CrockPot Coq au Vin Recipe


Coq au Vin is one of the recipes Julia Child made famous. In this crockpot recipe, chicken thighs simmer all day in a bottle of red wine seasoned with fresh herbs and bacon.



Day 200.

Two hundred!!!!
yippee! It's not bad that I have count-down going in my head, is it...?


Egads, this is a delicious company-pleasing dish. It will knock the socks, slippers, or steel-toed boots off of whomever you serve.

Thank you greatly to Bethany, who emailed me this marvelous recipe.


The Ingredients.


6 to 8 frozen chicken thighs
6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon (I used turkey, but you could use PORK)
8 ounces sliced baby portobella mushrooms (they are right next to the regular mushrooms)
1 cup baby carrots
1 chopped yellow onion
3 cloves chopped or minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 cup cheap red wine *see note below* (you can use non-alcoholic wine, if you wish)
2 large fresh thyme sprigs (I really think the fresh thyme is the key, here. Go steal some from your neighbors garden.)

*note: I know the "rule" is that you shouldn't cook with any wine you wouldn't drink, but it's okay because I drink cheap wine. What you do want, though, is FRESH wine. 

Don't use something you opened last week and forgot to drink. 


The Directions.

Cook your bacon. I used turkey bacon, and baked it on a broiler pan. 

Dump the frozen chicken into your crockpot and start layering in the rest of the ingredients.

This is really a no-fuss (albeit amazingly gourmetish) preparation. Just throw it all in.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. You could cook it on high for 4, but it won't taste as good. The flavors meld so nicely when cooked low and slow.

Serve with mashed potatoes or your favorite pasta. We did brown rice fusilli.

The Verdict.

I am hiding the leftovers in the back of the fridge so I can eat them all. 

This has such a great depth of flavor---the bacon provides a nice smokey flavor and the fresh thyme gives it a restaurant aspect that is such a nice surprise.

It is purple, which means that it was automatically a hit with my girls.

Easy and impressive "fancy" slow cooker dinner. I love how everything gets tossed in the crockpot. Use red wine, chicken thighs, and bacon to make this perfect coq au vin!


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Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at July 18, 2008

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What they say about this article

  1. After watching the next food network star I was inspired to attempt Coq au Vin...I never would have thought to use the crockpot! Thanks Stef.

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  2. Ooooh! I saw them make this on the Next Food Network Star too and I think Barefoot Contessa made it as well a day or two ago. It sounds very fancy and way out of my league. Put in a crockpot and I am all over it!

    We aren't fans of dark meat. I wonder how it would be with white meat.

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  3. I saw it on the Next Food Network Star, too!! I think chicken breast pieces or whole chicken breasts would work just fine. This is simmering for so long that the white meat will moisten nicely.

    xxoo
    steph

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  4. I Stumbled across this today. Thought you might be interested.

    http://www.nikibone.com/recipe/crockpot.html

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  5. Ooooooohhh! I am definitely going to try this!

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  6. Anonymous7/18/2008

    St. Julia would not be amused.

    http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/cookbook/coq_au_vin.html

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  7. I just stumbled onto your blog and all I have to say is I LOVE you. I have 6 kids (including a set of triplets) and I am always looking for great crock pot recipes. Thank You Thank You Thank You! I'm going to add you as a link on my blog.

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  8. This is the first time I've read your blog and I love it! I already subscribed! Thanks for the recipes.

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  9. Anonymous7/18/2008

    This looks good. What's turkey bacon?

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  10. Anonymous7/18/2008

    Love your website!

    kenneypatricia@yahoo.com

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  11. Anonymous7/18/2008

    Counting down? That makes us worried! What's on the docket for next year? A years worth of toaster meals? Microwave? Bento lunches? That little snack maker you see on late night television. . . you've got to give us something!

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  12. you should audition for food network star... america is crying out for a crock pot cooking show! :D

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  13. Is there a reason you use chicken thighs?

    Since finding your blog I've been trying to think of the crockpot more often, but I still need to figure out the planning part.

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  14. Anonymous7/18/2008

    It's tart cherry season! I picked up 10lbs. this morning, so I was hoping to find a crock pot cobbler recipe. Have you seen anything like this?

    -Ilana

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  15. lol on the "julia would not be amused" comment!

    diamond, I use thighs because they are juicier and have more flavor.

    ilana, I am planning to make a blueberry cobbler this weekend, and imagine that it would work with cherries, too! I will probably post my results on Monday.

    xox
    steph

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  16. Hi there,
    I found you through..umm..can't remember..but I jsut love your blog!! Its wonderful. I have 3 crockpots of my own and I love to use them. I am definetly going to use some of your recipes too!
    ~Kelly

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  17. Anonymous7/18/2008

    I love your blog. Ever since I saw your segment on Rachael Ray, I have been totally inspired to use my crock pot. I tried your Vietnamese chicken this past week, which was incredible. I was trying to figure out which one to try next week, and this has to be it!

