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    Home » Recipes » Slow-cooker recipes

    Slow-cooker coq au vin - the easy version

    Published: Sep 16, 2022 · Modified: May 29, 2024 by VJ · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

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    Slow-cooker coq au vin delivers tender juicy chicken with fabulous flavours and minimum effort on your part. Serve with sweet potato mash and vegetables for a meal that will be requested time and time again.

    A dish of coq au vin garnished with a sprig of fresh thyme.
    Jump to:
    • Coq au vin
    • What you will need
    • What to do
    • How to serve coq au vin
    • Tips and FAQ
    • Save for later
    • Related recipes
    • 📋The recipe

    Coq au vin

    Coq au vin is a classic French dish, consisting of tender, juicy chicken pieces cooked with mushrooms, bacon and shallots in a red wine gravy. It's normally simmered long and slow on the stove, but I've given it a new twist and used my slow-cooker (or crockpot) to make it a 90% hands-off meal.

    Just because it's a French classic, doesn't mean it's complicated to make. Quite the opposite in fact. Coq au vin takes just 15 minutes to prepare, then it's into the slow-cooker for a few hours to turn into a mouth-wateringly delicious meal. (To be perfectly honest, coq au vin is really just a rich, savoury chicken stew)!

    It's easy enough to make for a quick mid-week meal for the family. And even though it does contain red wine, the alcohol evaporates during the cooking process, leaving only the rich flavours behind.

    You can also serve this for an elegant dinner party, for those times when you're looking to impress, but don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen.

    You can't go wrong with this coq au vin recipe. You can use whatever cut of chicken you prefer. Skin-on / skin-off, bone-in, bone-out - the choice is yours. I like using skinless de-boned chicken thighs but it doesn't really matter - use whatever cuts of chicken you have available. If you are cooking for a crowd you might even want to cut an entire chicken into pieces and use that.

    As far as vegetables go, I like to use small shallots and baby mushrooms. Some people like to add chopped carrots, but I prefer to cook my vegetables separately. Once again, it's up to you.

    And once your coq au vin is ready, all you have to do is ladle it over a pile of creamy mashed potatoes (I like sweet potato mash), add a side dish of vegetables, sit back and wait for the compliments.

    Coq au vin on a plate with sweet potato mash, peas and carrots.

    What you will need

    Equipment

    Of course, you will need a slow-cooker.

    You will also need a frying pan for browning the meat and vegetables before they go in the slow-cooker. You can skip the browning step, but it does add an extra depth of colour to the finished dish and is worth the extra few minutes it takes.

    Ingredients

    Ingredients for slow-cooker coq au vin.

    Chicken - I used deboned, skinless chicken thighs. You can leave the skin on if you prefer, and use chicken still on the bone. Depending on your appetite, you will probably need 2 pieces of chicken per person.

    Shallots - I prefer using whole baby pickling onions (or pearl onions), but I couldn't find any in my local supermarket so I went with banana shallots which I cut in half. You could also use a brown or yellow onion, cut into quarters and separated into individual petals.

    Mushrooms - these are baby mushrooms. You can leave the smaller ones whole and cut any larger ones into halves or quarters.

    Bacon lardons - lardons are just pieces of bacon that have been cured and cut into strips. If you can't find lardons, chop up a few slices of streaky bacon and use that instead.

    Red wine - coq au vin is traditionally made with Burgundy which is quite full-bodied. You can substitute this with any full-bodied red wine such as Shiraz, Pinotage, Rioja or Pinot Noir. I used a South African Pinotage which is sold at Lidl in the UK. It's cheap as chips too. At only £3.89 a bottle (update - it's gone up to £4.79 🙁 ) it's really good value. And as always, when cooking with wine, remember my adage 'if you wouldn't drink it, don't add it to food'!

    Stock - if you have fresh chicken stock you can use that, otherwise use a good quality stock cube (such as Oxo) dissolved in a cup of boiling water.

    Butter - this is used for browning the chicken and vegetables. It gives an extra depth of flavour to the dish so I would recommend using butter for browning. If you want to be a bit healthier, you could use olive oil instead.

    Cornflour - used for thickening the gravy at the end of the cooking process.

    Fresh thyme - coq au vin benefits from the addition of a sprig of fresh thyme. You can use dried thyme, but be careful not to use too much and overpower the dish. Dried thyme is much stronger than fresh thyme so you won't need much if you're using dried.

    What to do

    This recipe will serve 4 people.

