Anna Louise Chicken in white wine sauce is the dinner party dish that has never gone out of fashion and never will. Tender golden chicken, a sauce built from shallots, garlic, white wine, and chicken stock reduced to intensity and finished with cream and fresh tarragon.
Mary Berry’s chicken in white wine sauce recipe is the version that produces genuinely restaurant-quality results at home. The chicken is browned first for colour and flavour. The sauce is built in the same pan, capturing all the browned bits that the chicken left behind.
The wine is reduced properly before the stock goes in. And the cream and fresh tarragon go in at the very end, off the heat, giving the sauce a freshness and brightness that a sauce made in advance cannot have.
This is the dish for a dinner party main course, for a special weeknight when something properly good is called for, and for anyone who has always wanted to make a proper French-style chicken dish at home.
What Makes This Sauce Great
Reducing the wine before adding the stock. Wine added to a sauce and simmered briefly tastes raw and slightly harsh. Wine reduced by half before the stock goes in develops a rounded, complex character that carries through the finished sauce without any alcoholic edge.
Using the fond. The caramelised bits left in the pan after browning the chicken are pure concentrated flavour. Deglazing the pan with the wine dissolves these bits into the sauce and adds an enormous amount of depth.
Fresh tarragon at the very end. Tarragon cooked in a sauce loses its delicate anise character. Added off the heat in the final moment, it gives the sauce a vivid, fresh herbal note that makes the whole dish taste more alive.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Chicken in White Wine Sauce
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or 4 chicken supremes)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 40g unsalted butter
- 4 shallots, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 300ml dry white wine (a wine you would drink — quality shows in the sauce)
- 300ml good quality chicken stock
- 200ml double cream
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper
- Juice of ½ lemon
How to Make Mary Berry Chicken in White Wine Sauce — Step by Step
Step 1 — Brown the Chicken
Season the chicken pieces generously. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium-high heat. Place the chicken skin-side down and cook for four to five minutes without moving until the skin is deeply golden and crisp. Turn and cook for two minutes on the other side. Remove and set aside.
Step 2 — Soften the Shallots
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the butter to the same pan. Add the finely chopped shallots and cook for five to six minutes until completely soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.
Step 3 — Add the Wine and Reduce
Pour in the white wine. Increase the heat and let it bubble vigorously, scraping up all the browned bits from the base of the pan. Reduce the wine by half — about four to five minutes. The sauce should look concentrated and the raw alcohol smell should have completely disappeared.
Step 4 — Add the Stock and Chicken
Pour in the chicken stock. Return the browned chicken pieces skin-side up to the pan — the skin must be above the sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Cover partially and cook over a low heat for 25 to 30 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked through. Remove the chicken and set aside on a warm plate, covered loosely with foil.
Step 5 — Finish the Sauce
Increase the heat and reduce the sauce by about a third — this concentrates the flavour and gives the sauce its coating consistency. Stir in the double cream and Dijon mustard. Simmer gently for three to four minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
Remove from the heat. Add the lemon juice, fresh tarragon, and parsley. Taste and season carefully with salt and white pepper.
Step 6 — Return the Chicken and Serve
Return the chicken to the pan, spooning the sauce generously over each piece. Serve immediately — this sauce is at its finest the moment it is made.
My Top Tips For Mary Berry Chicken in White Wine Sauce
Use a wine you would drink. The wine is the backbone of this sauce. A cheap cooking wine gives a harsh, acidic sauce. A decent dry white — Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc, or any unoaked white you would pour into a glass — gives a rounded, complex sauce. You do not need to use an expensive wine but it should be one you would happily drink.
Reduce the wine properly before adding stock. Four to five minutes of vigorous reduction concentrates the wine and drives off the alcohol. The sauce should look significantly reduced — almost syrupy — before the stock goes in.
Keep the chicken skin above the sauce. Browned, crispy chicken skin submerged in liquid goes soft and grey. Keep it above the surface of the sauce throughout cooking.
Add cream off the heat or at a very gentle simmer. Cream added to a vigorously boiling sauce can split. Reduce to a gentle simmer before the cream goes in and it will incorporate smoothly.
Add tarragon at the very end. Tarragon’s delicate anise flavour is volatile — it disappears quickly when heated. Adding it off the heat at the very last moment gives the full, vivid impact of the herb.
Serving Suggestions
With buttery mashed potato — the cream sauce and mash is a genuinely magnificent combination. With steamed green beans or asparagus. With wide egg noodles tossed with a little butter. As a dinner party main course with a simple starter and a good white wine alongside.
How to Store Mary Berry Chicken in White Wine Sauce
In the fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Reheat very gently on the hob — the cream sauce can split if reheated too vigorously. Add the tarragon fresh when reheating.
Freezing is not recommended — cream sauces do not freeze well and the texture suffers significantly on defrosting.
Mary Berry Chicken in White Wine Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Season chicken. Brown skin-side down in hot oil — 4–5 minutes until deeply golden. Turn — 2 minutes. Remove.
- Reduce heat. Melt butter in same pan. Cook shallots 5–6 minutes until soft. Add garlic — 1 minute.
- Add wine — increase heat, bubble vigorously scraping base, reduce by half — 4–5 minutes.
- Add stock. Return chicken skin-side up. Bring to gentle simmer. Cover partially. Cook 25–30 minutes until cooked through. Remove chicken — keep warm.
- Increase heat — reduce sauce by a third. Add cream and mustard. Simmer gently 3–4 minutes until coating consistency.
- Remove from heat. Add lemon juice, tarragon, and parsley. Season carefully. Return chicken — spoon sauce over. Serve immediately.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use chicken breast instead of thighs?
Yes — chicken supremes (breast on the bone with wing attached) give an elegant presentation for a dinner party. Boneless skinless breast works but dries out more easily. Reduce the simmering time to fifteen to twenty minutes.
Can I use dried tarragon instead of fresh?
Dried tarragon can be added earlier in the cooking — one teaspoon added with the stock. It gives a different, less vibrant result than fresh. Fresh tarragon is significantly better and worth seeking out for this dish.
Can I use white wine vinegar if I do not have wine?
No — wine vinegar is far more acidic and cannot be used in the same quantity. If you have no white wine, use a splash of dry vermouth or increase the chicken stock by the same amount. The sauce will be less complex but still good.
Can I make this ahead?
The chicken can be browned and the sauce made up to the point before the cream is added, then refrigerated overnight. On the day, reheat the sauce and chicken gently, add the cream and mustard, reduce briefly, and add the herbs fresh.
What can I substitute for tarragon?
Fresh chervil gives the closest result — similar delicate anise character, equally French in nature. Flat-leaf parsley and a small amount of fennel fronds together give a different but pleasant alternative.
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