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Mary Berry Chicken Supreme Recipe

Mary Berry Chicken Supreme Recipe

Mary Berry’s chicken supreme is a classic French chicken dish with a rich, creamy mushroom and tarragon sauce — elegant enough for a dinner party and simple enough for any evening.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 4 Portions
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: British
Calories: 580
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • Chicken Supreme:
  • 4 chicken supremes or large skin-on bone-in chicken breasts
  • 2 tbsp olive oil 25g unsalted butter
  • Salt and pepper
  • Cream Sauce:
  • 3 shallots very finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves crushed
  • 250 g chestnut mushrooms sliced
  • 150 ml dry white wine
  • 200 ml chicken stock
  • 250 ml double cream
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp fresh tarragon finely chopped — at the very end only
  • 1 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped — at the end
  • Juice of ½ lemon — at the end
  • Salt and white pepper

Method
 

  1. Season chicken supremes generously. Heat oil in ovenproof pan over medium heat. Place skin-side down — cook 8–10 minutes without moving until deeply golden and crispy. Turn — 2–3 minutes. Remove. Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas 4.
  2. Pour off most fat — keep 1 tbsp. Add butter over medium heat. Cook shallots 5–6 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms — cook 5–6 minutes until golden and dry.
  3. Add wine — bubble 3–4 minutes until reduced by two-thirds. Add stock — simmer 3 minutes. Add cream and mustard. Season. Simmer gently.
  4. Return chicken supremes skin-side up — skin above sauce line. Transfer pan to oven. Cook 20–25 minutes until cooked through.
  5. Remove chicken to warm plates. Reduce sauce 2–3 minutes if thin. Add lemon juice, tarragon, and parsley. Stir. Season assertively. Spoon generously over chicken. Serve immediately.

Notes

Render the skin slowly over medium heat — high heat colours before the fat renders, giving soft skin.
Keep skin above the sauce line in the oven — submerged skin loses its crispness completely.
Cook mushrooms until genuinely dry — wet mushrooms give a watery, diluted cream sauce.
Tarragon at the very end only — cooked tarragon loses its character entirely.
Finishing in the oven gives even cooking, crispy skin, and hands-off time to prepare the table.
Add fresh tarragon again when reheating stored leftovers.
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