Skillet Braised Chicken with Cognac Sauce is a comforting dinner full of caramelized lemons and shallots. A quick and easy one pan dinner, it’s great for a busy weeknight, and impressive enough for guests.
Skillet Braised Chicken with Cognac Sauce
- This recipe is the perfect example of what recipes on Cooking On The Weekends are all about — it’s creative and comforting food for casual entertaining. (That’s my tagline — see it up in the top right?) :-
- This recipe is the result of throwing a handful of delicious ingredients — in a specific order — together in one pan. With varying degrees of heat throughout the cooking process, within about 30 minutes an incredibly scrumptious meal will be ready.
You won’t believe how easy it is to create such deep flavors cooking this way. It’s as much about the technique as it is the quality of the ingredients.
It’s the combination of everything being cooked together in one pan. Even those tiny bits of food that get stuck to the bottom of the pan — and are then brought into the dish by degalzing, help to make the final result so incredible.
What to serve with Skillet Braised Chicken and Lemon Shallot Sauce
- For a really hearty, wonderful meal, it would delicious to serve it with Roasted Garlic Basil Brown Rice (pictured below).
- It would also be fantastic (and beautiful!) with Colorful Citurs Carrot Salad.
- How about sitting on top of Rustic Garlic Confit Mashed Potatoes? Just imagine the Cognac Caramelized Lemon Shallot Sauce being soaked up by them!
A couple more skillet meals for you . . .
Skillet dinners are my favorite for a weeknight — I’m all about the comfort of a one pan meal, and Skillet Braised Chicken with Cognac Caramelized Lemon-Shallot-Sauce is one of the best!
Let’s get cooking, shall we?
Enjoy!
A comforting, quick and easy, one pan dinner full of fresh aromatic, delicious flavors. It's great for a busy weeknight, and impressive enough for guests.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 3/4 cup shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 approximately 3¾-pound whole, cut-up chicken, skin-off, bone-in
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup cognac
- 2 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
- 1 medium-sized Meyer lemon, washed, very thinly sliced
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
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Add the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter to an extra large skillet - ideally cast iron. Place it over medium heat and add the shallots and garlic. Sauté until the shallots are soft and beginning to brown.
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Add the thyme, stir, and let it become aromatic -- about 30 seconds.
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Season both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to high and add it to the skillet. Brown both sides of the chicken and then turn the heat to low-medium. (You're not cooking the chicken through here, just browning the surface.)
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In a small dish, mix the chicken stock, cognac and lemon juice together and then evenly pour it over the chicken.
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Add the lemon slices around, on top and below the chicken.
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Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and braise just until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. (Cooking times will vary slightly, so check it periodically.)
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Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and let it melt into the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve! (Here's How to Season to Taste.)
David says
This does look easy – and elegant, too. The kind of casual elegance that makes people think, “HOW does she do this?” Not this weekend, but I will be trying this soon… (Mark is a chicken fanatic…) Do you think it would work with boneless if I reduced the cooking time?
David says
I am so grateful to you at this moment. Between the cucumber dill canapés and this, I have my menu for Tuesday all set. Thursday will be the canapés and fish poached in tomato-saffron broth. Thanks, Valentina!! (I am going to use boneless, skinless thighs…) xox
valentina says
Thanks so much, David!!! Do let me know how it goes! XO
valentina says
Yes, David, absolutely! xo 🙂
Judy @My Well Seasoned Life says
Made this for my friend and her daughter. They loved it as well as I did. So simple to make and very flavorful. Yumm.
valentina says
Awesome, Judy! Thanks for letting me know and I’m so happy you liked it! XO 🙂