A quick 20-minute chicken dinner that’s simple enough for midweek but elegant enough for company, my versatile Creamy Mushroom Sauce served with a lightly crusted chicken breast. It’s as tasty as it looks and is very, very, very good!
Quick Chicken Breast recipe that’s good enough for company!
This is a recipe I shared on Good Food Australia last month which I saw made their list for the 20 Most Popular Recipes for September. Actually, it topped the class!
Thus I’ve deemed it a recipe I must also have on my own website!
The Creamy Mushroom Sauce is the real hero in this dish. It’s an excellent sauce option for lean chicken breast meat, adding richness and wow factor!
What goes in Chicken Breast with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
The creamy mushroom sauce in this recipe is an excellent sauce for chicken breast, adding richness to what is an otherwise very lean meat.
And it’s a notch above the usual basic mushroom sauce recipes, thanks to a splash of white wine, parmesan and chicken stock/broth. These are all well-established flavour enhancers / umami-boosters that I use regularly and I don’t hold back!
Chicken breast – just 2 which we cut in half horizontally to make 4 steaks (which will serve 4 if you used big breasts). Boneless thigh fillets work as well. If using thighs, I recommend pounding the meat to even out the thickness and for more flat surface area, so it pan-fries to a more even crispness;
Flour – this is to dust the chicken which gives it a light crispy coating and gives the sauce something to cling to. Without it, the sauce slips off the surface of the chicken. This is not a big deal as such, but it is nicer when the sauce stays on the chicken when you spoon it on!
Mushrooms – any type of small sliceable mushrooms will work here. Swiss/Cremini mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms are great – I’ve just used standard white button mushrooms;
Garlic – because where there are mushrooms, there is always garlic! (At least, in my world … )
Butter – because also in my world, where there are mushrooms and garlic, butter must make an appearance too. Butter is flavour (and so much more!) However olive oil, margarine and other alternatives will work just fine too because this sauce has other flavourings in it (ie. cream and parmesan);
Cream – because we’re making a creamy sauce here! Lower fat alternative: evaporated milk. This actually works better than low fat cream because the consistency is thicker, and is ~30% lower in calories than full fat cream.
White wine – Ah, the secret ingredient! A little splash of white wine goes a long way to add depth of flavour to simple sauces like this, especially when used to deglaze the pan. Deglazing is when you use a liquid (wine in this case) to dissolve the golden bits stuck on the base of the pan after pan serving the chicken. Those golden bits – properly called fond – are free flavour and underpins of the incredible taste in this otherwise simple creamy sauce!
Parmesan – the flavour turbocharger! Parmesan heightens the savouriness even further and adds another layer of flavour. Plus for this recipe, it helps thicken the sauce rather than needing gallons of cream; and
Chicken stock/broth – to add even more body to this creamy sauce!
How to make Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce
This is a truly nice and quick chicken recipe:
4 minutes to cook the chicken to golden
5 minutes to sauté the mushrooms
3 minutes to finish the sauce
Split chicken: Cut chicken in half horizontally to give two thin steaks per breast so you have four steaks in total. Cutting the breast in this way is an excellent way to cook chicken breast on the stove as it cooks faster and more evenly. By contrast, a whole breast is much thicker, so the outer rim and the thin tail-end overcooks and dries out before the middle of the thickest part cooks through (unless you pound them to an even thickness);
Season and dust: Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, then flour;
Pan-fry chicken in butter until golden and crispy – just 2 minutes on each side will do because the chicken is now cut helpfully thinner;
Cook mushrooms: Remove the chicken, then melt some more butter to cook the mushrooms in until golden. Pro tip: Add the garlic towards the end otherwise it burns well before the mushrooms are done;
5. Deglaze pan: Add the wine – it will be bubble vigorously and be steamy! We’re going to simmer rapidly to cook out the alcohol and just leave behind the flavour. Also, as it simmers, all the brown stuff on the bottom of the skillet from browning the chicken AND mushrooms (this is called fond) will dissolve into the liquid which makes the sauce even tastier!
