A light and easy recipe for chicken in buttered white wine pan sauce turns ordinary chicken into an elegant and delicious dinner. Equally perfect for a regular weeknight supper or your next dinner party!
Chicken, you old reliable stand-by, you. You are always here for us…on those days when we are running in a million different directions all day long, and at the end of that long day we come home to a house full of people with hungry, expectant looks on their faces, you never let us down.
You are always, always reliable…but if I’m going to be totally honest, you CAN be just a teeny bit, well, boring. Unless we cook you up with an easy, elegant buttered white wine pan sauce. Then, chicken, you rock.
Here’s how to make chicken in buttered white wine pan sauce!
First we are going to do what we usually do with you, which is pound you flat and saute you up quickly in a little olive oil and butter until you are nice and golden. But instead of serving you up all plain and ordinary, we are going to take another 10 minutes and cook up a lovely sauce to dress you up in.
We’re going to pop some chopped shallots in that same pan that we cooked you up in and stir them up until they are all nice and tender.
Then we’re going to simmer first some white wine and then some chicken broth to make a nice light sauce. And last but not least, we are going to swirl in some cold butter to give the sauce a silky, buttery texture. A few chopped herbs, some salt and pepper, and voila! Elegance.
I served you up with some baby spinach and some farro with chopped mozzarella, but with your lovely, easy, scrumptious buttered white wine pan sauce, you were definitely the star of the show. Here’s a quick video to show you how happily easy it is!
It’s amazing what an extra ten minutes can do!
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Chicken in Buttered White Wine Pan Sauce
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
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Pin RecipeDescription
A light and easy recipe for chicken in buttered white wine pan sauce turns ordinary chicken into an elegant and delicious dinner!
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breast halves, pounded to ¼ inch thickness
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 shallot, chopped
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
- Chopped fresh thyme or parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put olive oil and butter in a large heavy saucepan and heat over medium high until butter is melted. Add chicken and cook until golden on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove chicken and keep warm.
- Add shallots and saute until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add wine and cook until it is reduced to a tablespoon or two.
- Add broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cold butter and stir until it is melted. Stir in herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the pan and turn the pieces over until they are coated with the sauce.
- Place chicken pieces on warmed plates, drizzle sauce on top and serve at once.
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I needed a quick recipe for a butter & wine sauce for chicken and this fit the bill perfectly — simple and delicious! Definitely a keeper ????????
I’m so glad! And you are so sweet to leave me this comment letting m know how it turned out. :)
This recipe is amazing. My husband absolutely enjoyed every bite. We will definitely be making this delicious chicken recipe again. Thanks for sharing
I’m so glad! My husband feels the exact same way about this chicken recipe. :)
This was delicious and easy tasted like something you would get at a nice restaurant !thank you!
Hi Sara! So glad you liked this – this is one of the chicken favorites in our house! :)
I made this tonight. I tweaked slightly due to availability of certain things.. I seasoned with greek seasoning replaced shallots with onions; I paired with roasted red potatoes with an basil garlic olive oil drizzle and parmesan cheese melted over them…
delicious
Patti, I just LOVE these tweaks – I’m going to try them the next time I make it! :)
My chicken was dry what did I do wrong
Hi Maryanne and oh no! Usually the reason for dry chicken is either that the heat is too high, or the cooking time is too long for the thickness of the chicken. Next time try and lower the burner a little, and make sure the chicken isn’t too thin – it’s better to err on the side of having it a little thicker than a little thinner. Hope you try it again! :)
can i sup dried basil instead of thyme or parsley?
Hi Kim! You definitely can – whatever herbs taste best to you will work in this recipe. :)
This was delicious- and fantastic without heavy cream which is what most recipes call for. Only tweak I made was using 4 shallots versus 1, and white mushrooms. Loved the mushroom addition to this and will be making this lovely recipe again. It’s like a lighter take off of the cheesecake factory Madeira chicken
Thanks Laura! I love heavy cream, but I don’t like what it does to my waistline. Love your additions to this recipe!
I’ve gone back to this recipe time and time again. My family loves it and it’s a definite go to- thank you!
Thanks Laura! I’m so glad, and you’re so nice to take the time to tell me so! :)
Add me to the list of people who loved the recipe. It was the first time I’ve cooked with white wine and it was easy and delicious! Thanks!s
Hurray! And you are so nice to stop by and let me know. :)
Thanks for making it seem so simple and accessible, I’ll use this to surprise my fiancee who said I can’t cook anything beyond scrambled eggs!! I’ll show her ha!
Henry! I have faith in you – you can do it!! (She is a lucky girl!)
Very good and tender! I used Perdue Perfect Portions which are pretty thin so I didn’t need to pound them. Didn’t have any shallots so I used finely chopped sweet onion. My husband (who normally only likes plain old chicken) LOVED it and asked me to make it again! Definitely saved this pin to my “Proven Main Dishes” board! Thank you!
Thanks so much for this sweet note Wanda! And quick thinking on the sweet onion instead of shallots! :)
This was amazing! I didn’t have shallots, so I just sauteed the chicken with 1 clove of garlic and sauteed sliced crimini mushrooms before deglazing the pan with wine. I can’t wait to try again with shallots! Thank you!
Hey Jenna! Love your quick thinking on the substitutions – they sound delicious! Glad you liked this. :)
I was looking for a simple way to jazz up chicken. This was SO delicious! I even subbed fresh rosemary for the herbs. It went straight into the virtual recipe box. Yum!
OOOH, fresh rosemary! The best! :)
Curious to know what kind of white wine you use. I haven’t ever cooked with wine and haven’t really ever found any I liked to drink in particular.
Hi Frank! I tend to use chardonnay because that’s what we have in the house – I find it is a good balance between sweet and dry.
This is one of the best chicken recipe’s I’ve made. I omit the shallots and use garlic instead. I have done it with and without dredging the chicken in flour before browning – both results are delicious. Now that I’m on a KETO diet, this is perfect over Zoodles. I would make this for a fancy dinner party – it’s that good!
Eric! Thank you for this lovely comment – you made my whole day! I have a recipe for pesto zucchini zoodles that you might like. :) Have a great weekend!
I made this recipe, and loved it, and lost it! I have tried so many recipes trying to equal this one, and none came close! I made this one tonight and lo and behold, the holy grail! I am known for my cooking and am often asked to cook for events. I am very picky, and this recipe lived up to that expectation of excellence. The taste of that sauce just lingers. I really wanted to lick the pan. I wanted to eat more just to taste more, but I was full!
This recipe is easy. There are no hard to find ingredients and it’s cheap to make. You really need to give this recipe a try. We had ours with wild rice and roasted butternut squash and it’s amazing
★★★★★
Jeanna! Thank you so much for this sweet comment – you made my day! And wild rice and roasted butternut sound like perfect sides, YUM! xx