Slow Cooker Coq Au Vin – Convenient French Comfort Food
Hearty Coq Au Vin sounds exotic, foreign and sexy but it really is French comfort food. Slow Cooker Coq Au Vin makes this recipe an easy, economical hot meal for a working family. Walk in the door after working all day, cook up a side of rice or egg noodles, or mashed potatoes and Voila! You have dinner ready in record time! Enjoy the meal and the oohs and aahs!
i use chicken thighs which are very economical and a bottle of reasonably priced wine which makes this a budget-wise dish. Slow Cooker Coq Au Vin is a huge favorite at the Thompson house. If you are wondering about the wine in the meal being appropriate for young children, realize that the alcohol will cook off when deglazing the skillet leaving the flavor but not the buzz. And if you are still concerned you could replace 1/2 of the liquid with chicken stock without too much of the flavor.
For more info about cooking with a slow cooker, read my post Slow Cooker Crock Pot Recipes and Basics 101 which will give you lots of basic helpful info on slow cooker – crock pot cooking.
PrintSlow Cooker Coq Au Vin
Hearty, flavorful, and economical, this recipe is great for the busy family that wants a substantial and filling meal ready to go when they get home from a busy day.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours 20 mins
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American adaptation of French Classic
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon
- 3 tbs. butter
- 3 lbs. chicken thighs
- 1/2 lb. fresh button mushrooms (baby bellas are my favorite)
- 3 c. wine
- 24 frozen pearl onions
- 3 med. sliced carrots, fresh or frozen
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tbs.tomato paste
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3 tbs. cornstarch
- 1/4 c. water
Instructions
- Cut bacon into small pieces (1″ is fine)
- Cook bacon in a large skillet. (I personally love a cast iron for this) Remove bacon and set aside.
- Add butter to bacon fat, and once melted, brown the chicken thighs in the skillet. Remove the thighs when they are golden brown.
- Add fresh button mushrooms to skillet and lightly brown them. Remove mushrooms and place in slow cooker.
- Place chicken thighs, bacon, garlic, pearl onions, and sliced carrots in the slow cooker.
- Deglaze the skillet with wine scraping the skillet bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen all the tasty brown bits of goodness. If you are concerned about the alcohol content allow the wine to come to a simmer to evaporate the alcohol, and also replace half of the wine with chicken stock.
- Pour the liquid from skillet into slow cooker.
- Add bay leaves, thyme and tomato paste. If using fresh thyme create a string tied bundle with the bay leaves so they can easily be removed before serving.
- Cook on high for 5-6 hours; on low for 7-8.
- To thicken sauce, remove vegetables and meat to serving dish and keep warm. Discard herb bundle. Mix cornstarch and cold water in small bowl till cornstarch dissolves. Turn slow cooker to High and add cornstarch mixture stirring till it thickens the sauce. Pour sauce over chicken and veggies and serve.
Hi this tasted great. However the wine turned the dish a purple color. Have you had this happen? I followed the recipe exactly.
Thanks
Mary
The wine will change the color of the dish dependent the type of wine you use. Dry wines come in many types and colors. If the final color is important, pick a wine with neutral coloration, say a white. A deeply colored wine like a burgundy will make the dish deeply colored.
Can this be baked in the oven after step 8?
If so, how long, and at what temp?
Essentially Coq Au Vin is a chicken stew with wine in it. It is a braised dish which means it cooks in liquid slowly to make sure the meat comes out nice and tender. The original French dish was meant to be a method of cooking an older (hence tougher) rooster so it would be tender. The combination of the wine and the slow cooking method would make a tough older fowl flavorful and very tender. If you could it in the oven I would use a tightly covered dish(not using foil as a cover) so the liquid does not evaporate. I would think that 325F oven for 1 hour would do the job.
On step 9 you said to “Cook on high for 7-8 hours on low. Not sure which is correct. I’d really love to try this recipe
I need to hire you for a proofreader!!! Thanks for pointing my slip of the finger out! I have corrected the instructions to read correctly. it’s 7-8 on low and 5-6 on high. Again, thanks for letting me know. I’m better with pots and pans than with this darn keyboard.
This recipe is looking so delicious! Thank you for sharing at Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party!
★★★★★
I love this dish and it’s one of my favorites! Good thinks come to those who wait! pinned and stumbled!
This looks and sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing. You are one of the features today at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Here is the link to this week’s bash. http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2015/02/make-it-pretty-monday-week-129.html Have a fabulous week. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Oh my goodness gracious, this looks to die for! Totally pinning xo
★★★★★
I can just smell this cooking! I love Coq au vin, and haven’t had it in so so long! This looks just wonderful!
I pinned this on my “crock pot” board, will try it soon. This looks like a delicious yet frugal recipe. I think I will try my favorite method for thickening crock pot stews– butter and flour paste. I think it will make this dish slightly more “French”. So glad I came across this!
This is awesome Sheryl as Coq Au Vin has been wayyyyy up on my list to cook for the first time! I love this because you peeled away a lot of the mystery of the dish and now have me even more excited to make it! Have a great weekend! 🙂
This looks delicious! What a beautiful & comforting meal. Perfect for this frigid Winter weather we have been having! Thanks so much for sharing this at the Project Parade! Hope to see you there again this week:)
Who knew the slow cooker could make French food?? I just love this! So glad you joined us at Snickerdoodle Sunday- hope to see your latest makes at the next party! 🙂
Sarah (Sadie Seasongoods)
This looks like my kind of dinner! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
Oh, this looks scrumptious! I am loving this recipe and will definitely be giving this a try. :)Please come share your blog posts over at the Home Matters Linky Party! We’d love to have you for a visit. The Door is OPEN. http://lifewithlorelai.com/2015/02/12/home-matters-linky-party-24/ 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
I love this! Sounds like a great recipe to take all the fuss out of preparing coq au vin 🙂 If you had a spare moment, I would be delighted if you’d drop this (and anything else you’d like to share) by at the #PureBlogLove anything goes link party! You can find me here: http://picnicnz.blogspot.co.nz/
Thanks for the comment and thanks for the invite. I’ll check it out!
I love coq au vin and am always looking for new slow cooker recipes for busy weekday nights. Thanks for sharing at the This Is How We Roll Link Party at Organized 31.
I love that you are offering something so simple and fancy at the same time! Your recipe has been selected for Family Fun Friday! I am featuring it over at brittalafont.com on Thursday Feb 12 after 2pm MST, Stop by and grab your “I was featured” button! Already pinned it too! Great job!
This looks delicious. I will be trying it soon. Visiting from Sunday Funday Link Up.
This sounds wonderful! I love using my slow cooker, pinning to try. I would love for you to share this at What’d You Do This Weekend? The party is open now at http://joylovefood.com/whatd-weekend-3/ 🙂
THIS LOOKS A-MAZING! Thanks for sharing on the http://www.thejennyevolution.com/ linky party! 🙂 YUM!
I love Coq au Vin and this recipe looks delicious and simple! Stopping by from the Friday Flash linky and pinning this post!