This legendary dish, usually made with beef, can be a magically and intensely flavorful little feast using chicken thighs, with its amazing creamy tangy umami mushroom gravy sauce. Stroganoff is kind of a unique dish in that the star of the show is the mushrooms and the sauce, and the chicken thighs get smothered in that intense shroom flavored gravy that folks go crazy for.

Our take on this classic dish includes sour cream and Dijon mustard for a slight tangy flavor and they make the sauce a bit lighter to compliment the chicken, both rich and creamy but not heavy at all. And using our recipe, this entire dish can be on the table in 30 minutes. This is one dish your family will ask for over and over again.

Ingredients…

3 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless (You can also use chicken breasts of course, but thighs are juicer and more flavorful. We sometimes use bone-in and skin-on thighs, which are quickly deboned after they are pan seared, because bone-in is always more flavorful. For a super fast weekday dish, you can also use purchased rotisserie chicken!)
1 1/2 pounds of cremini mushrooms, also called baby portobellos, (or use fresh porcini)
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup cream
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chicken bone broth, (half a cup to deglaze the mushrooms and half a cup to deglaze the seared chicken pan)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon anchovy fish sauce (we use Red Boat) (adds enormous umami and not “fishy” at all
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (2 for the sauté of mushrooms, 2 for the searing of chicken)
4 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (about 2 ounces)
2 teaspoons sea salt (1 for the mushrooms and 1 for the chicken)
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons all purpose flour (we often use rice flour because its a bit lighter and has no gluten)
1 tablespoon porcini powder (optional but wonderful, just buy a small bag of dried porcini at the market and grind to a powder with a spice grinder)
8 to 10 stems of fresh thyme, leaves removed, with 3 or 4 stems reserved for the garnish

1 tablespoon dry Sherry (optional but adds a wonderful sweetness)

Prep Work…

Heat the cup of chicken bone broth until warm but not hot, we often use the microwave for this. Using a spoon, stir into the broth the 2 tablespoons of flour. Also add the Sherry if you are using it.

Slice the mushrooms a bit thickly, as they will shrink quite a bit in cooking.

Salt the chicken well on both sides. It’s always best to salt the chicken a few hours before cooking, and the best is to salt meat the night before, which makes all meat much more tender and flavorful.

Cooking…

In a 10 to 12 inch pan, place half the olive oil and all the garlic, and on medium heat, warm until the garlic sizzles and is aromatic. Add the already salted chicken and sear until both sides are golden but not yet fully cooked, 3 minutes for each side. Now add half of the bone broth to deglaze the pan. Remove from the heat to rest.

In a medium saucepan stir together the cream, sour cream, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and fish sauce, and then heat on low until hot but not yet simmering. Turn off the heat and set aside. You will want to be gentle with the two creams because using too much heat could cause the sour cream to curdle.

While the creams are heating up, chop the mushrooms a bit thickly and using a 12 inch pan, with half the olive oil and all the butter, sauté on medium-high heat until they release their waters and then begin to brown, about 7 minutes. Now add the chopped onion and continue to sauté both the mushrooms and the onions for another 7 minutes until the mushrooms are quite browned and the onions are translucent and slightly caramelized. Add the other half of the salt, the black pepper, paprika and the thyme leaves. If you are using porcini powder, sprinkle that over the mushrooms.

Pour the remaining half of the broth into the pan with the mushrooms and onions, causing it to sizzle and to deglaze the pan. It should form a light gravy.

Now pour in the cream mixture, which you warmed, and stir the liquids together until they form a beautiful patina mushroom gravy like sauce.

Add the chicken and deglazed pan juices to the mushrooms and sauce, nestling the chicken into the mushrooms and simmer all together until the chicken is fully cooked and tender, and is magically flavored with the mushroom gravy sauce.

Serve on your favorite wide noodles (we love Pappardelle for this dish) or rice, with thyme stems placed on top as a garnish. Enjoy!