Coq au Vin Batch

Name: Coq au Vin Batch
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 6 lb chicken legs and thighs; 1 lb thick-cut bacon; 1.5 lb cremini mushrooms; 1 lb pearl onions; 4 cloves garlic cloves; 3 cups red wine; 2 cups chicken broth; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 4 sprigs fresh thyme; 4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes; 0.33 cup fresh parsley

Red wine-braised chicken with mushrooms and lardons for ten

Prep: 35 min
Cook: 75 min
Serves 8
Difficulty: medium

Chicken legs and thighs braise in red wine with bacon, mushrooms, pearl onions, and thyme until the sauce is glossy and meat falls from the bone. Serve with boiled potatoes and parsley.

Why crews like it: Coq au vin sounds fancy but it is just smart one-pot cooking—wine, bacon, and time do the work while you prep the rest of the meal. Crews respect a hall that can pull off real French comfort.

510Cal

40gProtein

32gCarbs

22gFat

Ingredients

6 lb chicken legs and thighs
1 lb thick-cut bacon
1.5 lb cremini mushrooms
1 lb pearl onions
4 cloves garlic cloves
3 cups red wine
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes
0.33 cup fresh parsley

Instructions

Render bacon and brown chicken: Cook bacon until crisp, set aside. Sear seasoned chicken in bacon fat until golden on all sides, then set aside.
Build the braise base: Sauté mushrooms and pearl onions in the same pot 8 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste, cook 2 minutes.
Add wine and simmer: Pour in wine, scrape fond, and reduce 5 minutes. Add broth, thyme, chicken, and bacon. Cover and braise at 325°F or simmer stovetop 60–70 minutes until tender. Target oven/smoker temperature: 325°F.
Boil potatoes: Simmer halved potatoes in salted water until fork-tender, 18–20 minutes. Drain and toss with butter, salt, and parsley.
Finish and plate: Skim excess fat from sauce. Portion chicken and sauce over potatoes, scatter bacon and parsley.

Tonight's spread

Coq au vin with buttered potatoes and crusty baguette.
Simple green salad with Dijon vinaigrette.

Hall tips

Beef bouillon cube adds depth if wine flavor feels too sharp.
A beurre manié of butter and flour thickens sauce at the end if needed.
Label wine bottles in the kitchen—braising wine disappears fast in a hall.

Meal prep

Use drinkable wine, not cooking wine. Bacon can be rendered ahead. Braise improves next day if you have leftover capacity.

Leftovers

Pull meat for wine-braised chicken sandwiches on baguette.
Reduce sauce and serve over pappardelle—different format, same braise.

Dutch oven
Large pot
Instant-read thermometer
Tongs
Slotted spoon