Coq au vin

Coq au vin is a French dish of chicken braised in red wine with bacon, mushrooms and small onions. The name means rooster in wine, and the dish was originally made with an older rooster, a bird tough enough to need a long, slow braise. Rooster is hard to find in most grocery stores, which is why chicken is the usual choice today, this recipe included.

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Last updated 18 September 2026

Recipe

Coq au vin

Prep

15 mins

Cook

45 mins

Total

1 hr

Serves

4

Ingredients

• 1 chicken – approx. 1 and a half kilo
• 100 g bacon
• 15 g butter
• 15 pearl onion
• 175 g mushrooms
• 1½ tbsp. wheat flour
• 3½ dl red wine – like one from Burgundy
• 2 dl chicken stock
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1 small handful of fresh thyme – possibly If you do not like the stems, you can utilized the leaves
• 2 dl broad-leaved parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 15 g of cold butter
• Salt and pepper
• Brown beans

Method

1. Clean the chicken, rinse it out and inside, and wipe it dry with a kitchen roll or paper towels.
2. Cut it in 6-8 pieces.
3. Flour the chicken. Do not be scared to put salt and pepper on the flour. This step is to ensure that the chicken has crispiness in it and will result to a nice brown chicken when cooked.
4. Cut the bacon into pieces and place them in a large frying pan for a couple of minutes after which you pick them up.
5. Add olive oil on the pan (where you brown your bacon) and brown the chicken nicely on all sides.
6. While browning the chicken, on a pot, bring the butter to melt, sauté pearl onions and garlic, add the brown beans, mushroom, thyme, and seasoned it with a little salt and pepper. After a couple of minutes, add the bacon and red wine. Bring all the mixture to boiling.
7. When the chicken is nicely browned, add it into the pot. Also, add the chicken stock into it. Cook for another 30 minutes or until the chicken is totally submerged into the sauce.
8. You can served the dish already or for a better visual, sprinkle a little of parsley into it and serve.

Step by step, in pictures

The whole method is two pans working at once: the chicken browns in the bacon fat while the onions, mushrooms and wine come to the boil in the pot. Here is the shape of it before you start.

1. Cut the chicken into 6-8 pieces
2. Coat the pieces in seasoned flour
3. Fry the bacon, then lift it out
4. Brown the chicken on all sides
5. Add the bacon and red wine
6. Simmer, then scatter over parsley

What goes into coq au vin

Chicken, bacon, pearl onions, mushrooms, garlic, thyme, a bay leaf, red wine and chicken stock, with flour to coat the chicken and butter for the pot. That is the classic combination of stewed chicken with bacon, mushrooms and small onions, and this version stays close to it while adding a few touches of its own. Exact quantities are in the card above.

The secret is in the browning

Brown the chicken well before it goes anywhere near the wine. Season the flour generously with salt and pepper, coat every piece, and brown it on all sides with a little olive oil in the pan the bacon was fried in. The flour coating is what gives the chicken its brown crust, so this is the step to take your time over.

Two more things keep the dish on track. Bring the wine, onions and mushrooms to the boil before the chicken joins them, and then let it simmer until the chicken is cooked through and sitting deep in the sauce, not just warmed.

Which red wine to use

A red from Burgundy is what the recipe calls for. Use a wine you would be happy to drink, because the same bottle belongs on the table: serve the finished dish with a light red, or simply with the rest of the wine you cooked with.

What to serve with coq au vin

Something that soaks up the sauce. This recipe serves it with boiled rice. Mashed potatoes, buttered egg noodles and crusty bread are the other common choices. For a richer side, try these baked mashed potatoes.

Julia Child and coq au vin

The dish gained much of its popularity in the United States through Julia Child, the American cook known for bringing French cooking to American home kitchens. She included coq au vin in her 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and demonstrated it on her television programme The French Chef, and it came to be seen as one of her signature dishes.

Making it ahead, and leftovers

Coq au vin is a good dish to make the day before. Several well-known versions recommend it, and many cooks find it tastes even better the next day. Cool it, cover it and refrigerate it, then reheat it gently on the stove until it is hot all the way through. Leftovers are handled the same way.

Coq au vin in two quick answers

How many people does this recipe feed? Four, from one chicken of about 1.5 kg.

How long does coq au vin take? About an hour: 15 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking.

Bon appétit!