chicken fricassee

Chicken fricassee in a béchamel sauce

Jump to recipe

Are you looking for a recipe for a classic chicken fricassee? Which tastes just like while growing up?

Then I have just the recipe for you!

I got the recipe from my mom and it’s also our family recipe. You could also say a chicken fricassee like grandma used to make. Or simply: just like back in the days!

But what actually is a chicken fricassee?

It is a delicate white meat ragout cooked in a béchamel sauce. It’s also called ragout, chicken stew, chicken in a white sauce and and and.

It is often refined with peas, mushrooms or salsify.

Some people just add quickly chopped chicken breast to the béchamel, but today I’m going to show you how to make a classic chicken fricassee using a whole chicken. Which has the benefit of getting a homemade chicken stock as well.

The preparation

The chicken should be fresh, please, and not frozen.

The chicken fricassee really does taste a whole lot better when cooked with fresh chicken.

And a great side effect is that you also get a delicious and strengthening chicken broth. Especially in winter during the cold season, this is super practical if you have a homemade broth in the freezer.

whole chicken

Do you see the small piece here that I cut off? This is called the Buerzel, the bottom (butt) of the chicken.

Be sure to cut it off and then cook the chicken.

And this is how the broth works:

First sauté an onion in a small pan in very high heat and without fat. You can use a piece of tin foil between the pan and the onion so it’s easier to clean the pan later. 😉

The onion halves should be nice and brown or almost black. It gives the broth a really nice flavor. Wash, peel and chop the rest of the vegetables.

Meanwhile, wash the chicken with running cold water inside and out and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Add the vegetables and herbs and bring to a simmer.

img 6249

Place the chicken in a tall pot and emerge it with water and all the cut vegetables

When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the broth and let it cool slightly.

I like to add the carrots from the broth into my chicken fricassee. So I take them out of the broth right away and set them aside in a small bowl.

Why am I doing this now?

Quite simply, I’ve forgotten so many times and then just accidentally thrown away the carrots. … And then this really annoyed me. Because I like the chicken fricassee with the carrots even better!

While the meat is cooling, strain the broth into another saucepan using a sieve. And then you can prepare the sauce.

How can I prepare a béchamel sauce?

It’s not as hard as it looks. The most important thing is actually stirring. To stir and to stir. 😉

Simply melt butter and flour in a saucepan and mix with a whisk.

Gradually add the milk and then add the broth ladle by ladle until you reach the creamy consistency. And you always have to stir. Otherwise you will have tiny lumps in the sauce.

If you end up with lumps in the sauce, simply strain the sauce through a sieve into another pot. Then the annoying lumps disappeared as if by magic.

Then just remove the meat from the chicken from the bone and cut into bite-sized pieces and add to the béchamel sauce.

Season to taste and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

If you like, you can of course add peas, sliced mushrooms, salsify or or.

It tastes best served with some cooked rice. Which I start cooking when I take the chicken out of the broth to cool down. So everything will be ready at the same time.

An another great benefit is that you can easily freeze the leftover chicken broth in portions.

Of course you can also use the broth to refine a delicious creamy chicken stir fry, or a Risotto.

Food for days – cook once and enjoy several times 🙂

Try it out, it gives you a different taste!

And that’s it!

A delicious chicken fricassee is so easy!

Enjoy the meal!

All the best,

Sabrina x

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  • Prep time:
    20 minutes
  • Cook time:
    1 hours 30 minutes
  • Total time:
    1 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

4 servings
Chicken
1 whole chicken
2 carrots
1 onion
200 g celery
1 leek
2 bay leaves
5 cloves
4 juniper berries
Water
Optional: lovage
Sauce Béchamel
40 g butter
40 g flour
500 ml milk
300 ml broth
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
pepper
25 ml white wine
some fresh grated nutmeg

Utensils

  • Sieve/ colander
  • big pot
  • aluminum foil

Steps of preparation

The Chicken

  1. Rinse the chicken in running cold water and pat dry
  2. Cut off the rump
  3. Peel and chop the carrot and celery, roughly chop the leek
  4. Line a pan with aluminum foil
  5. Halve the onion and let it blacken in the pan, cut side down
  6. Place the chicken in a large saucepan and fill with water. Add greens, bay leaf, juniper
  7. Spike the onion with cloves and add it and let it cook for about 45 minutes.
  8. Remove the chicken from the broth and when cool, cut the meat off the bone and set aside in a bowl.
  9. Pour the broth over a sieve into a big saucepan and set aside about 300-150ml.
  10. Take the carrots and chop them up.
  11. Freeze the rest of the broth and use it for your next risotto.

Béchamel

  1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and then add the flour and stir with a whisk.
  2. Then gradually add the milk and stir well with the whisk until the milk is gone
  3. Then carefully add the broth and keep stirring. The sauce should be creamy.
  4. Add salt, lemon juice and white wine and some pepper.
  5. Then add the chicken and carrots and bring to the boil again.
  6. If you like, add peas or mushrooms.
  7. Serve with some rice

Notes

I start cooking the rice when I take the chicken out of the broth to cool down.

How do you like the recipe?

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

You tried this recipe?

Then link @sabrinastable on Instagram or use the hashtag #sabrinastable.

Can I reheat the chicken fricassee the next day as well?

But of course! It is best to store the chicken fricassee in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It should stay there for about 3 to 4 days. And then simply reheat portions in a saucepan.

Some inspiration for some more recipes

9b0572a9f25a480b9a7c3b726fc19411

1 thought on “Chicken fricassee in a béchamel sauce”

  1. Thank you! I tried today your bechamel with a home made broth and the chicken, and it was wonderful!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *