One Pot Coq au Vin

This Chicken recipe is perhaps one of the most famous French dishes of all time. The world-famous Coq au Vin which translates to ‘Chicken with Wine’ is exactly that! A beautiful slowly braised Chicken cooked in a wonderful Red Wine Sauce. It’s rich, indulgent, and tastes amazing. In this recipe we’ll show you how to make our simple One Pot Coq au Vin dish. It’s an easy meal to make and will instantly transport you to a tucked away little French Brasserie in the middle of Paris

How to make Coq au Vin

The first step in making our One Pot Coq au Vin dish is to make sure you’ve got a large pot for the job. We’re going to need quite a bit of room in the pot. Enough space to hold about 2 lbs. of Chicken, a load of Vegetables, and enough liquid to submerse everything

You can use a nice wide bottomed pan or a Dutch Oven for the job. You will also need a lid for the dish, so just ensure you’ve got a lid for the pot you are using before you begin. Now, with that sorted it’s onto the next step – the Chicken

What Chicken to use in Coq au Vin

There are loads of different styles of Coq au Vin, and they all work great. Our personal preference is to stick to the dark meat (Thigh and Drumsticks) as they won’t overcook in the braise and generally have a better flavor. It does get pricy simply buying Thighs however, so for this dish we ended up butchering a whole Chicken and using that

Using a Whole Chicken is such an affordable option and butchering them is quite simple. We learnt how to do this ourselves by following this great video:

Cooking a One Pot Coq au Vin

With the Chicken ready all you need to do is prep the remaining ingredients before it’s time to begin. A classic Coq au Vin uses Bacon fat as the primary fat to kick things off. So, roughly chop up some Thick Cut Bacon to prepare the dish

For the Vegetables, the classic combination of Onion, Celery, and Carrots simply cannot be beat for flavor building. Along with some fresh Thyme and Rosemary which you can tie up using butchers twine to create a bouquet de garni

Begin the dish by browning the Bacon in the pot until the fat has rendered out. Remove the Bacon and set it aside. Season your Chicken well with Salt and Pepper before adding it into the same pot. Allow the Bacon fat to brown the Chicken on all sides before it is also removed

Why not add some Butter? This is a French recipe after all!

Into the pot goes a decent amount of Butter which will help to deglaze the pan before we add the Vegetables. Cook those Vegetables for 6 – 7 minutes over a medium high heat until they’re tender before adding Garlic and Tomato Paste

Once the Garlic is fragrant (about 1 minute) it’s time to add the Wine. And Chicken Stock. I like to add both and then cook it down for about 10 minutes in the pot. This will help to intensify the flavor and thicken the sauce, both important elements in our One Pot Coq au Vin dish

How much Red Wine should go in a Coq au Vin

Now, I’ve seen some recipes out there calling for 150mls or 1 cup of Red Wine for a Coq au Vin. In my opinion, this is nowhere near enough. The dish literally has Wine (Vin) in its name, so how are you getting away with only adding 150mls of the stuff?

You should be using at least half a bottle of Red Wine in a Coq au Vin, and I’d suggest even more. For our recipe we recommend using approximately ¾ of a bottle of Red Wine when making the braising liquid. Along with some good quality Chicken Stock, the Wine is going to create a rich and indulgent sauce that coats the Chicken and makes for some amazing tasting food

As for the quality of Wine, the consensus these days is that you should use Wine that you yourself would be ok to drink. So, no need for the fancy Burgundy or anything like that but get a decent $15 – $20 bottle of Wine if you can. After all, there’ll be ¼ of the bottle left after it’s used in the dish that will require drinking!

Back to cooking the dish

After 10 minutes, return the Bacon and Chicken to the pan along with the herbs. Ensure that the Chicken is fully submerged so it will cook evenly before partially covering the pot and dropping the heat to a low simmer

Coq au Vin is slowly braised Chicken, so the cooking time will take about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until it is done. Just stir the sauce around every 30 minutes or so as it’s cooking to keep things moving, but otherwise you just leave it along while it cooks

Once done, remove the Chicken from the pan and increase the heat to further thicken the sauce. This is an optional step, but I like to do this as it further intensifies the flavor of the Wine sauce

An optional final step which I highly recommend you include

Now, at this point a traditional Coq au Vin is ready to serve. However, for a brighter and richer flavor, we recommend adding some Lemon Juice and Dijon Mustard to the Sauce. The Lemon Juice just elevates all the flavors in the dish, and Dijon gives the Sauce a lovely sheen as well as some added richness

To add the Dijon Mustard, First grab a spoonful of the braising liquid and pour it into a separate bowl. Mix the Dijon Mustard into this bowl to fully dissolve it before adding it to the dish. This will prevent the Mustard from clumping up, ensuring a smooth and delicious sauce

Return that beautifully cooked Chicken to the dish and serve everything family style at the table. I like to enjoy this dish with some freshly cooked Mashed Potatoes for a full and hearty meal

One Pot Coq au Vin Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. Bone in Chicken pieces (Thighs or Combination of cuts)
• 6 Strips of thick-cut Bacon, diced
• 1 tbsp. Butter
• 2 Celery Stalks, roughly diced
• 1 large Brown Onion, diced
• 2 Carrots, roughly diced
• ½ lb. Button Mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 4 Garlic Cloves, finely diced
• ¾ cups of Red Wine
• 4 cups of Chicken Stock (recipe here)
• 1 tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 4 sprigs of Rosemary
• 4 sprigs of Thyme
• 1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
• Juice of ½ a Lemon
• Salt and Pepper
  
  

Instructions

1. Place a large pot or Dutch Oven over the stovetop on medium heat then add the Bacon pieces. Cook until the fat has rendered and the Bacon is crispy (about 5 minutes), stirring continuously
2. Remove the Bacon and set it aside. Season the Chicken pieces well with Salt and Pepper and then place in the pot. Increase heat to medium high and brown on all sides the remove from pan
3. Melt the Butter in the pan and then add the Carrots, Mushrooms, Onions, and Celery. Cook for 5 – 6 minutes until tender, then add the Garlic and cook for 1 more minute
4. Add the Tomato Paste and stir though and then pour in the Chicken Stock and Red Wine. Bring to a Simmer and cook for 10 minutes then add the Chicken, Bacon, Rosemary, and Thyme
5. Submerge all the Chicken then partially cover and drop the heat to a low simmer. Cook for 1 hour, 15 minutes until the Chicken is cooked and tender
6. Remove Chicken Pieces and set aside. Increase the heat to medium high and cook the sauce for a further 15 minutes, allowing it to thicken slightly
7. Combine the Mustard and 1 tbsp. of the braising liquid together in a small bowl and mix well, then add to the pot. Remove from heat and stir through well before returning the Chicken to the pot
8. Add Lemon Juice then taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary, then serve family style with some freshly cooked Mashed Potatoes
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You can solely use Chicken Thighs and Drumsticks if you prefer
• The Mustard and Lemon juice is optional, but we highly recommend it for a brighter, better overall flavor
  
  

Our amazing One Pot Coq au Vin recipe is sure to please, with its big bold flavors. It’s a hearty and comforting meal that’s perfect to feed the family and is great to enjoy on a cold, wintery night

For more amazing hearty recipes just like this one, we recommend you check out these tasty dishes of ours:

• Creamy Sausage and Leek Pasta
• Chicken Burrito Bowls with Salsa
• Baked Salmon with Lemon and Leeks
• Chicken and Mushroom Risotto
  
  

Happy Cooking!