    **You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making coq au vin in the crockpot on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

    Preparation

    • Pat the chicken with paper towels to remove any excess moisture, then trim away any excess skin (if you don't have skinless chicken) and any visible fat.
    • Peel the shallots and if they are quite large cut them in half.
    • Peel and mince the garlic.
    • If you are using bacon rashers rather than lardons cut the bacon into small pieces.
    • Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth to remove any specks of dirt, and cut any larger mushrooms into halves or quarters.
    • If you are adding other vegetables (such as carrots), peel them and cut them into bite-sized pieces. You may need to par-boil hard vegetables like carrots to give them a head start on the cooking process. You don't want to end up with undercooked vegetables.

    Assemble in the slow-cooker

    Chicken pieces browning in a frying pan.

    Melt the butter in a frying pan.

    Sprinkle the chicken lightly with salt and fry the chicken pieces on a medium heat until they start to brown.

    If you are using chicken with the skin on, you may like to let the skin start to crisp in the frying pan.

    Transfer the chicken pieces to your slow-cooker. Leave the butter in the frying pan.

    Bacon and shallots browning in a frying pan.

    Add the bacon, garlic, and shallots to the frying pan and fry gently until the bacon releases some fat and starts to brown.

    Stir to coat the onions completely with the butter/bacon fat.

    Spoon the bacon and onions over the chicken in the slow-cooker.

    Mushrooms browning in a frying pan.

    Add the mushrooms to the frying pan. Mushrooms are like little sponges; they will soak up any remaining butter. This will be released into the coq au vin as it cooks in the slow-cooker.

    Fry them gently until they start to brown.

    Chicken, bacon, shallots and mushrooms in a slow cooker.

    Spoon the mushrooms over the chicken bacon and onions in the slow-cooker.

    If there is any remaining butter in the frying pan, pour that in too.

    All the ingredients for coq au vin in a slow-cooker.

    Add any other vegetables that you may be using.

    Pour in the stock and the red wine and lay the sprigs of thyme on top.

    Fully cooked coq au vin in a slow-cooker.

    Cover the slow-cooker with a lid and cook on low for 4 hours or cook on high for 3 hours until the chicken is tender.

    Half an hour before the end of the cooking time, mix the cornflour with 3 tablespoons of water to form a slurry and stir it into the slow-cooker. Leave to cook for the final half an hour so the gravy can thicken.

    Remove the sprigs of thyme before serving.

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    A serving dish of coq au vin with a spoon on a towel.

    How to serve coq au vin

    Transfer the coq au vin to a serving dish and optionally garnish with more fresh thyme.

    Serve with creamy mashed potatoes (or a mixture of potatoes and sweet potatoes) and your favourite vegetables.

    Here are a few ideas for vegetable sides:

    • Baked cauliflower and broccoli cheese
    • Glazed carrots
    • Creamy leek and brussels sprouts bake
    • Buttered cabbage and leeks with mustard seeds
    • Baby marrow with tomato and onion
    • Mashed green beans

    Tips and FAQ

    Can I freeze coq au vin?

    Yes, coq au vin freezes well. In fact, I normally double up on the recipe and freeze half for another meal.
    Allow it to come to room temperature and then transfer it to a suitable freezer container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
    To use, allow it to defrost in the refrigerator and then reheat it in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave.
    Do not refreeze.

    Can I make it ahead?

    Yes, you can make this the day before and leave it in a covered container in the refrigerator. I always think it tastes better the next day because the flavours have more time to develop.
    Reheat in a saucepan on the stove, or in the microwave.
    You can also store leftovers in the refrigerator for 2 days.

    How do you pronounce coq au vin?

    Coq au vin is pronounced cock-o-vahn.

    A piece of chicken on a fork held over a plate of coq au vin.

    Save for later

    If you'd like to try my slow-cooker coq au vin for yourself, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it later? Just click on the image below.

    Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

    Related recipes

    If you like this coq au vin, you may also like to try some of my other slow-cooker recipes:

    • A piece of short rib on a pile of mashed potatoes on a white plate with vegetables and gravy.
      Slow-cooker short ribs in monkey gland sauce
    • A bowl of lamb ragu with slices of flat bread.
      Slow cooker lamb ragu
    • A pile of succulent barbeque pork spare ribs on a plate.
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    • A lamb shank on a pile of mashed potatoes covered with red wine gravy and vegetables.
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    📋The recipe

    A dish of coq au vin garnished with a sprig of fresh thyme.

