What’s even better is this is all cooked in one pan. Plus is goes from pan to plate in just 30mins. Looking for your next new tasty midweek meal? Follow me…
Chicken Breast
We’ll get to the tarragon sauce in just a sec, but first things first let’s talk chicken.
Preparing Chicken
If you’ve been a reader of mine for a while you’ll know more often than not I butterfly the chicken breast in half to make 2 even sized breasts. Not only does this double the serving size, but it also ensures the chicken cooks quicker and more evenly. I also recommend bringing the chicken close to room temp before frying, just to ensure it doesn’t end up chewy.
Chicken Seasoning
The sauce is really the main event in this dish, so there’s no need to go overboard with the chicken seasoning. As such just a hefty pinch of salt and black pepper works just fine. Bring out the best in the chicken but not to the point it overpowers the sauce.
Oil vs Butter
I’ve always been an ambassador of ‘why chose when you can have both’ and this is no different. I find frying chicken in a 50/50 mix of butter and oil gives the best flavour/texture trade off. The butter wraps the chicken in a rich flavour and gives a base to the sauce, whilst the oil helps prevent the meat from sticking to the pan & helps prevent the butter from burning. Process shots: bring chicken close to room temp (photo 1), slice in half (photo 2), coat in seasoning (photo 3), add butter and oil to pan (photo 4), add chicken (photo 5), fry both sides the remove (photo 6).
Creamy Tarragon Sauce for Chicken
Alright, here’s where things get fun. I have to hold myself back from drinking this sauce because it’s just so darn good.
Tarragon
It’s not often I cook with tarragon, it’s got quite a prominent flavour. But in the context of a creamy chicken sauce it works ridiculously well. You won’t need more than 1 tbsp, plus a little extra to finish.
White Wine
The base of the sauce is 50/50 chicken stock/cream. I also like to add a touch of white wine too for a few of different reasons. First is it helps cut through the richness of the sauce. Secondly, you can use it to deglaze the pan and pick up any flavour. Lastly it adds a very gentle background flavour. You’ll simmer off most (if not all) the alcohol so it’s not too strong. Process shots: fry shallots & garlic in leftover oil/butter (photo 1), add wine and simmer (photo 2), add cream, stock, tarragon, parmesan and s&p (photo 3), simmer then add chicken back in (photo 4).
How does tarragon taste?
As I mentioned, it’s quite a strong herb. It’s flavour has hints of liquorice and is fairly similar to fennel.
Can I use dried tarragon?
Fresh is definitely best. You don’t simmer the sauce for very long so the herb doesn’t have a huge amount of time to infuse. Dried herbs need a little longer to work their goodness. If you’ve only got dried though I’m sure the difference is minimal. A general rule of thumb is 1 tsp dried = 1 tbsp fresh.
Can I use chicken thigh instead of breast?
Yep! You just won’t need to slice them (can pound them to even out if you need to). Bone-in or bone-on both work just fine. If there’s skin on the thigh fry skin side down first. Thighs will also take longer to cook, so just be aware of that.
Serving Tarragon Chicken
Here I’ve served with mashed potato and green beans, but check out all my Sides for more inspo. You can also add a pinch more tarragon if you fancy it! Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this creamy tarragon chicken shall we?!
How to make Creamy Tarragon Chicken (Full Recipe & Video)
For more delicious recipes using tarragon check out my Tarragon Chicken Bake and Tarragon Pork Chops! For more similar recipes check out these beauties:
One Pan Chicken Dinners
Honey Garlic Chicken Honey Mustard Chicken Creamy Bacon Chicken Garlic Butter Chicken Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Cream Cheese Chicken
