Poulet au Vinaigre (Chicken with Vinegar)
Poulet au Vinaigre is a popular French chicken dish made with chicken thighs and aromatics cooked in red wine vinegar, white wine, and broth.
My family really, really loves vinegar so when I stumbled upon this America’s Test Kitchen recipe for poulet au vinaigre (also known as chicken with vinegar) I decided to make it for a recent dinner. The recipe was pretty simple to make, the chicken and sauce smelled amazing while it cooked, and it tasted tangy, flavorful, and tasty! I paired this delicious poulet au vinaigre with creamy mashed potatoes and a butter leaf salad.
How to Make Poulet au Vinaigre (Chicken with Vinegar)
Adjust the rack to the lower-middle position then preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Heat the olive oil in an OVEN PROOF large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken thighs with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Place the chicken, skin side down, in the hot skillet and cook for 8 minutes, until well browned. Flip the chicken over and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside on a plate.
Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the skillet. Add the shallot and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
Add the chicken broth, white wine, and red wine vinegar and bring to a simmer, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom and sides of the skillet.
Nestle the chicken (and any juices) back in the skillet, skin side UP. Place into the oven and bake, uncovered, until chicken registers 195 degrees, about 35-40 minutes.
Using tongs, remove the chicken from the skillet and place it on a serving plate with a loose tin foil tent on top.
Place the skillet over high heat and whisk in the tomato paste and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring and scraping the sides of the skillet until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 1 1/4 cups, about 5-7 minutes.
Off heat, whisk in the cold butter, chopped tarragon, and up to 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar. Taste & season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Pour the sauce around the chicken. Serve and enjoy.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
- 2 shallots, minced
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ⅓ cup good red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp cold butter
- 1 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
Instructions
- Adjust the rack to the lower-middle position then preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Heat the olive oil in an OVEN PROOF large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken thighs with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Place the chicken, skin side down, in the hot skillet and cook for 8 minutes, until well browned. Flip the chicken over and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside on a plate.
- Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the skillet. Add the shallot and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken broth, white wine, and red wine vinegar and bring to a simmer, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom and sides of the skillet.
- Nestle the chicken (and any juices) back in the skillet, skin side UP. Place into the oven and bake, uncovered, until chicken registers 195 degrees, about 35-40 minutes.
- Using tongs, remove the chicken from the skillet and place it on a serving plate with a loose tin foil tent on top.
- Off heat, whisk in the cold butter, chopped tarragon, and up to 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar. Taste & season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Pour the sauce around the chicken. Serve and enjoy.
The chicken thighs are so perfectly pan seared…and wine and vinegar gravy sounds heavenly.
Looks delicious Pam and I’m a sucker for French sounding dishes especially Poulet.
This looks like a wonderful chicken dish.
Hi,
Steps 5, 6, and 7 are the same.
I cannot find any use of the oven, although it has instructions about temp and where the rack should be.
Sounds good, but I love to use the oven as much as possible, so if that’s missing, I would be glad to know.
Thank you for your wonderful site and recipes.
Joan,
I’m so sorry that I’m just now seeing this comment–I have corrected the recipe to add the missing step. Thank you for your kind words!
-Pam
Followed this recipe to the letter except for the extra vinegar at the end. Amazing depth of flavour. I’ll make again.
Sue,
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
-Pam
I am so glad to see the America’s Test kitchen version printed here. Other versions smother the chicken in the sauce,. That just leaves you with rubbery floppy shin. So be sure NOT to cover the skin w/ sauce when baking or serving. Also I , use a NON stick pan, as stressed on the American Test Kitchen Show to get crispy skin. I find I need 2T oil in a 9″ skillet on MEDIUM HIGH heat…not high.
GMJ,
Glad you enjoyed it!
-Pam
I wish I could give this recipe 10 star! It is one of those dishes where there is no talking at dinner because everyone was busy eating and savoring. What is not to like, easy and tasty and the chicken was so tender. Served with roasted vegtables and mashed potatoes. Only changes made were skinless thighs (because we don’t like chicken skin – not a health thing) and added capers. Such a lovely and tasty dish you could use for both mid-week family dinner and serve to guests.
Dee,
What a sweet comment! I’m so happy your family enjoyed this chicken recipe and adding capers sounds tasty! Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
-Pam
I love this recipe. My husband asked me to make extra sauce so I doubled all the ingredients except the chicken. Delicious!!! It’s a keeper.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Felicia,
I’m so happy you and your husband enjoy this recipe; making extra sauce is always good! Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
-Pam