Who says Diane sauce only belongs on steak? let me introduce you to Chicken Diane for an absolute taste explosion! Juicy chicken pieces cooked with mushrooms in a creamy brandy-infused sauce. This simple dish is packed with flavour but only takes minutes to prepare. Perfect for a weeknight supper when you want to treat the family to something different.
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What is Diane sauce?
For those of you who don’t know, Diane sauce is a rich creamy mushroom sauce, flavoured with Worcestershire sauce, cream, mustard and brandy. It is normally served poured over a steak (Steak Diane), and the more theatrical up-market restaurants may even flambe the sauce at your table.
Luckily this recipe doesn’t go to that extreme!
What it does do is provide you with a delicious meal that can be on the table in just over half an hour. This dish is simple enough to serve to the family on any weeknight, yet sophisticated enough to satisfy the most discerning of dinner guests.
The richness of the sauce coupled with a copious amount of mushrooms and juicy chicken breasts works so well together. And if you are worried about using brandy, the alcohol does evaporate during the cooking process. You could also substitute the brandy with either grape or apricot juice or try this non-alcoholic brandy essence which is available on Amazon.
To make chicken Diane, I’ve taken my chicken a la king recipe and swapped out the sauce with my version of sauce Diane. Perhaps I should call the recipe chicken a la Diane!
I have to say it works really well, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
What you will need
Equipment
To make chicken Diane with brandy sauce you will need a large frying pan (with a lid), and a knife for cutting up the ingredients.
You can serve it directly out of the pan, but if you want to be fancy you might like to transfer it to a serving dish first. I like this serving dish because it does double-duty as a casserole dish too.
Ingredients
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making chicken Diane on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
This recipe will serve 4 people.
Chicken breasts – these should be cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces. I’ve included instructions further down the post for a quick and easy way to poach chicken breasts. If you have leftover chicken from either a roast or a shop-bought rotisserie chicken you can use this instead.
Onions – these should be cut into approximately a half-inch dice. You can use white or red onions.
Garlic – if you use fresh garlic it should be peeled and finely minced. For convenience, you can use ready-crushed garlic from a jar.
Mushrooms – these should be either sliced or quartered depending on your preference. You can use any type of mushroom – I’ve used chestnut mushrooms, but white closed cap mushrooms are fine to use, as are sliced portobello mushrooms.
Cream – single cream is best for this recipe – if you only have double cream you can thin it down a little by mixing in a few tablespoons of milk.
Cornflour (or cornstarch) – is used to thicken the sauce. You could use normal flour if you don’t have cornflour (I’ve explained how to do this further down the post).
Brandy – this adds the distinctive flavour. If you don’t happen to have a bottle of brandy at home you can buy a miniature bottle which will be more than sufficient to make this recipe. And as I mentioned above, you can substitute the brandy with either grape juice (brandy is made from grapes) or a non-alcoholic brandy essence which is available on Amazon.
Stock – If you have fresh chicken stock by all means use that. Otherwise, just dissolve a chicken stock cube in a cup of boiling water. Vegetable stock cubes are good too.
Butter – this is used instead of oil for frying the onions. It adds a lovely richness to the sauce.
Worcestershire sauce – if you don’t have any Worcestershire sauce, dark soy sauce makes a good substitution.
Tomato puree (some people know this as tomato paste). It is highly concentrated tomatoes, normally sold in a tube or small cans.
Mustard – I like to use Dijon mustard because it has a milder flavour. If you use English mustard (or another mustard with a stronger flavour) you may want to use less than the quantity stated in the recipe so that you don’t overpower the dish.
Salt and pepper – for seasoning, and used according to your own taste.
How to make chicken Diane
Poach the chicken
If you are using leftover chicken you can skip this step, otherwise, this is my quick and easy method for poaching a chicken breast.
- Place the chicken breasts in a pan of cold water and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover the pan with a lid and bring it to a boil.
- As soon as it starts boiling rapidly, remove it from the heat and leave it to stand (still covered) for 10 minutes.
- The heat from the boiling water is sufficient to cook the chicken and you can remove it from the water and cut it into bite-sized cubes.
- Don’t worry if there is still a small amount of pink showing when you cook the chicken (there shouldn’t be, but it will depend on the thickness of the breasts). The chicken will finish off cooking once it is added to the sauce.
Make the Diane sauce
- Mix the brandy, tomato puree, mustard and Worcestershire sauce into the stock and set aside. Mix the cornflour with 2 tablespoons of water and set that aside also.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the sliced onions and minced garlic, and turn the heat down to very low. Cover the pan with a lid and let the onions sweat gently in the butter until they just start to soften and become translucent. This will take about 5 minutes. Keep your eye on the pan and don’t let the onions brown.
