Coq au Vin
Coq au Vin – Master the Art of French Cooking with Charlie & Julia Child!
Welcome to the latest episode of the International YouTube Collab! In this episode, Charlie is joined by the legendary culinary icon, Julia Child, to take you step-by-step through a classic, comforting French favorite: Coq au Vin (chicken braised in red wine).
If you’ve ever wanted to master French cooking, this is the perfect recipe to start with. We break down every step, from building a savory flavor base to creating a rich, velvety sauce that will impress any dinner guest.
You can also listen to the audio version of this episode here –
Coq Au Vin
Julia Child and coq au vin are inextricably linked in culinary history, largely because the legendary chef introduced this comforting French classic to American home cooks in her 1961 masterpiece, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Julia’s approachable yet precise method demystified this traditional dish, which involves braising chicken in robust red wine with bacon, mushrooms, and pearl onions. By bringing the recipe to television on The French Chef, she transformed what many considered an intimidating French specialty into a beloved and accessible staple of American kitchens.
Quick Overview: Coq au Vin 🍷
Coq au vin is a classic French braised dish featuring chicken cooked in rich red wine, bacon, mushrooms, and pearl onions. The name translates literally to “rooster with wine,” referencing the traditional use of an older, tougher bird that is tenderized by slow cooking.
Here is a quick breakdown of what makes this dish so beloved:
- The Flavor Profile: Deep and savory, balancing the rich acidity of red wine with the smoky saltiness of bacon and the deep umami of mushrooms.
- Core Ingredient
- Protein: Chicken (often cut into pieces and seared in bacon fat first).
- Aromatics: Garlic and fresh herbs (such as thyme and bay leaves).
- The Liquid: A combination of robust red wine (traditionally a Burgundy) and stock, thickened at the very end with a flour-and-butter mixture (beurre manié).
- Classic Garnishes: Tender, sautéed pearl onions and mushrooms folded in right before serving to add a delicious contrast in texture.
Whether you are hosting a dinner party or craving a cozy, slow-cooked meal, coq au vin offers a comforting, rustic taste of French country cooking.
The sauce for coq au vin is a red‑wine braising sauce built from wine, stock, aromatics, bacon, and a final butter‑flour thickener that gives it its signature glossy, mahogany finish.
🍷 What the Coq Au Vin sauce is at its core
Coq au vin literally means chicken in wine, so the sauce is the braising liquid—a reduction of:
- Red wine (traditionally Burgundy) — the dominant flavor and color
- Chicken or beef stock — adds body and savory depth; some chefs prefer beef stock for richness
- Bacon fat— foundational, smoky, salty backbone
- Aromatics like onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf
- Tomato paste— adds umami and helps the sauce emulsify and darken
This mixture simmers with the chicken until the wine reduces, the alcohol cooks off, and the flavors concentrate into a deep, savory stew.
🍄 How the sauce gets its signature texture
Most classic recipes finish the sauce with a beurre manié—a paste of butter and flour whisked in at the end:
- It thickens the sauce
- It gives the sauce its glossy, velvety coating
- It helps the wine and stock emulsify into a cohesive stew
🧅 What gets added back into the sauce
Near the end of cooking, the classic garnishes—mushrooms, pearl onions, and crisp bacon—are folded back into the sauce.
🥘 Flavor profile of Coq Au Vin you should expect
The finished sauce is:
- Deep, wine-forward, and savory
- Lightly smoky from bacon
- Herbaceous from thyme and bay
- Silky and glossy from the beurre manié
- Balanced by the sweetness of onions and carrots
It should cling to the chicken and vegetables—not soupy, not overly thick.
👨🍳 To Make Coq Au Vin: What We Do in This Episode:
- Season & Sear: Brown the chicken to perfection in savory bacon fat.
- Sauté Aromatics: Gently cook the pearl onions and mushrooms.
- Flambé: Ignite the cognac for that authentic, bold flavor.
- Braised to Perfection: Combine the chicken with red wine, beef stock, fresh thyme, bay leaves, and tomato paste.
- The Finish: Thicken the sauce using a butter-and-flour mixture, then serve it combined with the braised chicken, mushrooms, and onions.
Coq Au Vin
Equipment
- 1 Dutch Oven
- 1 lighter or matches
Materials
- 3 lbs. chicken legs and thighs
- Salt & black pepper to season the chicken
- 4 oz bacon diced into ¼-inch pieces
- ¼ cup cognac or brandy
- 3 cups hearty red wine preferably from Burgundy
- 1.5 cups beef stock
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil for onions
- 24 peeled pearl onions
- Salt to taste
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil for the mushrooms
- ½ lb white mushrooms cut in quarters
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- Lighter or matches
Instructions
- Pat chicken pieces with paper towels until dry, then season chicken with salt and pepper & set aside
- In a large Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-low heat until fat has rendered and the bacon is golden and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving rendered fat in the pot.
- Heat bacon fat over medium heat until it’s just about to smoke.
- Brown chicken on all sides in the hot fat.
- Cover the pan, and cook slowly (300 degrees) for 10 minutes, turning the chicken once.
- Heat oil & butter in a frying pan, add onions, and toss for several minutes until lightly browned.
- Add water to halfway up the onions and ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt, cover the pan, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the onions are tender when pierced with a knife.
- Then uncover the chicken, pour in cognac, and ignite with a flame.
- Shake the pan back and forth until the flames subside.
- Pour wine into the pan, and add enough bouillon to cover the chicken.
- Return bacon to the pan,
- Stir in tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme.
- Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken meat is tender when pierced with a fork.
- Heat butter & oil in a frying pan; when hot, toss in mushrooms and sauté over high heat for 4 or 5 minutes until lightly browned.
- When the chicken is done, drain out the cooking liquid into a saucepan. Skim off fat and boil down liquid, if necessary, to concentrate flavor.
- You should have about 2¼ cups. Remove from heat.
- Blend 3 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp flour in a saucer;
- Whisk butter/flour mix into the cooking liquid with a wire whip.
- Bring to a simmer, stirring, and simmer for a minute or two until the sauce has thickened.
- Scrape onions and mushrooms into the sauce and simmer for a minute to blend flavors.
- Carefully taste the sauce, adding more salt and pepper if needed
- Then pour the sauce over the chicken.
- Before serving, bring to a simmer, and baste the chicken with the sauce. Cover and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, until chicken is hot through.
- Serve from a casserole, or arrange on a hot platter and decorate with sprigs of parsley.
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If you like this recipe, Coq Au Vin, you will also enjoy trying our other recipes. This is our recipe for Chilaquiles. Or maybe try try Iconic Dominican recipe for Mangu. Or maybe you would like some Birria Tacos Jalisco Style in the Instant Pot.
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