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This chicken with mushroom sauce is so good! Breaded chicken and mushrooms are simmered in a creamy sauce to make a scrumptious one-pan dinner! This can be topped over any side!
I served it over egg noodles but you can top it over rice, mashed potatoes, or buckwheat.
Smothered Chicken and Mushrooms:
I recently re-tested this recipe (after a decade of publishing it) and WOW! One of my favorite dinners in a while!
Crispy breaded chicken breasts in a cream sauce with a zippy mushroom addition. Just yum!
It feels like a top notch restaurant meal, but really this is such a simple meal.
I got the idea to recreate this from my cousin. She is Ukrainian so there’s an Eastern European twist here. We love mushrooms (I actually just updated this marinated mushroom salad if you want to try a delicious mushroom salad).
To that sour cream and bayleaf give it the Eastern European twist. Mushrooms in a cream gravy with sour cream? There is TONS of flavor here!
She whipped this up with little effort and I thought it was the most delicious chicken in mushroom sauce!
The coated chicken/in mushroom sauce is like a chicken marsala variation. Only without the wine but cream and vinegar (to add that tang and zip).
It’s basically cooked all in one pan and the sauce soaks into the chicken after braising for a short time.
Smothered chicken is the appropriate name. I originally called this chicken with mushroom sauce. But really that name doesn’t do it justice.
Leave the mushrooms whole for the juices to burst into your mouth.
These are everything smothered chicken with mushrooms should be. Breaded, pan-seared chicken in a rich umami gravy. Creamy and flavorful. Tangy from the vinegar. Perfectly sautéed whole mushrooms. What else can you want?
I love this meal so much, it deserved a refreshed look. I updated the photos so you can see how gorgeous this dish really is!
Ingredients for Smothered Chicken with Mushroom Sauce:
- White mushrooms- I like button mushrooms for this, they’re the perfect size to leave them whole.
- Heavy cream gravy- is basically an Eastern-European twist with sour cream! This gravy has tang, rich sweet cream, and lots of savory goodness.
- Chicken- boneless, skinless chicken breast is what I used. You’ll need 1 1/2 pounds. As you can see I used a huge chicken breast (pictured below).
- Flour- all-purpose flour is ideal for making gravy and coating the chicken.
- Seasonings- are very basic here (salt, pepper, bay leaves). If you wish to spice it up add cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder… But it’s not necessary, this dish is amazing as is!
- Butter or oil- I sometimes use a mix but when in a rush, oil is my top choice!
How To Make Smothered Chicken and Mushrooms
Let’s walk through how to make smothered chicken step-by-step and don’t forget to see my photo tutorial down below.
Sauté Whole Mushrooms
Wash and pat dry white mushrooms using paper towels. I like to leave my mushrooms whole for more flavor. Heat a large shallow frying pan over medium-high heat. Add two tbsp of oil and sauté the mushrooms for about 10 minutes.
Reduce the temperature if they are getting too brown. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl. This step takes about 10 minutes so you can work on the chicken.
Coat Chicken Breast in Flour
Meanwhile, slightly flatten the chicken breast by pounding it with a meat mallet in a ziplock bag; remove and thinly slice. Put the chunky chicken strips back into the gallon-sized zip-lock bag and add the flour, salt, and pepper. Shake to coat the chicken.
Alternatively, you can bread the chicken in a bowl by dipping the chicken into the flour.
Reserve 1 tbsp of the flour for the sauce.
When the mushrooms have been removed from the pan. Add 2-3 tbsp of butter or oil over medium heat. Add the floured chicken pieces to the pan and fry on each side for about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove chicken pieces and set aside. They will continue to cook in the sauce.
Make the Gravy
To the same pan add 1 tbsp of the seasoned flour. Usually, there are some pan juices, if it looks too dry add a Tbsp of oil before adding in the flour.
Stir the flour with a wooden spoon or wire whisk until it’s incorporated into the juices. Then add the reserved mushrooms and 1 Tbsp vinegar to deglaze the pan. Cook for 30 seconds and stir in the cream, bay leaf, salt, pepper.
Bring to a boil then stir in the sour cream and add in the chicken pieces. Simmer for 6 minutes over medium low heat with the chicken.
Garnish with more salt and pepper if desired and fresh parsley. I like to ladle the mixture over individual servings of egg noodles.
Serving chicken with mushroom sauce
You might be wondering what goes with smothered chicken? After all this does have an Eastern European twist with the sour cream, mushrooms, and bay leaves…
My top choice to serve this is with some kind of pasta or egg noodles. It’s more appealing to kids with some noodles. I cooked a 12 oz bag of egg noodles (for 8-9 minutes) for this dish and it was just enough.
I like the Manischewitz wide egg noodles and usually buy this brand at European markets (it has better ingredients).
And of course you can totally ladle this goodness over cooked rice, mashed potatoes, cauliflower rice, buckwheat, you name it!
How to Reheat
The best way to reheat chicken with creamy mushroom sauce is in a skillet over medium heat. I like to add a splash of water to revive the cream sauce.
If you topped it over the noodles, then the best way to reheat it is to bake it. Add a splash of water to a baking dish and add any leftovers (with the pasta if included). Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes until its steaming and warmed.
More of our favorite Chicken Recipes:
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Smothered Chicken in Mushroom Sauce
Equipment
- 1 mixing bowl (or Zip-loc bag for coating chicken in flour)
Ingredients
Mushroom Sauce:
- 21 oz whole white mushrooms, (washed and patted dry)
- 1 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 4 tbsp avocado oil, divided
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
Breading for Chicken
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, (cut into thick strips)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- In a large skillet, sauté the whole mushrooms in 2 Tbsp oil for 10 minutes over medium heat. Season with 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Transfer to a bowl.
- Season the chicken strips with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Dredge chicken in flour. Reserve 1 tbsp of the flour for the sauce.
- In the same skillet the mushrooms cooked in, melt 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of oil over medium heat. Add the floured chicken pieces to the pan and fry on each side for about 2 minutes. Transfer chicken pieces to a plate lined with paper towels and cook one more batch.
- After frying the second batch of chicken remove the chicken from the pan. Add 1 tbsp of the reserved flour. Whisk until incorporated (add 1 Tbsp oil if too dry). Then add the reserved mushrooms and 1 Tbsp of vinegar to deglaze the pan and add flavor to the gravy.
- Stir in the 1 2/3 cups cream, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and stir in 1/4 cup sour cream and the fried chicken pieces. Simmer uncovered, on low for 6 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley if desired. Serve over egg noodles or whatever you like.
Notes
- Wash and dry your mushrooms with paper towels for the best results.
- I cooked a 12 oz bag of wide egg noodles to pair with this dish. It was just enough for this amount of chicken and gravy. took egg noodles according to package instructions (mine took 8-9 minutes).
Nutrition (per serving)
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