- Now add the sliced mushrooms, turn the heat up slightly and continue to fry, stirring all the time, until they have released their moisture. This will take another 5 minutes. Mushrooms are like little sponges and they will soak up all the butter. Don’t worry, they will release all that flavour back into the sauce once you add the stock.
- If you are using cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken the gravy, pour in the prepared stock and then stir in the cornflour/water mixture and stir over a gentle heat until the mixture thickens.
- If you are using flour to thicken the gravy, mix the flour into the mushrooms and onions taking care to remove any lumps, then pour in the prepared stock and stir over a gentle heat until the mixture thickens.
- Now stir in the cream and add the chicken pieces.
- Turn down the heat as low as possible and leave it to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Garnish with parsley and serve over rice with a side dish of peas. I like to serve it with my mushroom fried rice, but plain white rice is just as good (check out this post on how to cook rice in the microwave).
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Tips and hints
Yes, you can freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Just make sure that it is completely cooled before freezing.
To use allow it to defrost in the refrigerator then tip it into a saucepan and reheat until piping hot.
You can also freeze the sauce without the chicken and when you are ready to make it you can just defrost and reheat the sauce and then add leftover chicken for a quick and easy meal.
You can poach the chicken the day before and leave it in a covered dish in the refrigerator.
The entire dish can be safely stored in the refrigerator for 2 days.
To vary this dish you could replace the chicken with strips of fried steak. I would suggest a good quality steak such as rump or sirloin.
No, this dish will be just as good served with creamy mashed potatoes, or even served with your favourite pasta shapes.
Pin for later
If you would like to try this recipe for chicken Diane with brandy sauce, why not pin the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily. Just click on the image below.
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Other recipes
Not quite what you are looking for? Why not take a look at some of my other easy chicken recipes.
- Crispy fried chicken tenderloins with mash and gravy
- Crispy chicken parmesan with marinara sauce
- Cheesy bacon-wrapped chicken parcels with mozzarella
- Easy chicken cordon bleu with honey mustard sauce
- Creamy chicken marsala with mushrooms
The recipe
Chicken Diane
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- 1 Saucepan for poaching chicken
- 1 Large frying pan for making the sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound / 450 grams chicken breast fiillet or the equivalent amount of leftover roast chicken
- 6 ounces / 175 grams fresh mushrooms sliced or quartered
- 1 large onion coarsely chopped
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- ½ cup / 120 ml single or pouring cream
- 1½ tablespoons / 25 ml brandy
- 2 ounces / 60 grams butter
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 1½ cups chicken or vegetable stock use a stock cube if you don't have fresh stock
- 2 tablespoons cornflour / cornstarch (or 1½ tablespoons flour)
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
To poach chicken breasts
- Place the chicken breasts in a pan of cold water and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan with a lid and bring it to a boil.1 pound / 450 grams chicken breast fiillet, salt and black pepper
- As soon as it starts boiling rapidly, remove it from the heat and leave it to stand (still covered) for 10 minutes.
- Once the chicken has cooled for 10 minutes remove it from the water and cut it into bite-sized pieces.
Make the Diane sauce
- Mix the brandy, tomato puree, mustard and Worcestershire sauce into the stock and set aside. Mix the cornflour with 2 tablespoons of water and set that aside also.1½ tablespoons / 25 ml brandy, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1½ cups chicken or vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the sliced onions and minced garlic, and turn the heat down to very low. Cover the pan with a lid and let the onions sweat gently in the butter until they just start to soften and become translucent. This will take about 5 minutes. Keep your eye on the pan and don't let the onions brown.1 large onion, 2 ounces / 60 grams butter, 2 to 3 cloves garlic
- Now add the sliced mushrooms, turn the heat up slightly and continue to fry, stirring all the time, until they have released their moisture. This will take another 5 minutes. Mushrooms are like little sponges and they will soak up all the butter. Don't worry, they will release all that flavour back into the sauce once you add the stock.6 ounces / 175 grams fresh mushrooms
- If you are using cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken the gravy, pour in the prepared stock and then stir in the cornflour/water mixture and stir over a gentle heat until the mixture thickens.If you are using flour to thicken the gravy, mix the flour into the mushrooms and onions taking care to remove any lumps, then pour in the prepared stock and stir over a gentle heat until the mixture thickens.2 tablespoons cornflour / cornstarch (or 1½ tablespoons flour)
- Now stir in the cream and add the chicken pieces.
- Turn down the heat as low as possible and leave it to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Garnish with parsley and serve over rice with a side dish of peas.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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