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  18. I'm going to make this meal tomorrow!

    I have 6 wonderful crockpots in this house and can't tell you how thrilled I am to have stumbled onto this blog...I see my electric bill going up and our food bill going down.
    Thank you.

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  19. I cannot wait to try this!!!! I LUV your blog!!!! Keep 'em comming!!!

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  20. We do not eat dark meat either. So I am making all the crockpot recipes that call for chicken with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They have all turned out fine.

    I have found that with my crockpot, I have to tilt the lid just a little to let some steam out or the meal gets too much liquid in it. I have the same crock as the Crockpot lady except in white. But since I started doing it, my meals made with recipes from here are FABULOUS.

    I have 5 kids and babysit 3 others, so THANK YOU!

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  21. Anonymous7/19/2008

    I tried this for dinner last night. Of course, since I had yet to go shopping after my vacation, I made tons of substitutions: dried minced onion instead of fresh, canned mushrooms, bacon fat instead of bacon, no carrots. My frozen chicken thighs always produce lots of juice so I skipped the chicken broth. And I still had too much liquid!

    The dish *still* came our wonderfully. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  22. This sounds so good! I will try it this week with chicken breasts, too, and let you know how it goes.

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  23. Anonymous7/21/2008

    I made this yesterday - and cooked it on high for 2 hours, and low for 3 (I have a 5 or 6 qt cooker that cooks HOT), and it was great. My toddler even ate a carrot.

    thanks so much for this!

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  24. Anonymous7/21/2008

    I made this and my family really enjoyed it. But Hubby especially loved how the mushrooms turned out. I plan on tweaking this recipes to make up mushroom and onions in the crock pot to put on top of grilled steaks.

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  25. I saw you on Rachel Ray and just had to checkout your blog! I love it. I used this recipe for Sunday dinner and used grape juice instead of wine. It tasted great and my Dad is still raving about it. Leftovers were even better! I can't wait to try a new recipe soon.

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  26. I made this 2 nights ago and it was a huge hit. My husband and I both loved it and you were right, the leftovers were good too. Served it over mashed potatoes. Absolutely delicious flavor. Thanks so much. I check your site daily now.

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  27. Anonymous7/26/2008

    Oh YUM! This came out wonderfully and the kids asked me to please make it again. That is nothing sort of a miracle for a gluten and dairy free main course. YAY!!!! and thank you very much!

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  28. Anonymous7/28/2008

    just made my first recipe since seeing you on Rachael. I did the coq au vin. my daughter said it was the best chicken she's ever had. not sure if that's true or if she was just really hungry. I used about 3/4 cup wine, 1/4 cup grape juice and another 1/2 cup chicken broth instead of 1/2 cup more of wine. glad i did. not a big fan of the wine flavor, and it was a perfect recipe. had it with the mashed potatoes. i steamed up some rice to have with the left overs for lunch today. it was a hit.

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  29. We tried this tonight and it was great! I doubled the recipe and came out with way too much liquid so next time I won't double the liquid amounts. My kids thought it was very good, a definate do again.

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  30. This to me was ultimate comfort food! Super easy to make and very delicious! I used half of a cut up chicken instead of thighs and used up some leftover boneless breasts as well. I also threw in a bayleaf or two. I served it with some mashed red potatoes and a salad! Yum....

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  31. Anonymous9/12/2008

    I made this a few days ago, and wow! was it yummy. I love purple food that tastes even better the second day! Thanks for this recipe.

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  32. Trying this today with chicken breasts. looks yummy! 8 hours to go...

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  33. Anonymous11/18/2008

    I'm wondering if you could have a small printable version of your recipes. As your site is now, when I click on "print" I get pages of comments before and after the recipe, plus sometimes other people's comments and it's just too much paper to print and save when I only want to save the recipe.

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  34. Hi anon, I don't right now. I suggest highlighting the text you'd like, and then use the "print selection" button on the print menu.

    --steph

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  35. Anonymous11/24/2008

    Do you think it would throw off the recipe to wrap a few potatoes in foil and have them cook in with the food (separated by the foil, of course) to speed along making the mashed potatoes? I'm also thinking of doing this to adapt a veg. shepard's pie recipe for the slow cooker and was wonering if you had any input on if the mass of a few potatoes would alter cooking time for the rest of everything or not.

    Thanks!

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  36. Hi Jamie, I'm not sure I understand your shepherd's pie question. I have done one, and it was successful.

