Pan-Braised Red Wine Vinegar Chicken
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This savory French-style vinegar chicken recipe is so damn good! Sear the skin of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, then cook them in a tomatoey red wine vinegar sauce with shallots until they’re super-tender. It’s a comforting, homey dish that’s ready to eat in less than an hour.
Wine vinegar chicken is a simple French-inspired dish you can make with pantry staples like red wine vinegar, shallots and tomato paste.
This tasty dish uses ingredients that are easy to find and the method is really simple to cook.
Essential ingredients
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs: (about 2 pounds)
- Red wine vinegar
- Dry white wine: I recommend a crisp white like pinot grigio or a dry chardonnay.
- Tomato paste
- Shallot
- Garlic
- Herbs: Bay leaves and thyme (fresh sprigs or dried thyme)
- Chicken broth
Seasoning skin-on chicken thighs
My favorite trick for making tasty chicken is to pre-season it with salt, in advance of cooking.
That means the prep involves taking chicken out of the package, sprinkling it with salt and putting it back into the refrigerator for a few hours, or overnight.
Yup. Trust me, it works! This simple step has a big impact on the flavor of the chicken, as well as the texture of the skin. Allowing the chicken to rest in the refrigerator, uncovered, dries out the skin. That’s the secret to evenly-browned chicken thighs and minimal pan-stickage.
If you’re short on time on a busy day and want to make this recipe, you can simply skip the overnight seasoning process. Just sprinkle the chicken with salt about 15 minutes before cooking — you’ll still end up with a delicious dish, I promise!
After searing the chicken skin until it’s nice and brown, pour in some dry white wine and vinegar along with the other ingredients. Pop the whole pan in the oven to finish cooking.
As the chicken roasts, the chicken thighs become tender and the liquid reduces just enough to make a delicious, savory sauce.
Prep tips
- Unwrap chicken from its packaging and blot the chicken skin dry with paper towels.
- Season the chicken with salt, then let it sit uncovered up to 15 minutes at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Heat your pan to temperature before adding the cooking oil and chicken.
What does vinegar do to chicken?
Chicken tastes great with any acidic ingredient — that’s probably why a dish like chicken in white wine sauce is so tasty!
What to serve with vinegar chicken
Serve this delicious chicken with a simple salad, roasted smashed potatoes and plenty of crusty bread to soak up sauce!
Pan-Braised Red Wine Vinegar Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ½ cup (125 ml) dry white wine
- ¼ cup (60 ml) red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 2 small dried bay leaves
- ¼ cup (60 ml) chicken broth, plus more if needed
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes, optional
Instructions
- Sprinkle the salt evenly on both sides of chicken. Tip: If you have time, you can refrigerate the chicken, skin side up and uncovered 1 hour or up to overnight. This will season the chicken and help the skin to crisp and brown.
- Preheat the oven to 425 (220C) degrees.
- Heat a large (12-inch) wide pan with at least 2-inch sides over medium high heat (I use a cast iron skillet). Add the olive oil to the pan, and when it shimmers add the chicken, skin side down. Cook undisturbed for 10 minutes, watching that the pan doesn't get too hot and adjusting the heat accordingly, until the skin is a rich golden brown. Turn chicken and cook the other side 2 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate.
- Pour off all but about a teaspoon of the fat in the pan, and stir in the shallot and garlic. Cook about 30 seconds, then pour in the white wine and vinegar, scraping the pan to remove the brown bits. Add the tomato paste, mustard, thyme, bay leaves and broth. Bring to a simmer then return chicken to the pan, skin side up.
- Transfer the pan to the oven and roast 25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the chicken is cooked through. *Note: If you notice the pan juices are reducing quickly after 10-15 minutes, add up to ½ cup more broth or water to the pan.
- Sprinkle the chili over the chicken, if using, and remove the bay leaves. Serve warm with the pan juices spooned over.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator up to a week. They taste even better!
- Unwrap the chicken from its packaging and blot the chicken skin as dry as possible with paper towels.
- Preheat your pan to temperature before adding the cooking oil and chicken — this will help brown the skin and keep it from sticking.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
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What adjustments would I make if I wanted to substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of the thighs?
Thanks!
Hi MacKenzie – Here’s what I suggest to modify with four boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Season the chicken lightly with 1/2-1 teaspoon salt and fresh black pepper – you can skip the refrigeration and proceed to step 2. Brown the chicken about 5 minutes on each side, then proceed to step 4. Note that you probably won’t have much fat in the pan to pour off, so you can skip that step too. In step 5, adjust the roasting time to 15-20 minutes. The chicken will cook faster without skin and bones, and you don’t want to dry out the breast meat. Let us know how it turns out!