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    Creamy Tarragon Chicken

    September 4, 2024

    This chicken recipe is dressed to impress! Fresh tarragon lends a warming fragrance to a rich and creamy sauce for perfectly browned chicken breasts. Add mashed potatoes or pasta and call it a meal!

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    creamy chicken in a large skillet topped with tarragon and black pepper being scooped out with a wooden spoon.
    Photography by Gayle McLeod

    An Easy Tarragon Chicken Recipe? Mais Oui!

    This cozy meal calls for a few of those pantry staples that you likely have on hand, plus a few extra goodies that are fun to have around for other projects–like heavy cream, for a future baking project, and white wine to drink with your gorgeous homemade tarragon chicken. As a general rule of thumb, we recommend selecting a white wine that you’ll enjoy drinking because chicken with tarragon and white wine calls for less than half a cup. Or use your left overs in our Chicken Dijon or Chicken Provençal. What wine goes best with tarragon chicken? A pinot grigio would be perfect for the recipe itself, and a light to full-bodied red would be ideal for serving.

    ingredients for tarragon chicken including chicken breasts, dijon, white wine, cream tarragon, salt, shallots, chicken stock

    What Is Tarragon Chicken?

    Tarragon chicken is a classic French recipe that features a creamy white wine sauce that highlights the flavors of fresh tarragon, Dijon mustard, and lemon zest. Since fresh tarragon is an herb favored in French cuisine, we’re more familiar with the dried version here in the U.S. What does tarragon chicken taste like? We’re happy to use fresh tarragon whenever we get the chance because it’s super fragrant and has a beautiful and subtle anise-like taste.

    It also has a little black pepper to it, which lends itself to a natural and pleasant warming spiciness (but completely different to the spiciness of a hot pepper). Tarragon is great to add to salad dressings, and if you have excess after making this tarragon chicken recipe you can add it to a batch of Green Goddess Dressing or chopped and sprinkled over a French Omelette.

    four boneless skinless chicken breasts browned in a large skillet
    sliced shallots and minced garlic in a large white skillet on green tiled background
    heavy cream and chicken stock being poured into a white skillet with tarragon and shallots.
    Four browned boneless skinless chicken breasts simmering in a cream sauce with tarragon and shallots

    How To Make Tarragon Chicken

    1. Chicken Time: Pat the chicken dry. This step seems like one you can skip, but it’s important to remove excess moisture in order to get a crispy brown exterior when you cook chicken. Season all over with salt and cook the chicken until golden brown. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
    2. Sauce Time: Next, cook the shallots and the garlic until fragrant. Stir in the wine and cook until reduced by half. Now is the time to scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. This is the fond, the tasty remains of everything you’ve cooked so far. Stir in the heavy cream, chicken stock, bouillon, fresh tarragon, mustard, lemon zest, and salt.
    3. Simmer Time: Return the chicken to the skillet along with any collected juices on the plate. Bring the sauce to a simmer over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium low. We’re simmering until the chicken reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 minutes more.
    4. The Sauce Thickens: In a small bowl make a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Remove the chicken and pour the cornstarch slurry into the sauce and continue to simmer until thickened. Nestle the chicken back into the sauce.
    5. Top chicken with pepper and fresh chopped tarragon and serve over pasta (here’s our tips for making the best pasta) or Crispy Shallot Mashed Potatoes or Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, if desired.
    Creamy tarragon chicken in white skillet surrounded by small bowls of black pepper and fresh tarragon leaves

    What To Serve With Tarragon Chicken

    Like our Chicken Fricassee, this creamy chicken with tarragon is the perfect recipe to serve to family and friends on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or any day that calls for a classic (and classy!) meal. We suggest pairing it with our Easy Fennel Salad, Simple Butter Lettuce Salad, or Green Beans Almondine for a light and fresh side. A loaf of crusty bread to soak up all the tasty creamy tarragon sauce is not imperative, but highly recommended! These sides also pair wonderfully with our Spinach and Artichoke Chicken Skillet or Chicken Florentine if you're looking for more chicken skillet dinners to have up your sleeve.

    Tools You’ll Need

    Four browned chicken breasts in a creamy tarragon sauce topped with black pepper and fresh tarragon leaves.

    More Chicken Recipes To Make, And Make Again, And Again…

    Chicken recipes are often on high rotation in our kitchens. Once you’ve made this creamy tarragon chicken recipe, we’ve got more for you to try:

    Did You Make Our Best Creamy Tarragon Recipe?