6. Make it creamy: Add the cream and parmesan;
7. Simmer for a couple of minutes to reduce and thicken; and
8. Serve! Return the chicken to the pan to warm through and coat the base with sauce. Then serve!
Oh and just in case you were in any way concerned, this dish comes with plenty of sauce. Nobody has ever accused me of skimping on sauce! So rest assured that whatever starchy vehicle of choice you serve this with will be well-soaked with the creamy mushroom sauce.👌🏻
This rich, creamy Mushroom Sauce is particularly excellent with lean chicken breast!
What to serve with this dish
A sauce this good calls for something worthy of soaking and mopping up this liquid gold!
Creamy Mashed Potato rates highly amongst my picks (or here’s the low carb version – Creamy Mashed Cauliflower)
Pasta, polenta, mashed beans or plain rice (brown, white, jasmine, basmati – find them all here)
Crusty bread or soft dinner rolls are always good for mopping
Then something green and clean to complete your plate. The chicken is pictured with store-bought mixed greens with my reliable Everyday Salad Dressing (any vinegar, oil, mustard). Use for everything – and I really do. Fresh leafy greens, chopped juicy veg (cucumber, tomato), shaved raw veg (fennel, asparagus), or even steamed vegetables (broccoli, beans, peas!). Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
CRISPY CHICKEN
- 2 chicken breasts, large (boneless skinless, ~600-700g / 1.2 – 1.4 lb total, Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- black pepper
- 1/4 cup flour
- 15g / 1 tbsp unsalted butter
Mushroom Sauce
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 300g / 10 oz mushrooms , sliced (button or Swiss brown)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (sub more chicken stock, Note 2)
- 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock , low sodium
- 1 cup thickened / heavy cream , full fat (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup parmesan , finely and freshly grated (Note 4)
For serving
- 2 tbsp chives , finely sliced (optional) – sub parsley, green onions, or omit
Instructions
- Split breast: Cut each breast in half horizontally to form 4 thin steaks in total.
- Dust with flour: Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with flour and use your fingers to spread it all over the surface.
- Cook chicken: Melt 15g butter in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook each side for 2 1/2 minutes until golden brown and just cooked through. Remove from pan, cover and keep warm.
- Cook mushrooms: In the same frying pan, add remaining butter and increase heat to high. Add mushrooms and cook for 4 minutes, until starting to turn golden brown on the edges.
- Add garlic later: Then add garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper, and continue cooking for another minute until both garlic and mushrooms are golden.
- Deglaze skillet: Add white wine – it will bubble and be steamy! Cook for 30 seconds, scraping the bottom of the pan, until wine is mostly evaporated and the alcohol smell is gone.
- Make creamy sauce: Add chicken stock, cook vigorously for 1 minute so it mostly evaporates. Then add cream, lower heat to medium and simmer for 2 minutes until it reduces and thickens slightly.
- Add parmesan: Stir in parmesan, taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Finish chicken in sauce: Return chicken to sauce for 30 seconds (to warm through slightly.) Garnish with chives and serve as-is in the pan, for people to help themselves (or transfer to serving platter, if you prefer). Alternatively, serve a portion of chicken onto each plate, spoon sauce over and garnish with more chives.
- Sides: Ideal served with mashed potato or rice – something to soak in that amazing sauce! See Note 5 for suggestions.
Recipe Notes:
- Creamy Mashed Potato rates highly on my list (and here’s the low carb version – Creamy Mashed Cauliflower)
- Pasta, polenta, mashed beans or plain rice (brown, white, jasmine, basmati – find them all here)
- Crusty bread or soft dinner rolls for mopping
Nutrition Information:
This is a recipe I originally created for Good Food Australia which I deemed too good not share on my own website!
Life of Dozer
Dozer on the job, using his highly developed palette to ensure the chicken is perfectly cooked. (He gobbled it down so fast he wasn’t sure, calling for another piece to try again… and again and again….)
pete says
have cooked twice now second time using skin on chicken thighs the both were sensational many thanks.
