I have a newfound love for tarragon. My go-to herbs (for eating and growing) are usually basil, cilantro, thyme and rosemary. And while I still love those flavors I personally feel tarragon is sometimes the forgotten herb around here that should be used more often! But, with all that said – if you aren’t a fan of tarragon yourself – this baked chicken dish would still be great with fresh thyme or rosemary instead. It’s honestly hard to mess this one up. :)
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Creamy Baked Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- 2 shallots, peeled and minced
- 3/4 cup white wine
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon tarragon, fresh, chopped (I use my kitchen shears for this job)
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
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Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then place in the pan with the skin-side down. Let it cook without disturbing it for 5 or 6 minutes, or until the skin has turned a nice crispy brown (my daughter's favorite part of this dish!).
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Use a metal spatula to loosen up the chicken skin from the pan and carefully transfer the pieces to a 8X8 or 9X9 square oven-safe baking dish with the skin side up. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cooked all the way through (165 degrees) while you prepare the sauce.
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Meanwhile back in the same skillet with the oil that remains, cook the shallots over medium heat until they begin to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the wine and allow it to cook and reduce for another 2 to 3 minutes while scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
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Whisk in the chicken broth, sour cream, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and tarragon leaves (kitchen shears make prepping the tarragon easy!). When the chicken is done drain the fat out of the baking dish (if desired), pour the sauce over top, and serve warm.
Recipe Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
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Amelie Moore
April 18, 2016 at 12:59 amThis looks delicious!! I’m definitely going to add this to my recipe rotation.
Ana
April 18, 2016 at 11:56 amWhat are recommendations for side dish? A
Marcy
April 18, 2016 at 11:39 pmI was going to ask if it would be good to double the sauce and make pasta? Egg noodles?
Christy
April 19, 2016 at 2:44 pmIs there a white wine you can recommend for cooking?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
April 24, 2016 at 10:44 amHi. Any dry white will work. You do not need to spend a lot.
Sandra
April 20, 2016 at 10:33 amI am wanting to make this with boneless, skinless chicken breasts…..would I need to make any changes, or just reduce the cooking time?
Jacquelyn
April 20, 2016 at 11:22 amI am wondering the same.
Kristin
April 20, 2016 at 12:12 pmDitto, trader Joe’s doesn’t sell bone in chicken theighs in their organic free range line, sigh, so I would have to use boneless thighs.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
April 25, 2016 at 7:57 amHi there. Yes, boneless will cook in less time. The best gauge would be to use internal temperature to adjust the time: http://www.livestrong.com/article/555530-baking-boneless-chicken-vs-bone-in-chicken/.
Beth
April 20, 2016 at 7:23 pmMade this tonight and it was amazing!! Added mushrooms and thickened the sauce just a bit. Used boneless skinless thighs (bought by accident) but they were yummy (first time cooking chicken thighs…hooked!). Tarragon smelled awfully pungent and unusual before cooking but taste was muted after cooking. My husband is taking leftovers to work tomorrow which means it was a BIG HIT! Thanks so much!
Beth
April 20, 2016 at 7:25 pmI made with sautéed zucchini sprinkled with Parmesan. And yes, the sauce would be wonderful over egg noodles.
payal
April 23, 2016 at 5:03 amgreat for chicken lovers.
Catherine Z.
April 25, 2016 at 4:33 pmThis was delicious!!! I will definitely be making it again! I used Anise seed (dried), because I saw that it was a good substitute for tarragon, and I didn’t have any tarragon on hand. I think you could double the amount of chicken (if you have a large family or want leftovers), because the amount of sauce was more than enough, plenty to spare! But I was eating it by the spoonful because it was soooo good!!! By the way, my family and I are on a budget, so we used the $2.98 bottle of Pinot Grigio from Walmart (Oakleaf), and it was just fine!!
Danielle
April 25, 2016 at 6:19 pmThis was excellent!
Ju
April 30, 2016 at 7:17 pmThe sour cream curdled abs separated. Any idea why?
Diz
May 31, 2016 at 8:35 pmThis is a great recipe. If you remove the tarragon you’re left with a great basic sauce that you can season with pretty much anything to suit what you have on hand/availability of fresh produce. The fresh herbs at my grocery store were looking a little less than fresh so I subbed in an eyeballed tsp of dried Italian herbs mix and it tasted lovely. I also subbed the white wine for 3/4 cup chicken broth with a couple tbsp of white wine vinegar to taste, as sometimes I don’t want to cook with wine. I also sprinkled some spice mix that contained paprika on the chicken before browning, and it gave a nice rich color to the sauce. The chicken came out moist and delicious and I’m having trouble keeping the left overs for the rest of the week rather than gorging myself. A keeper for sure!
Lori Hartmann-Borris
June 3, 2016 at 12:51 pmMade this the other night and loved it! The only change I’d do next time is use either bone in chicken breasts or boneless breasts. Didn’t love the thighs but it’s not the recipe’s fault :)
Sue
August 18, 2016 at 11:36 pmSauce was very thin and didn’t have time to play around with it to thicken.