    If you find a moment to snap a photo of your homemade tarragon chicken before it turns into empty plates and full bellies, tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

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    Creamy Tarragon Chicken

    Updated on September 4, 2024

    • Serves:  4
    • Prep Time:  20 min
    • Cook Time:  40 min
    • Calories:  670
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    Ingredients

    • 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 1 ¾ pound
    • 1 ¾ teaspoons kosher salt
    • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    • 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
    • 3 garlic cloves, minced
    • ¾ cup white wine
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1 cup chicken stock
    • 1 teaspoon chicken Better than Bouillon, or 1 chicken bouillon cube
    • 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped
    • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
    • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
    • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
    • ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
    • cooked pasta, or mashed potatoes, for serving (optional)

    Method

    1. Pat the chicken dry. Season all over with 1½ teaspoons of the salt.

    2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium. Once the oil is glistening, add the chicken and cook about 5 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

    3. Add the remaining oil and shallots to the same skillet and cook, stirring, until tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the wine and cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir in the heavy cream, chicken stock, bouillon, 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, mustard, lemon zest, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt.

    4. Return the chicken to the skillet along with any collected juices on the plate. Bring the sauce to a simmer over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 minutes more.

    5. In a small bowl mix the cornstarch together with 2 tablespoons cool water. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the sauce and continue to simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Nestle the chicken back into the sauce.

    6. Top chicken with pepper and remaining 1 tablespoon tarragon and serve over pasta or mashed potatoes, if desired.

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories 670
    • Protein 65 g
    • Carbohydrates 9 g
    • Total Fat 36 g
    • Dietary Fiber 1 g
    • Cholesterol 236 mg
    • sodium 1262 mg
    • Total Sugars 3 g

    Creamy Tarragon Chicken

    Questions & Reviews

    Join the discussion below.

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    • Ella

      Hi, if I want to make this recipe double the portion should I double all the ingredients?
      Thanks

      Yes. Hope you enjoy Ella!

    • Pam

      First of all, I want to say "Thank you" for writing such a amazing book! There isn't one recipe that I haven't enjoyed. Again Thank you!
      My question- Can you use dried Tarragon instead of fresh for the Chicken Tarragon?

      Aw that is so wonderful to hear. Thank you Pam, we are so happy you are enjoying our book! Sure, use 2 teaspoons dried tarragon instead of 2 tablespoons fresh. Skip the tarragon it calls for on the top. Hope you enjoy Pam.

    • Sharon

      Can I make the tarragon chicken in the slow cooker ?

      Hi Sharon, we haven't tested this in the slow cooker to give specific instructions.

    • Kaitlyn

      Could I substitute whole milk for the heavy cream?

      You could but it might not get as thick as intended.

    • Janelle

      Can I make this the day ahead for a dinner party and re-warm?

      Should work ok. Hope you enjoy Janelle!

    • Jasmyn

      I very much enjoyed this recipe. I added mushrooms with the garlic and cayenne with seasoning the chicken. I also used boneless skinless thighs because they tend to be more tender

      Thanks Jasmyn, we are so glad you loved it!

    • Aileen

      This is a wonderful dish. I planted tarragon seeds. I now, have a bumper crop. I was looking for recipes to use the herbs. This chicken doesn’t disappoint! The first time I followed the recipe exactly. I made it again, but add 8oz of portobello mushrooms and used half & half milk. Of course heavy cream is better, but I’m trying to cut calories. It was delicious and easy to make! I’m keeping the site to try other recipes. 😋🤤😍🥰

      Thanks Aileen, we are so glad you loved this recipe!

    • Raziel

      Made this dish today and it was absolutely fantastic - I used about 3 sprigs of fresh tarragon...I should have used more. The dance between the lemon zest and tarragon is simply wonderful!

      Thanks Raziel, so glad you loved it!

    • Leigh

      This sauce is DELICIOUS, I make just the sauce and use it over salmon and rice bowls and it has become one of my husband's favorite dinners!

      Thanks Leigh, so glad you both love it!

    • Reid

      We had been meaning to make this for a while. Our family of 5 with 3 young children loved it tonight! We had it over twirly pasta with a side salad. I wish I had made time to roast brussels sprouts to go with it.

      Thanks Reid, we are so happy you loved it!