    As for the coq au vin and potatoes, yes, I think that's an excellent idea! Due to the amount of liquid involved, I'd put in the chicken and everything, then put a sheet of foil over the food, and top with the foiled potatoes. My concern is that the purple juice will permeate the potatoes if there isn't a barrier.

    great idea!
    --steph

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  37. Anonymous1/03/2009

    After reading your blog and deciding to serve coq au vin tomorrow. I don't know why I was surprised when my google search pulled up your site, but I hadn't thought to look there before then.

    I ran out of room before putting in the carrots, but don't like cooked carrots anyway. I didn't have chicken broth and hate cutting onions, so I used instant onion broth instead. I didn't measure anything and I used 12 skinless leg thigh quarters from my home grown chickens that I processed my very own self. They're a bit older than they should be for roasting but make fabulous soup and stews with all the collagen, very rich.

    BTW - I'm not gf, but I have several friends who are and they've all been happy to find your site!

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  38. Anonymous9/25/2009

    I have made Julia Child's recipe for coq au vin and I have to say this is very close....not to mention so much easier!

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  39. This was completely and utterly delicious. I made this just as written, except that we ate it over mashed potatoes. It was so good-- we all loved it, including the two year old! Thanks for the recipe.

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  40. Anonymous10/30/2009

    This is in my crockpot right now. I did everything as written except I used breasts rather than thighs. I can't wait until dinner time.

    I was reminded of this recipe from your new book which I love. Congratulations on having it published.

    Dee

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  41. Yum, this is really delicious. In case anyone is interested in substituting chicken breasts, I made this yesterday and I used one large skinless, boneless double breast. I put it in frozen. I could have easily doubled the amount of chicken as we had plenty of liquid.

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  42. I made this 2 nights ago after all the rave comments, and was disappointed in how it turned out. It didn't have much flavor at all and I"m trying to figure out what I did wrong.

    I omitted the chicken broth because I didn't have any on hand, and for wine I used a Pinot Noir I had already open. Other than that, everything else was followed to the letter.

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  43. I have a small-capacity slow cooker and have successfully made this recipe using 1 frozen chicken breast, then just adjusting the rest of the ingredients accordingly. It turns out fabulously! Thanks.

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  44. Anonymous2/14/2010

    My husband and I tried this recipe last night, and it was wonderful. We had to settle for dried thyme, but it was still very aromatic and flavorful. We used chicken thighs and turkey bacon, and our only complaint was that the turkey bacon we used lost a lot of flavor while cooking. That may be because we used an all-natural variety that didn't have some of the artificial flavoring agents. We served it over whole wheat linguine. Success! Thank you so much for this great recipe!

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  45. Anonymous10/22/2010

    OMG...made my place smell so good and snuck a taste- delish!

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  46. I'm allergic to chicken, so I am using turkey tenderloin and wondering about how many pounds 6-8 chicken thighs are? I'm guessing about 1.5 lbs? Just trying to put an equivalent amount of turkey instead of the 6-8 chicken thighs.. Thanks for the help.

    Becky

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  47. Hi Becky, each thigh is roughly 1/4 pound. I'd do 2 pounds of turkey, although you can easily go up or down depending on how much you have on hand.
    xoxo

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  48. Kristin S2/24/2011

    I made this tonight for my mom's birthday, and it turned out great! In my search for something other than chicken breasts in my freezer, I came across some pheasant my husband had brought home a while back. The combo of the two was outstanding, and the flavors were spot-on! The thyme really does make the dish, we had plenty of leftovers, and everyone loved it. Thanks!

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  49. I just made Coq au vin for the first time the other day. My husband saw it on Barefoot Contessa and insisted I make it (don't ask me why my husband was watching Barefoot Contessa). It was sooooo delicious, but took FOREVER. I can't wait to try it in the slow cooker! Thanks for this recipe. BTW, Ina Garten's recipe calls for brandy as well as red wine, so I think I'll sub some of the wine for the brandy. I think it will just add to the flavor.

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  50. Anonymous1/09/2013

    in my crock pot now! smells so good!

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  51. Oh baby oh baby oh baby. I worked a strange shift so shoved this in a crock pot at about 9:30 AM and headed off to work. Hubby got off way earlier than me and found this luscious treat waiting for him when he got home. The minute I walked in the door, he said, "I had some chicken. It's GREAT!" I have to agree! This is stupendously awesome chicken. I didn't change a thing other than using only four thighs cuz... jeez, there is just two of us. This is about a nommy as it gets. I'm going to cut up the left over chicken tomorrow and put it on salad for lunch. Some times I don't like your chicken recipes, but this one rock my socks off! THANKS!

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