Chicken With Champagne Cream Sauce Recipe

Chicken with champagne cream sauce
Roger Stowell / Getty Images
Prep: 25 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 40 mins
Servings: 4 servings

Some foods—truffles, caviar, Kobe beef—symbolize luxury, and if there's a beverage that captures and epitomizes that same quality, it would have to be Champagne.

So the idea of making a sauce with Champagne conjures up notions of outright decadence—like sprinkling flakes of gold on a chocolate cake.

This recipe calls for about half a cup of Champagne, so it's also a great way to use any leftover Champagne you might happen to have left over after a celebration.

But there's no reason you can't make it any old time.

When cooking with wine, use the best you can afford or at the very least something you'd enjoy drinking.

In this case, we’d recommend a Champagne of the Brut variety, which has the least sweetness.

You'll want to use breast filets that are 4 to 6 ounces each, not those huge 12-ounce breast halves that they're selling these days. If all you can find are the huge ones, you can filet them yourself by laying them flat on your cutting board and slicing them in half horizontally.

But if you don't favor poached chicken, you could also flatten the breasts, dredge them in seasoned flour and sauté them. Or even oven-roast skin-on chicken pieces in a cast-iron skillet. The acidity of the Champagne, the saltiness of the prosciutto and the creaminess of the sauce will complement the chicken beautifully no matter what.

Ingredients

  • 4 (4- to 6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

  • 1/2 cup chopped carrots

  • 1/2 cup chopped onions

  • 1/2 cup chopped celery

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 2 shallots, finely chopped

  • 4 paper-thin slices prosciutto, finely chopped

  • 1/2 cup dry Champagne

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

  • 1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

  • Kosher salt, to taste

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Place the chicken breasts at the bottom of a large soup pot or saucepan. Cover with cold water and add the salt, carrots, celery, and onion.

  3. Bring the pot to a boil, then lower it to a simmer. Simmer very gently for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover the pot tightly and let the chicken sit in the hot water for about 15 minutes. Remove the poached chicken breasts, drain them and set them aside to cool slightly while you make the sauce.

  4. Heat a heavy-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat for a minute, then add the olive oil and heat for another 30 seconds or so. Add the shallots and sauté until slightly translucent, about 3 minutes. Add prosciutto and sauté for another minute.

  5. Add the Champagne to the pan, bring it to a boil and let it reduce for about 2 minutes. Add the cream, bring to a gentle boil again, then lower heat to a simmer and reduce for another 2 minutes.

  6. Add the chicken and the tarragon to the pan and simmer for another minute or until the chicken is heated through and the sauce has bubbled vigorously for a few moments. Now remove the chicken and arrange on serving plates. Swirl the butter into the sauce and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

  7. Top the chicken generously with the sauce and serve immediately.

  8. Enjoy.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
589 Calories
31g Fat
13g Carbs
59g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 589
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 31g 39%
Saturated Fat 14g 68%
Cholesterol 203mg 68%
Sodium 629mg 27%
Total Carbohydrate 13g 5%
Dietary Fiber 3g 10%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 59g
Vitamin C 10mg 49%
Calcium 93mg 7%
Iron 3mg 17%
Potassium 825mg 18%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)