Skillet chicken with a mushroom pan sauce is a super simple cozy weeknight dinner, perfect for those chilly nights. Pan seared chicken perfectly browned and tender, complete with an herb-mushroom sauce. Served with creamy nutty parmesan polenta. It’s ultimate comfort.
A Mushroom Person, maybe?
There are two (maybe three) kinds of people in the world, the ones who love mushrooms, the ones who hate mushrooms and the ones who don’t like to eat mushrooms but love the flavor once they give it a try. I’m convinced the haters will fall into this third category once they have this pan sauce, it is a great way to introduce the flavor of mushrooms because you can spoon it out and leave the mushrooms behind.
Mushrooms are earthy but they have such an amazing flavor. It’s hard to describe, in the culinary field they are considered to be umami, which is part of the 5 tastes groups (salty, sweet, sour, bitter, umami). Umami is described as the “wow factor” it’s good, but we can’t quite explain why. Mushrooms give this simple skillet chicken pan sauce a robust earthy savory taste. It’s undeniably delicious.
Skillet Chicken with Creamy Parmesan Polenta
Polenta otherwise known as Italian hot porridge is pure comfort. Creamy, soft, sweet polenta is simple, easy, and quick and adding the nuttiness of parmesan makes it ideal for weeknight dinners.
Polenta, deserves to be in the rotation of cozy sides, but, if you want to, you can also substitute it with my thyme and parmesan mashed potatoes or my microwave ricotta mashed potatoes (no boil recipe).
Herbs de Provence
This recipes uses Herbs de Provence which is a dry herb mixture you can find at any grocery store, I love it. It’s so easy to use and I add it to chicken, fish, and fries. It’s a dry herb mix that combines thyme, basil, rosemary, oregano, bay leaf, tarragon and marjoram. It’s amazing and you want to have it on hand in your spice cabinet at all times. In this recipe we will add it to our skillet chicken.
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Skillet Chicken with a Mushroom Pan Sauce and Creamy Parmesan Polenta
Ingredients
- 1 lb Thin Cut Chicken Breasts
- 1 TBSP Herbs de Provence
- 1 TBSP Butter
- 6 Fresh Sage Leaves
- 6 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
- 1 Shallot - thinly sliced
- 2 Garlic Cloves - mined/chopped
- 1 tsp Salt
- 8 oz. White Mushrooms 2 cups sliced
- 1 TBSP AP Flour
- ¼ cup White Wine Semi-Sweet/Dry like Chardonnay
- 1½ cups Chicken Stock
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Creamy Parmesan Polenta
- 1 box Instant Polenta
- 1 cup Grated or Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- If your chicken breasts are thick, slice them through the middle to create two thin breasts. Top the surface with the Herb de Provence.
- In a largest skillet pan, over medium heat, add the butter, fresh herbs, shallot. garlic and salt. Let the butter melt and the pan heat up.
- Once the butter is melted and the pan is heated, add your chicken breasts to brown. Brown each side, turning it over after 2-3 minutes on each side. Once browned, remove from the pan. They do not need to be cooked all the way through just yet, the chicken breasts will go back into the pan to finish cooking.
- Add in the mushrooms. Cook and let them brown just slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Add in the flour and stir to coat the mushrooms, cook for another minute.
- Add in the white wine, stir to break up any flour clumps that appear. Over medium heat, allow the wine to reduce. Add in the chicken stock and continue to cook over medium heat so that the pan sauce starts to thicken. Stir to allow the flavors on the bottom of the pan be incorporated into sauce.
- Add the chicken back into the sauce and allow them to cook through, about 10 minutes. As they cook, the sauce will thicken. If you want the sauce to thicken more, turn the heat up slightly.
- While the chicken finishes cooking, make your polenta. Follow the instructions on the back of the package. Once hot and ready to serve, stir in the parmesan cheese.
- Plate your chicken and polenta, spoon over the warm mushroom pan sauce and service.
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