Skillet Chicken: the simple, fast recipe for a mouthwatering dinner

Cooked in a luxurious creamy mushroom wine sauce, skillet chicken is a quick, easy recipe that's perfect for weeknights. This hearty dish features beautifully browned pan-seared chicken cutlets and a host of other terrific flavorful ingredients like garlic, shallots, mustard, and fresh herbs. Skillet chicken is juicy and tender and you can tweak the recipe to your liking. Try adding more garlic cloves for a rich garlic sauce and serve it over rice, or swap mushrooms for carrots or celery. This delicious comfort food takes about an hour to prepare, and is full of flavor and so easy to make. Your family is sure to be fans of this simple pan-seared chicken recipe.

What Part of the Chicken is Best for Making Pan-Seared Chicken?

Chicken breasts are the go-to for this recipe, but chicken thighs would be fantastic in this dish as well. Keep in mind that boneless cooks more quickly than bone-in, so it tends to be better a choice if you want to keep down your cooking time. Either skin-on or skinless chicken works for skillet chicken, but if you're counting calories, skinless is the way forward.

What to Serve with Skillet Chicken

Serve your pan-seared chicken with a side of mashed potatoes (they're amazing slathered with the mushroom wine sauce), rice, quinoa, or a serving of roasted vegetables. Whatever you do, make sure there are dinner rolls or thick slices of crusty bread on the table to mop your plate with!

Tips for Making the Best Pan-Seared Chicken

– Cook your mushrooms over medium-high to high heat. Sauteing over a low heat will lead to soggy mushrooms.

– If necessary, add more butter or oil when cooking the mushrooms. They soak up cooking fats, and adding a little extra will help them get a rich brown color and give them more flavor.

– Be sure when you're deglazing the pan to scrape up all the lovely brown bits from the bottom of your skillet. They're full of incredible flavor that'll make your skillet chicken that much tastier.

How to Store and Freeze Skillet Chicken

Store leftover pan-seared chicken in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge. You can freeze cooked skillet chicken for up to 1 month.

How to Make Skillet Chicken

Whisk flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a small bowl.

Take halved chicken cutlets.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Coat the chicken cutlets with the seasoned flour mixture.

Cook chicken until golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes on each side.

Set on a plate and cover to keep warm. Repeat until all the chicken is cooked.

Add the remaining butter to the skillet. Saute mushrooms over high heat.

Cook them until the water has evaporated and the mushrooms have browned.

Stir in the shallots and cook over medium heat until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add the wine and deglaze the pan.

Pour in the broth, heavy cream, then add the mustard and thyme. Add the cornstarch and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, add the chicken, and allow the sauce to thicken to desired consistency.

Garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.

Notes

– You can use flour instead of cornstarch if you don't have the latter on hand.

– Choose a neutral-tasting dry white wine for this recipe, like an unoaked Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, or Sauvignon Blanc. Dry Sherry would be delicious as well.

– If you don't drink wine, add extra chicken broth with a few splashes of white wine or cider vinegar stirred in.

– White button mushrooms and chestnut mushrooms are great options, but you can use whatever mushrooms you love best.