Happy New Year everyone! It’s so hard to believe we’re in a new decade!
I’m going to share a quick and easy skillet chicken recipe that comes with a thick mushroom sauce. If you’re not a mushroom fan, reduce the mushrooms to 12-14 oz. I pack 16 oz into this dish for four servings. Baby bella mushrooms are some of my favorite to cook with, but use what you have or what looks good at the grocery store. It creates a thick savory mushroom sauce that goes great over pasta, mashed potatoes, rice, or a bed of veggies. I served mine over some sauteed zucchini tonight for a healthy alternative to the base of carbs. Enjoy!
Skillet Chicken with Mushroom Sauce
- Start by slicing the chicken breasts horizontally so you have 2 thin cutlets per breast. You can also purchase cutlets, but I find them to be too thin, and often too small. Depending on the thickness once you slice the chicken, you may need to lightly pound the cutlets to make them thinner. I do this by placing the chicken in a zip-top bag and lightly pounding it with a rolling pin. You want your chicken to be about 1/4 in thick when you’re finished. Salt and pepper both sides of the cutlets.
- Place the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge the chicken in the flour making sure to shake off any excess. Transfer to a plate. Reserve about 1 TBSP of flour for the sauce.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with the olive oil and butter. I like cast iron because you can get a good sear. Make sure your pan is hot by testing the tip of the chicken. I normally dip the edge of the chicken into the pan and listen for the sizzle. When you hear the strong sizzle, then you know the pan is ready. Once your pan is hot and the butter is melted, brown your chicken for about 2 minutes per side. Cooking time varies based on your pan but you want a nice golden brown sear. You’re not cooking them through entirely at this point, so just focus on the browning. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Add garlic and shallots to the pan and cook for about 30 seconds, making sure to stir so it doesn’t burn. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes. They will release their liquid, but keep cooking them until almost all the juices have cooked off. Sprinkle in about 1 TBSP of the leftover flour from the dredging step. Add chicken stock and parsley and scrape down the bottom of the pan to pick up the browned bits.
- Add the chicken back into the pan. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes until the chicken has cooked through. Add more stock to thin the sauce if you want. The sauce will be thick.
- Serve over noodles, with rice, or over a bed of sauteed zucchini.
Sauteed Zucchini
I served the chicken and mushrooms over sauteed zucchini. To do this I chopped the zucchini into 1/4 in chunks. I heated a pan (iron skillet again) with about 1 TBSP of olive oil and added 1 minced garlic clove and 2 TBSP of minced shallot. I cooked that for about 30 seconds then added the zucchini. Let the zucchini hang out in the pan for 1-2 minutes without stirring or disturbing it. This helps to create some nice browning. If you overfill your pan, then the zucchini won’t brown, it will steam so make sure to use a pan large enough to have an almost single layer with minimal overlap. Then I stirred them, covered the pan, and cooked them on low for about 5 minutes to finish cooking.
This is a quick dinner that I have made numerous times before. I have served it over egg noodles, with a side of rice, or with mashed potatoes. It was just as good tonight served over the zucchini, and I didn’t feel any guilt after enjoying a nice big bowl 🙂
Enjoy!
-Kayla
cultivatinghospitality.com 