Delia Smith Chicken Chasseur Recipe

Delia Smith’s chicken chasseur recipe is tucked inside One is Fun, her 1987 cooking-for-one book that most people have never opened, and the first thing I noticed is that she uses red wine instead of white, which breaks the biggest rule of French chasseur. Bone-in thighs get dusted in flour, browned until golden, and then simmered for 40 minutes with onions, garlic, tinned tomatoes, mushrooms, and dried herbs to serve 4 in about an hour.

I found this chicken chasseur recipe while going through Delia Smith’s older books looking for dishes I had never tried, and the red wine threw me because every chasseur I had seen before used white. The sauce it makes is darker and richer than I expected, almost like a gravy, and that is the reason I keep coming back to this one when the evenings get cold.

More Chicken Recipes:

• Coq au Vin
• Chicken Marengo
• Chicken Basque

Why Delia Uses Red Wine

Traditional chicken chasseur calls for dry white wine, but Delia’s version in One is Fun uses red, which turns the sauce darker and heavier, sitting closer to her coq au vin than anything you would find in a French bistro. I think she chose red because the book is about cooking for one on a cold evening, and a darker, richer sauce fits that mood better than a light French one.

I have made it both ways now, and the white wine version gives you a sharper, brighter sauce while the red makes it warmer and more like a gravy. Either works, so I have listed both in the ingredients and you can decide based on what you have open.

Chicken Chasseur Ingredients

Delia’s original chicken chasseur in One is Fun serves one person, so I scaled it to four using the same ratios and swapped her dark-gilled mushrooms for chestnut, which are easier to find in most supermarkets now and have a similar depth of flavour.

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1.5 kg / 3 lb 5 oz)
• 1 tablespoon plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 425 ml (15 fl oz) red wine, or dry white wine
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 225g (8 oz) chestnut mushrooms, quartered
• Salt and freshly milled black pepper
• Fresh parsley, roughly chopped, to garnish

How To Make Delia Smith Chicken Chasseur

1. Season and dust: Pat the thighs dry with kitchen paper, then season them well with salt and pepper and give each piece a light dusting of flour, shaking off any extra.
2. Brown the chicken: Get the oil nice and hot in a large lidded casserole, then brown the thighs in two batches with the skin side going down first, about 3 to 4 minutes per side, and set them aside on a plate.
3. Soften the onions: Tip the onions and garlic into the fat left in the pan and let them fry gently for about 5 minutes until they go pale gold.
4. Add wine and tomatoes: Stir in the thyme and rosemary, then pour in the wine and the whole tin of tomatoes and give the bottom a good scrape to get all those browned bits up.
5. Braise: Nestle the chicken pieces back in along with any juices from the plate, tuck the bay leaves in, then put the lid on and let the whole thing simmer gently for 40 minutes.
6. Add mushrooms: Take the lid off, turn each piece of chicken over, and push the mushrooms down into the sauce so they are mostly covered, then let it all simmer without the lid for another 10 minutes.
7. Reduce the sauce: Lift the chicken out onto a warm serving dish, then turn the heat right up and let the sauce bubble hard for 3 to 5 minutes until it thickens up properly.
8. Serve: Fish out the bay leaves, pour that sauce over the chicken, and finish with a good scattering of fresh parsley.

Chasseur, Coq au Vin, or Cacciatore?

All three are chicken braised in wine with vegetables, and the differences are smaller than most cookbooks make them sound. French chasseur traditionally uses white wine with tomatoes, mushrooms, and tarragon, while coq au vin uses red wine with bacon and pearl onions but no tomatoes at all. The Italian cacciatore follows a similar idea but swaps in oregano, basil, and sometimes olives.

Delia’s chicken chasseur sits right between the two French versions because of the red wine, and I have made her coq au vin side by side with this recipe to compare. The only real differences are the bacon and the tomatoes, so if you enjoy one you will almost certainly like the other.

Why the Sauce Goes Thin

The first time I made this I left the lid on for the full 40 minutes without checking, and by the time I added the mushrooms the sauce had nearly vanished. The fix is to remove the chicken after the mushrooms have had their 10 minutes and then boil the sauce hard for 3 to 5 minutes uncovered, which brings it back to a proper coating consistency.

The flour dusting on the chicken also helps more than you would expect, because it dissolves into the liquid during the simmer and thickens things naturally without adding cornflour. I once used leftover chasseur sauce as the filling for a chicken and mushroom pie, and the flour-thickened batch held its shape far better than one where I had forgotten to dust.

What Goes Alongside

Mashed potatoes are the classic pairing because the sauce pools into them properly, and dauphinoise potatoes are even better when you have the time, because the creamy layers and rich chasseur sauce together are something worth the extra effort.

Egg noodles work well if you want something lighter, though I would skip rice for this one because the sauce is heavy enough to slide straight off the grains instead of soaking in.

It Tastes Better the Next Day

The sauce thickens overnight in the fridge as the fat sets into it, and the flavours settle deeper into the meat in a way that fresh chasseur never quite matches. Reheat it covered at 180°C (160°C Fan / Gas Mark 4) for 25 to 30 minutes until bubbling through.

It freezes well for up to 3 months if you cool it completely and portion into containers, then defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating. The mushrooms go a little softer after freezing but the sauce stays just as good, which makes this a brilliant one for batch cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

You Might Also Like:

• Chicken Paprika
• Chicken Casserole
• Beef Bourguignon

Nutrition Facts

• Calories: 420 kcal
• Fat: 18g
• Carbohydrates: 12g
• Fibre: 3g
• Protein: 38g

Nutrition estimated per serving based on 4 servings.