Creamy Sherry-Braised Chicken Thighs
⏱ 25 min prep · 🍳 65 min · 🍽 4
Sunday gives you ninety unhurried minutes at the stove. Monday gives you ten, if you're lucky. This braise is built for exactly that gap: chicken thighs simmer low and slow in sherry and cream until they're fork-tender, and the whole pot actually tastes better after a rest than it does straight out of the oven.
The sauce comes together in two stages. Sherry, stock, and cream reduce while the chicken cooks low in the oven for 45 minutes, then mushrooms, pearl onions, bacon, and Dijon mustard go in right before you serve, which puts you ten minutes from dinner no matter what night you're reheating it.
Serve it over oven-roasted new potatoes. Thyme and tarragon keep the flavor French without making it feel like a special-occasion dish.
Ingredients
- 600.000 g kyllinglår
- 150.000 g smør
- salt og kvernet pepper
- 2.000 ss hvetemel
- 2.000 stk løk
- 1.000 stk purreløk
- 3.000 fedd hvitløk
- 150.000 g sjampinjong
- 3.000 dl sherry
- 500.000 g kyllingkraft
- 3.000 dl fløte
- 10.000 stk delikatesseløk
- sukker
- timian
- 100.000 g bacon
- 25.000 g parmesan
- 2.000 ts dijonsennep
- vårløk
- estragon
Instructions
Sett ovnen på 100 grader.
Krydre kyllinglårene med salt og pepper, vend dem i mel og brun i smør i en ildfast gryte.
Ta kyllingen ut av gryten og sauté hakket løk, purre og hvitløk i samme gryte til de er myke.
Tilsett sherry, kyllingkraft og fløte, og kok i 20 minutter.
Legg kyllingen tilbake i gryten, sett på lokk og stek i ovnen i 45 minutter.
Ta ut kyllingen og reduser sausen på komfyren.
Tilsett sjampinjonger, perleløk og bacon i sausen, og rør inn dijonsennep.
Smak til med salt, pepper og litt sukker, og legg kyllingen tilbake.
Topp med revet parmesan og frisk timian, og server med ovnsbakte nypoteter.
This is the dinner I build my Sunday around, not the other way round. Chicken thighs actually improve after a day in the fridge, and the sherry and tarragon settle into the meat far better than they do straight from the oven, so Monday's leftovers aren't a fallback, they're half the point of cooking this at all. Serve the kids' portions before the Dijon mustard goes into the sauce, and they get mild chicken and potatoes while the rest of the table gets the sharper, grown-up version from the same pot. It's Sunday cooking engineered on purpose to survive until Tuesday.
FAQ
Can I make this a day ahead, or is it best fresh?
It actually gets better with a wait. Cook the chicken all the way through in the oven, cool it, and refrigerate it covered, but hold off on the mushrooms, bacon, and Dijon mustard until the day you're serving it so the sherry has time to really settle into the meat. The finished braise keeps in the fridge for three days.
What can I use instead of sherry?
Dry white wine gives you a good, acidic base if you don't have sherry on hand, though you'll lose some of that nutty depth. To skip alcohol entirely, use apple juice with a splash of white wine vinegar stirred in, which gives the sauce the same sweet-tart balance it needs. Most of the alcohol cooks off anyway during the reduction and the 45 minutes in the oven.
Is the sauce too strong-flavored for kids?
Chicken and potatoes are mild right up until the Dijon mustard and tarragon get stirred in at the end, so timing decides this, not the ingredients themselves. Split the pot in two and only add the mustard and herbs to the portions the adults are eating. Bacon and mushrooms are rarely a problem, even for picky eaters.
Can I freeze the leftovers?
Yes, but freeze the chicken and sauce without the potatoes, since new potatoes turn grainy and watery once thawed. Cream sauces separate more easily than tomato-based ones when frozen, so whisk it back together while reheating gently over low heat. Cook fresh potatoes the same day you pull the rest from the freezer. It keeps for two months in the freezer.
Does this fit into a busy week?
Set it up as Sunday dinner and decide right away that the leftovers are Monday's or Tuesday's meal, so you're not making that call mid-week when you're already stretched thin. Split the work: one person builds the braise while the other handles the kids, since the 45 minutes in the oven line up nicely with homework and bath time. Every quarter hour you save here makes the rest of the week calmer.
Can I use chicken breast instead of thighs?
You can, but thighs hold up far better through the long braise and stay juicy, while breast meat tends to dry out and turn stringy after 45 minutes in the oven. If you use breast anyway, cut the oven time down to 20-25 minutes and check for an internal temperature of 165°F instead of following the recipe's timing.