!

Posted by: rocki on February 14, 2008 8:09 AM

As far as "paper or plastic," why use a bag at all? Save the landfill, and use a bowl.

Posted by: Sandy on April 24, 2008 7:56 AM

I can't wait to try this out. I think tonight will be a good night to give it a try.It's cold and snowing here, so a good warm comfort dinner would be great. Thanks for the great recipe, as always.

Posted by: amy mom of 5 on April 24, 2008 8:12 AM

I've read through the comments...
garlic: I agree--I love garlic, so I wouldn't discard it either. In fact, I'd probably run it through my garlic press before putting it in--I might even use extra!
egg noodles: my first thought when I read this recipe was that it could very easily be adapted to become another dish. Use boneless skinless chicken instead and cut it up into strips/slices (similar in shape to however you choose to cut up your mushrooms). You can also use spices and herbs to make it taste more like roasted chicken (poultry seasoning works well for this). Then when the mushroom sauce is done, add the chicken back in. Then serve the whole thing over egg noodles... Voila! Chicken stroganoff!

Either way, yum! I can't wait to try this one!

Posted by: caroline on April 24, 2008 12:25 PM

This sounds good. I'm going to have to try it. A side note, I love old cook books. I don't know what it is, but I just have a strange obsession with their oddly colored pictures and the language that they use, especially 50s cook books. Very cool indeed. :)

Posted by: cleartrampoline on April 24, 2008 1:20 PM

I commented earlier about flouring the chicken in a bowl instead of using either kind of bag (being "green", ya know!) Could you use a store-bought roasted chicken for this? Just tear the meat off the bones, simmer in the "gravy" for a little bit, and serve with/over noodles (or mashed potatoes!)? Sounds yummy!

Posted by: Sandy on April 24, 2008 2:09 PM

Thanks so much for the recipe! My mom used to make something very much like this when I was growing up (perhaps she had that out-of-print cookbook). It was always a family favorite, so I'll definitely be trying this version.

Posted by: PaniniKathy on April 24, 2008 4:18 PM

If you use boneless chicken breasts instead of the bone-in pieces taken from the bird (I'm still squeemish...) do you have to adjust the cooking time? Looking forward to trying this recipe out!

Posted by: JoAnn on April 25, 2008 11:31 AM

I also add a hint of dijon mustard and some oregano, herbes de provence to the sauce. Very good just a bit too fat for my husband's diet.

Posted by: Nadia on April 25, 2008 1:30 PM

Garlic when over cooked or browns to much (burnt) is becomes bitter. Maybe that is th reason for the discard at this point of the cooking. If you are sure that the garlic is not over cooked with the adding of the sour cream and the heavy cream then leaving should be no problem. I have made this and/or similar recipes in the past. I even put a bit of heat in with a hot pepper (*remove he seeds and ribs). Good luck and happy eating, Gojeep.

Posted by: steve on April 27, 2008 10:47 AM

Elena's Secrets of Mexican Cooking. My mother used that cookbook. we still have it in the family. Brings back memories, wonderful memories! Elena was the foreunner and she was the real deal! Thanks for this site

Posted by: Marco on April 27, 2008 4:54 PM

Tips:

1. Add a 1/2 tablespoone nutmeg and 1/4 cup of white wine to the sauce, will make it great.

2. For nadia husband diet - change the cream and sour cream to milk or 1/2 milk and 1/2 water, how to cook: fry the onion,garlic and mushrooms, add 2 spoons of flour and mix well, put 1/4 cup white wine, 1/4 cup chicken sroth and scrape the pan, add milk and cook for 20 min on low heat mixing from time to time.

Have fun.

Posted by: amir arie on April 27, 2008 6:39 PM

I made this with pork and it was fabulous! I did deglaze the pan with a bit of sake to get all the good bits up with the onion and mushrooms (baby bels...Mmmmm), added a bit of red pepper flakes as well. Side of a plain baked potato to share in all that delicious sauce!

Posted by: Ursula on April 27, 2008 7:30 PM

I made this for dinner tonight, it was fabulous. I used boneless, skinless breast and it still came out very good and made the whole dish into about 30 minutes of cooking.

I served the chicken and sauce over a bed of lightly sauteed baby spinach and had good sourdough bread on the side.