Nagi says
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Pete! N x
Raymond says
Hey Nagi. How would you go about turning this into a pasta dish? Would you just sear the chicken, then move to your creamy mushroom pasta recipe? Thanks!
Nagi says
Hi Raymond, I would cook as per the recipe, but slice the chicken breast after searing and add to cooked pasta along with the sauce. Yum! N x
Raymond says
Thanks Nagi! Do you reckon there would be enough sauce for the chicken AND the pasta?
Olivia says
Looks good! Could Alfredo sauce be replaced with the heavy cream? Or any other replacements for the heavy cream?
ela says
can we use seven up or something else instead of wine?
Nagi says
Hi Ela, I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s too sweet. Use more chicken broth if you can’t or don’t have wine. N x
Steph says
This was Amazing!! The day before I steamed some chicken breast to make it more succulent- or so I thought! It was like chewing matted string and went straight in the bin!! The next day I used Nagi’s recipe with the remaining breast fillets from the same pack – this time they were tasty, juicy and delicious – my husband refused to believe it was the same chicken! Recipe Tin Eats is now my go-to for how to get the best flavours and find new recipes – Thank you Nagi, you are Inspirational, and so warm and generous in sharing your incredible expertise. I am so glad I found you 😊
Scott says
Made this last night it was awesome only thing I don’t know what I did wrong the cream sauce with a little on the thick side but will make it again thank you
Roy McFarlane says
Very good dish, i threw the pasta in with the sauce & chicken for the last minute, try it, you’ll love it
Fran says
I’ve made several versions of this recipe, but Nagi’s is my favorite! This recipe has just the right proportion of wine/stock/cream to make a sauce that’s perfectly thickened and balanced in flavor. The addition of Parmesan brought a lot to the palate! Thanks for the tip about using only freshly grated Parmesan.
Margaret LaPointe says
I am not used to cooking with wine. What is your favorite white wine?
Gale says
I have not made this yet but plan to tonight. I know it will be great because all of your recipes are the best. I have on hand some fresh swiss chard and I am going to add it to the sauce just before putting the chicken back in. Do you think this will be okay? I just love fresh greens wilted into creamy sauces.
Gale says
Made tonight and put chopped fresh Swiss chard into the pan with sauce and chicken and it was fantastic. Thanks for the recipe.
Gloria Hoerning says
Can it be made a day in advance in heated?
Helen says
This was a huge hit! The mushroom sauce was delicious. Enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow too.
Another fab recipe Nagi – thank you 🙂
Esther Nairn says
I love this sauce but was wondering if its OK to freeze?
Maggie says
Esther, I was wondering the same cos I want to take the dish ready made to my sister. But from the day of making, it would be 4 days before we ate it … and it would not keep in fridge for that long… so I was wondering did you ever get an answer to yiur question? Thank you. Maggie
Randy Boe says
Love it
Debbie says
Nagi always do the best recipes. The correct amount of ingredients with the helpful tips which builds my confidence in cooking divine food. I will be cooking this again. Thank you xxx
Robyn Dean says
Very tasty, l will definitely make this again
Thanks Nagi
Helen R says
Generally I try a new recipe and it’s a disaster. This recipe turned out to be so tasty and a big hit with the family. It’s definitely good enough for guests. Love the rich sauce. TY for publishing this to your website
Katie says
I made this for dinner tonight and it was such a hit! Served with twice baked potatoes and salad which all worked great together. Thanks for the great recipe, Nagi!
Anne M says
Wonderful. Made exactly as suggested and loved it.
Emily Jade says
Hi, I’m about to make this for my dinner tonight but just wondered if its safe at all to store any left over sauce for another meal potentially tomorrow?
Advice will be greatly appreciated 🙏
Cheryl says
I can’t reduce the number of people to cook for. The site says tap or hover to change, but nothing happens. What am I doing wrong