I lightened up this popular French chicken dish known as Poulet Au Vinaigre, which is made with chicken thighs and shallots cooked in red wine vinegar and white wine.
Poulet Au Vinaigre
Red wine vinegar gives it an intense, tangy flavor, that mellows as it simmers. Shallots are similar to onions, and are always a staple in my house along with onions and garlic. They can transform any ordinary dish and make it extraordinary. The ease of this dish makes it perfect for a busy weeknight dinner.
This recipe is adapted from Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking
(affil link) by Paula Wolfert. This dish ALWAYS gets rave reviews. To lighten the dish from the original, I used skinless boneless chicken thighs, and replaced the créme fraîche with light sour cream. I didn’t have a clay pot, but using a Dutch oven worked out great.
Tips and Variations:
- Use bone in, skinless thighs or legs and increase the cook time by 5 to 10 minutes.
- Swap the sour cream for yogurt, if desired.
- To make this in the slow cooker, sear the chicken, saute the shallots and add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker, cook on low 6 to 8 hours, then stir in the sour cream.
- If you wish, you can add vegetables along with the chicken such as carrots, potatoes and mushrooms.
More Chicken Dishes You Make Enjoy:
- Turmeric Braised Chicken with Beets and Leeks
- Baked Chicken Enchiladas
- Braised Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Leeks
- Pollo in Pottacchio
- Braised Chicken in Tomatillos
Chicken Thighs with Shallots in Red Wine Vinegar (Poulet Au Vinaigre)
Ingredients
- 32 oz 8 lean and trimmed boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- kosher salt and fresh pepper
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 large shallot, thinly sliced (3/4 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 tbsp light sour cream
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, honey, 3/4 cup chicken broth and tomato paste. Boil about 5 minutes, until it reduces down to about 3/4 cup. Remove from heat.
- In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat and add chicken. Cook on both sides, until brown, about 6-8 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.
- Add the shallots and garlic to the skillet and cook on low until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Return chicken to the skillet and pour the sauce over the chicken, add the wine, remaining broth, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes until tender.
- Remove the chicken, add sour cream and stir into the sauce (if sauce dries up, add more broth). Boil a few minutes then return chicken to skillet. Top with fresh parsley.
Delicious, easy and low in WW points for a quick dinner!
My family really enjoyed this meal served over cauliflower rice and it was super easy to make. I added some sliced mushrooms and asparagus as it was on its last leg.
Would this work with chicken breasts?
Really enjoyed this meal. Very simple to make and so yummy. Had it with couscous tonight. With the leftovers we are going to go with grits and see how that is. Great sauce!
Wonderful and comforting type dinner. Had it with skinny taste pumpkin polenta which was also wonderful. Forgot to add the sour cream or yogurt at the end and it was fine to us without it. I did all the searing and precooking and put togehter with chicken not cooked through yet and the next day put it in a slow cooker to cook as the alternative directions say and it was fall apart wonderful. Thank you
This really took me by surprise and was the best meal I ever cooked. Will definitely make again!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Video recipe please
This recipe was amazing!! My family absolutely loved it. We were licking our plates clean. The sauce is MAGICAL – tangy, savory, acidic. Total umami bomb. I used Adobo seasoning instead of salt & pepper on my chicken thighs.
I didn’t have any shallots, so I used an onion. Excellent! Adding this recipe to the rotation. Thanks!
SO easy and flavorful. It’s not the fastest dish, but the actual steps are super simple and the flavors come together beautifully. I used fat free Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Thanks as always!
This was delicious. I made it ahead and then let it cool and froze it in preparation for a kitchen reno. When ready to cook, I let it thaw completely in the fridge. Then warmed in a skillet (on a hot plate in our temporary kitchen!) and then followed directions to remove chicken, stir in corn starch to thicken before adding chicken back in. Turned out great.
The sauce was SO GOOD! I was eating it with just a spoon- it’s that good. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Really delicious dish with pantry staples for the win. So good! I would reduce the sauce a little more next time to thicken it, but the sour cream perfectly tempers the sweet and tang from the honey, vinegar and tomato paste.
This is one of the most delicious chicken dishes ever! It never disappoints.
Hmm. This one really didn’t work out that well for me. I have a feeling that a lot depends on the vinegar you use. I couldn’t bear using a full 3/4 cup of my fancy Vom Fass red wine vinegar (it’s expensive, so I usually just use it on salad), so I tried to get away with a mid-range grocery store Italian red wine vinegar. That just did not work out–it tasted like, well, straight vinegar, instead of mellowing in the way the recipe instructions said it would. I’m not sure what else I would have done wrong, since I truly followed the recipe. Regardless, Gina I really appreciate your recipes overall! I’ve lost 19 pounds so far and it’s totally due to you..
Gina, this recipe has been on your website for about 11 years, and NO ONE has caught the mistake in the directions?!? If a novice cook followed this recipe exactly as it is written, they would have a plateful of chicken on the counter overflowing with sauce, wine and chicken broth. The directions do not say to return the chicken to the pan before adding the sauce. Obviously, everyone here is an accomplished cook who caught this just as I did. Just thought you might like to correct the directions.
The flavors are wonderful, and we will be making this again and again.
Fixed! 🙂
Can I use red wine (cabernet) instead of dry white wine or will it alter the flavor too much?
This was so delicious! I think with boneless chicken breasts instead of thighs it would make an elegant meal for company. No one would guess it is low calorie and healthy. I followed the recipe exactly as it was written. I only had one medium size shallot, but the sauce was still very flavorful. Thank you for a great recipe. I am so happy I found your site.
Thanks Patricia!
This was one of the best chicken recipes… Relatively simple and straightforward, full of flavor, and healthy. Win,win,win! The only thing I did differently was that after cooking the shallots/garlic, I used half of the wine to deglaze the pan, then added the chicken, sauce, and rest of the wine. (And I used a full tablespoon of butter to brown the chicken…). Great recipe!
Thanks Jerry!
Just made this via her slow cooker method she mentions in modifications and the flavor is amazing! I was actually worried at how much liquid evaporated, but that meant the sauce wasn’t as thin as others noted.
I used smaller chicken breasts instead of thighs and an onion instead of shallot as I had that on hand and it still came out great!
This may have been the best chicken I’ve ever tasted, even more surprising was I made it with my own hands…..crazy good recipe.
Whole family (minus 1 vegetarian kid) loved this, which qualifies as a hit for our family of 6. We served it with pasta and spinach salad. The recipe goes in the “keeper” folder.
Awesome!!
This looks amazing!
I’m assuming you put the chicken back in the skillet before you pour the sauce over it?
Totally forgot the sour cream. But, it was delicious still!!
I made this recipe but the sour cream didn’t incorporate easily or fully leaving small curdles. I think some sorelt of cream would have been better. I wonder if anyone had this problem or tries cream???
I made this tonight for first time. I read someone else’s comment- they said to take a little of the wine sauce out and add it to sour cream first. Once combined add it back to sauce. I did this but had yogurt instead of sour cream and worked great. I also added a pat of butter and moly jested back up while continuously stirring. But more effort hit worked great!
My favorite “go to” recipe! I gave used onions and shallots depending on what I have. Shallots are best, and onions are good too! Delicious!
Amazing recipe! It taste so good, like a coq au vin!
I made this for myself last night and I honestly loved it. It was easy to make, delicious and it felt like I made a gourmet meal. I served it over spinach and it looked great!