Posted by: Rachel on April 27, 2008 9:51 PM

Hi Elise,

Your chicken looks quite yummy. Great Photos!
Years ago I ate dinner with one of my husband's friend wife while living in California. She made a chicken dish called chicken papasomething that had a creamy white sauce but it also had carrots and potatoes. Her dish was great but she wouldn’t share her secret recipe. Have you any ideas?

Linda in Washington State

Posted by: Linda on April 28, 2008 3:04 PM

Mmmm..This looks so good.

Posted by: Nicole on April 28, 2008 3:55 PM

I decided to make a variation of this last night. It tasted okay, but I ended up throwing it out. My problem is that the cream sauce broke and it just looked gross! I added some wine to deglaze the pan. Do you think this is what caused my problem?

Yes. Wine is slightly acidic and if you have an acid in the sauce and if the sauce comes close to simmering, it will curdle. ~Elise

Posted by: Jenn on April 29, 2008 6:37 AM

This sounds like a cookbook that I would like. Would you mind telling me if photos are included?

No photos in this classic cookbook. ~Elise

Posted by: MariaV on April 30, 2008 2:43 AM

Oh my gosh this is so good!!! I love it and am afraid that my Husband won't get any before he gets home because I will eat it all. I also agree to adding it to a bride's kitchen repertoire because I am one ;)

Posted by: Felicia on April 30, 2008 6:39 PM

Oh man, that looks delish! And your dad is right, this particular reader is gonna get a LOT of joy from this recipe next weekend!

Posted by: Ellie on May 4, 2008 6:18 AM

Excellent recipe - I made this last week. I was pressed for time and baked the chicken breasts instead (brushed butter on them and put paprika, salt, and pepper on them). The sauce was so delicious - added butter to that too. Can't wait to do the full recipe next time!

Posted by: Lindsay on May 6, 2008 11:30 AM

This was delicious. I added a few drops of truffle oil and went to heaven.

Posted by: KimC on June 25, 2008 3:43 PM

Made this recipe for lunch today ,really cold and wet down here in Auckland New Zealand,it was a GREAT HIT,used crushed garlic...yummmm.Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Posted by: claudelle on July 26, 2008 9:44 PM

Elise!! I have made this for my husband twice now, and I must say, I know it makes him love me more. Whenever he gets grumpy or has a particularly horrible day, I just pull up your website and make this recipe. There's only two of us so we tend to have leftovers, despite the fact that I've modified portions. He would eat it for the rest of his life if I would make it.

Thank you so much for posting this, you have the best cooking website on the internet and your recipes never fail to impress myself or my family!

Warm wishes,
Isa

Posted by: Isabella on August 27, 2008 1:59 PM

We made this dish and absolutely love it. We used a super chopper to mince the mushrooms, onions and garlic, that's how we sneak it past the kids. Tastes great over rice or egg noodles.

Posted by: Dave on August 28, 2008 10:51 PM

I made this for dinner earlier and although I cooked enough for 6 ppl. four of us finished everything, served with potatoes and salad, licked the bowls and fingers clean! that is how delicious it is! thank you for the recipe!

Posted by: Lydia on November 29, 2008 6:09 PM

I was wondering if anyone think half and half in stead of heavy cream would work in the sauce? I can't get to the store and only have half and half. I really want to surprise my husband with this delicious sounding recipe tonight. Thanks.

Posted by: Leah on January 28, 2009 5:32 PM

Elise, I know I've said this over and over, but you have the BEST recipes! This was wonderful. Until I read your recipes that called for using a whole chicken cut up, I never dared to do it myself. But local grocers so rarely have a whole cut up chicken nowadays and your recipes looked so good that I had to try, and I'm seriously tickled with myself now that I can cut a chicken!

Just wanted to add that while this recipe would probably be good with chicken breasts, I think it is absolutely made for whole pieces of skin-on chicken.

Posted by: Stacia on May 1, 2009 6:14 PM

Wonderful dish! My husband is currently singing and vacuuming the kitchen after this meal. In other words, he loved it! Also enjoyed by my seven year old!

I made it with 3 garlic cloves (crushed then discarded), boneless skinless chicken breast and added a small amount of ground nutmeg to the sauce!

Thanks for the recipe, it is getting added to my rotation of family favorites!

Posted by: Jocelyn on January 26, 2010 6:16 PM

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