A Simple French Chicken Casserole

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Close up of French chicken casserole, golden chicken thighs in a delicious broth with potatoes, leeks and mushrooms.

4.79 from 14 votes

A simply irresistible rustic French style chicken casserole recipe with bacon, new potatoes, leeks and mushrooms, cooked to perfection on the stove top. An easy one-pot dish that is full of flavour and so satisfying. Dairy and gluten free.

Servings: servings

Author: Helen Best-Shaw

Prep Time5

Cook Time50

Total Time55

Ingredients

1 large leek
1 onion
200 g baby button mushrooms
400 g small new potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken thighs
2 rashers back bacon - or 4 rashers streaky bacon
400 ml hot chicken stock
small handful fresh parsley - chopped

Instructions

Prepare the vegetables. Trim and slice the leek and peel and chop the onion. Wipe mushrooms clean.
New potatoes can be scraped if they need it, but may need no more than a wash. cut into bite sized pieces.
1 large leek, 1 onion, 200 g baby button mushrooms, 400 g small new potatoes
Fry the chicken in half the oil in the casserole dish, until the skin turns golden. Then remove from the dish and set aside.
2 tbsp olive oil, 4 chicken thighs
Chop the bacon. Fry the bacon and onion together until it has some colour and is softened. Again, remove from the pan and set to one side.
2 rashers back bacon
Add the rest of the oil to the pan along with the mushrooms and sliced leeks. Fry them gently and take care not to break them up.
Now put the potatoes in with the mushrooms and leeks. Return the onion and bacon to the pan.
Nestle the chicken pieces in among the other ingredients and pour the stock over the top.
400 ml hot chicken stock
Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring the pan up to a simmer, cover,and cook for about 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender.
Check the consistency and seasoning and adjust if necessary. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve hot.
small handful fresh parsley

Notes

To Thicken

If you feel that you need to thicken the stew, you can do this with a little cornflour.

Scoop out some of the stock, and allow to cool.

Put 2 tsp of cornflour into a small bowl. Add the cooled stock to the cornflour, stir to make a runny paste and return this to the casserole.

Stir in and allow to simmer for another couple of minutes to thicken. The cloudiness of the cornflour paste will vanish once it is cooked. Repeat if needed. Do not add cornflour directly to the hot casserole.

Storage

Fridge – Pack your casserole into air tight containers and put in the fridge as soon as it is cold. Reheat in a microwave safe container or in a covered pan on the stove top over a low heat.

Freezer – This French chicken stew recipe is suitable for freezing. Once defrosted, I find it better to scoop out the potatoes and fry them rather than heating them in the broth with the chicken and other vegetables.

To oven cook

45 - 60 minutes at 160C fan / Gas 4 / 350F

Make ahead - if making the casserole ahead, or for the freezer do not add the potatoes at this stage. hen you want to serve, par boil them, and then add to finish cooking as you reheat the casserole.

• Please note that the nutrition information provided below is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

• Unless stated otherwise cup conversions have been made with an online tool. For accuracy please check with your favoured conversion tool. We recommend buying inexpensive digital kitchen scales.