Quick and Easy Coq au Vin Recipe

My Quick and Easy Coq au Vin recipe delivers all the rich, savoury flavors of a traditional slow-cooked Coq au Vin, but in a fraction of the time and with far less effort.

Quick’ and ‘easy’ are not normally words you would use to describe Coq au Vin, a traditional slow-cooked French recipe. After all, Coq au Vin was a recipe originally developed to make the oldest, toughest poultry melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The name translates literally to Rooster in Wine.

Peeling tiny shallots, browning chicken pieces, sautéing bacon and flaming the dish before it is stewed make it a rather high maintenance dish. My version of the recipe gives you all the flavour of a slow-cooked Coq au Vin in a fraction of the time with much less effort. It’s a great recipe to serve to friends mid-week, or halve the recipe for date night.

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Quick and Easy Coq au Vin is Versatile

I first blogged this recipe back in 2013. Back them my favourite way to serve my Quick and Easy Coq au Vin was with new potatoes crushed with butter and steamed green beans garnished with flaked almonds. Now I’m more likely to serve it with mashed sweet potato, although a green vegetable is always good alongside. You can also serve Coq au Vin with rice.

Unfortunately brown food is difficult to photograph well, particularly when you are a writer and recipe developer, not a photographer! The picture above does not do this recipe justice; it definitely looks better in real life.

A Naturally Gluten-Free Dish

Provided you use gluten-free stock and serve the recipe with gluten-free sides, the recipe is gluten free. Be sure to use gluten-free stock or stock cubes if you require them.

A Memorable Dish

Coq au Vin is known as ‘chicken in a lorry’ in our house. It’s a play on words with ‘vin’ implying ‘van’, which leads to the (now rarely used) old fashioned British word for truck – ‘lorry’.

The most memorable instance of this dish being served in our home was one night before we moved house. I decided to use up what was left in the brandy bottle, thinking that surely a couple extra tablespoons wouldn’t hurt the recipe, and might in fact, make it taste even better. I ignited the brandy with a match and the flames leapt up, almost to the level of the extractor fan hood. I jumped back, grabbed the pan lid – which was luckily right beside the pan – and clamped it on top, extinguishing the flames. I was very lucky not to burn myself or set fire to the kitchen. A word to the wise – do not use any extra brandy, and follow the recipe exactly!

Is This Recipe Gluten Free?

Provided you use a gluten-free stock and serve the recipe with rice or potatoes, my Quick and Easy Coq au Vin recipe is gluten free.

Hints and Tips for Making Quick and Easy Coq au Vin

It’s a good idea to prep all your ingredients for this recipe ahead of time. Practicing Mise en place (getting everything in place and ready to use ahead of time) makes the recipe even quicker and easier.

Further to the story above, please do make sure you have the lid of the casserole to hand when you flame the dish. Also, if there are children running around the kitchen, or the idea of setting anything alight is just too much for a weeknight, skip the flaming part of the recipe. Fire can be dangerous. Just pour the brandy over where it’s called for and allow it to cook into the recipe a bit without flaming it. The chicken will still pick up a lovely brandied flavour and be slightly more alcoholic.

If you prefer, you can use a teaspoon of Herbes de Provence instead of the basil, oregano and thyme to flavour the recipe. I used to use the Herbs de Provence all the time, but I now prefer the balance of flavours provided by the individual herbs. It is just a matter of taste; either option is very good.

Use good red wine for this recipe, a wine you would be happy to drink. I normally open a fresh bottle of wine to make this recipe, and serve the remainder of the bottle with the Coq au Vin. It makes a great accompaniment, as the taste of the wine echoes the flavours in the dish. The quality of the recipe is definitely affected by the wine you use. Please never use anything labelled ‘cooking wine’. Cooking wine is not really wine, more a salty, spiced vinegar that is likely to ruin your Coq au Vin, or indeed any recipe you use it in.

Speaking of brandy and wine, I have served this recipe to children with no ill effects. This is both socially acceptable and legal in the United Kingdom and Europe. However, despite the flaming, all the alcohol does not cook off completely when you make this dish. If you have reason to be concerned about this, only serve Coq au Vin to adults who are happy to consume alcohol.

Bon Appétit!

Quick and Easy Coq au Vin – Printable Recipe

Created by: April J Harris

Quick and Easy Coq au Vin

Course Main Course

Cuisine French

Servings 4

My Quick and Easy Coq au Vin recipe delivers all the rich, savoury flavors of a traditional slow-cooked Coq au Vin, but in a fraction of the time and with far less effort.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 2 tablespoons butter use unsalted butter if possible
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 cup of sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup of chopped bacon streaky bacon, chopped bacon lardons or chopped pancetta
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• ¼ cup brandy
• ¼ cup chicken stock Use gluten-free stock for a GF recipe
• 1 cup good red wine
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• scant ¼ teaspoon nutmeg freshly ground nutmeg is lovely if possible
• 1 tablespoon corn flour corn flour is also known as corn starch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons dried flat leaf parsley

Instructions

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a thick bottomed casserole (with a lid) on the stove top. Sauté the onion and mushrooms for a minute or two. Grate in the garlic and add the chopped bacon. Continue to sauté for three to four minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and cook for a moment or two. Remove the onion, mushrooms and bacon from the pan and set aside to keep warm.
• Add the remaining butter to the pan and sauté the chicken breasts on both sides until they are just beginning to turn golden brown. Return the onion, mushrooms and bacon to the pan.
• Pour over the brandy. At this point, you can carefully ignite the brandy with a match and allow it to flame for a moment or two before popping the lid on to extinguish it. However if there are kids running around or working with open flame feels a bit too stressful for a weeknight, it’s totally okay just to cook this for a few moments at high heat allowing the brandy to permeate the other ingredients while reducing at the same time.
• Add the chicken stock and the red wine, along with the dried herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Lower the heat, clamp on the lid and allow to simmer together for about fifteen to twenty minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F and no pink remains inside.
• Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm. Blend the corn flour with the water and add to the sauce in the pan. Stir to mix thoroughly and cook for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens up nicely. Taste for seasoning and adjust with a bit more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir through 1 teaspoon of the dried flat leaf parsley.
• Serve the sauce over the chicken breasts garnished with the remaining flat leaf parsley.

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