Skillet Chicken and Mushrooms
Try this Skillet Chicken and Mushrooms recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Skillet Chicken and Mushrooms recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 cups mushrooms sliced
- 1/4 cup butter (ghee for whole 30)
- four large chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard (alcohol free mustard for whole 30)
- 1 tablespoon summer savory or fresh tarragon chopped
- Carbohydrate 3.83746890625 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.20652421875 g
- Fiber 1.72154225291312 g
- Protein 1.371011875 g
- Saturated Fat 0.022426078125 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (101g)
- Sodium 601.101931251002 mg
- Sugar 2.11592665333688 g
- Trans Fat 0.0967526562499999 g
- Calories 19 calories
Step-by-step
- Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a heavy bottomed sauté pan, preferably cast-iron.
- Sear the chicken thighs on both sides until golden brown - about three or four minutes per side. Remove the chicken thighs from the pan.
- Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter to the pan and melt. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until golden brown, stirring as little as possible for about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the water and Dijon mustard to the pan, and stir to deglaze.
- Add the chicken thighs back to the pan, skin side up.
- Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Stir in the fresh herbs and let it sit for five minutes before serving. Serve hot.
Unlike a braise that submerges meat in liquid from the start, this dry-heat pan method builds deep umami through direct contact with cast-iron before any moisture enters the pan.
- Scale the fat proportionally when doubling the recipe; multiplying all ingredients by two requires doubling the butter to maintain the proper emulsification base for the pan sauce.
- Crowding the skillet prevents the mushrooms from browning because trapped moisture causes steaming instead of caramelization, so cook them in batches if your pan diameter is under twelve inches.
- Deglaze the skillet while it remains piping hot, scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spatula to dissolve the fond into the water and mustard mixture.
- Test chicken doneness visually by piercing the thickest part of the thigh and checking that the juices run entirely clear rather than pink.
Proper heat management ensures the skin renders completely crisp without burning the spices. Resting the meat for five minutes allows the internal muscle fibers to relax and reabsorb moisture.