    Slow-cooker coq au vin

    Slow-cooker coq au vin delivers tender juicy chicken with fabulous flavours and minimum effort on your part. Serve with sweet potato mash and vegetables for a meal that will be requested time and time again.
    Recipe by: Veronica
    Main Course
    French
    Calories 496
    Prep 15 minutes minutes
    Cook 4 hours hours
    Total Time 4 hours hours 15 minutes minutes
    Servings: 4 people
    Print Pin Comment Bookmark Saved!
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    5 from 3 votes

    (Click the stars to rate this recipe)

    Equipment

    • Slow cooker
    • Frying Pan

    Ingredients

    • 1¼ pounds / 600 grams skinless deboned chicken thighs
    • 3½ ounces / 100 grams bacon rashers or bacon lardons
    • 4 medium banana shallots
    • 3½ ounces / 100 grams button mushrooms
    • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
    • ¾ cup full-bodied red wine
    • ¾ cup chicken stock
    • 3 - 4 sprigs fresh thyme
    • 1 - 2 tablespoons cornflour
    • 2 ounces / 60 grams butter
    • salt to taste

    Instructions

    Preparation

    • Pat the chicken with paper towels to remove any excess moisture, then trim away any excess skin (if you don't have skinless chicken) and any visible fat.
      1¼ pounds / 600 grams skinless deboned chicken thighs
    • Peel the shallots and if they are quite large, cut them in half.
      4 medium banana shallots
    • Peel and mince the garlic.
      2 cloves garlic (minced)
    • If you are using bacon rashers rather than lardons, cut the bacon into small pieces.
      3½ ounces / 100 grams bacon rashers or bacon lardons
    • Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth to remove any specks of dirt, and cut any larger mushrooms into halves or quarters.
      3½ ounces / 100 grams button mushrooms

    Assemble in the slow cooker

    • Melt the butter in a frying pan. Sprinkle the chicken lightly with salt (optional) and fry the chicken pieces on a medium heat until they start to brown. Transfer the chicken to a slow-cooker, leaving the butter in the frying pan.
      2 ounces / 60 grams butter, salt to taste
    • Add the bacon, garlic, and shallots to the frying pan and continue to fry gently until the bacon released some of its fat and starts to brown.
      Stir to coat the onions on all sides with the butter/bacon fat.
      Spoon the bacon and onions over the chicken in the slow-cooker.
    • Add the mushrooms to the frying pan and fry the gently until they start to brown. Transfer the mshrooms to the slow-cooker
    • Pour the stock and red wine into the slow-cooker and lay the sprigs of thyme on top.
      ¾ cup full-bodied red wine, ¾ cup chicken stock, 3 - 4 sprigs fresh thyme
    • Cover the slow-cooker with a lid and cook on low for 4 hours or cook on high for 3 hours until the chicken is tender.
      Half an hour before the end of the cooking time, mix the cornflour with 3 tablespoons of water to form a slurry and stir it into the slow-cooker. Leave to cook for the final half an hour so that the gravy can thicken.
      1 - 2 tablespoons cornflour
    • Remove the sprigs of thyme before serving.

    Notes

    Freezing - Coq au vin freezes well. In fact, I normally double up on the recipe and freeze half for another meal.
    Allow it to come to room temperature and then transfer to a suitable freezer container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
    To use, allow it to defrost in the refrigerator and then reheat it either in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave.
    Do not refreeze.
    Make in advance - You can make this the day before and leave it in a covered container in the refrigerator. I always think it tastes better the next day because the flavours have more time to develop.
    Reheat in a saucepan on the stove, or in the microwave.
    You can also store leftovers in the refrigerator for 2 days.

    Nutrition

    Calories - 496kcal | Carbohydrates - 10.1g | Protein - 43.5g | Fat - 27.1g | Saturated Fat - 11.3g | Cholesterol - 150mg | Sodium - 1396mg | Potassium - 925mg | Fiber - 0.8g | Sugar - 1.4g | Vitamin D - 99µg | Calcium - 53mg | Iron - 3mg

    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.

    Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
    All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
    Tried this recipe?If you made this recipe I'd love it if you could leave me a comment and let me know how it went!
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    If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I'd love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you'd like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!

    If you'd like to continue browsing, just click on this link to all my recipes.

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    About VJ

    Before I started my food blog I was an IT Consultant. Now that I've swapped an office for a kitchen I have a lot more time to spend on things that interest me such as trying out new recipes. Most of my cooking is based around quick and easy meals, mostly made from scratch, using everyday pantry ingredients.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 3 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    1. Aileen Wegener

      May 25, 2023 at 2:55 am

      Would be a real help if quantities were listed. I used a cup of red wine but don't know if that is right.

      Reply
      • VJ

        May 25, 2023 at 1:56 pm

        Aileen, I list all the quantities for all the ingredients in the recipe card at the end of the post. All my recipes have a button at the top to take you directly to the recipe card, and in addition, about half way down the post I mention the recipe card with another link to take you there too 🙂

        Reply
    2. Steve

      November 07, 2022 at 2:25 am

      5 stars
      I have used a very similar recipe for years as my go-to dinner party dish, although I use chicken on the bone, I also find to make it extra special marinading the chicken in a mixture of 1/2 red wine and 1/2 stock turns the meat a lovely red colour. Cooked in the oven in a cast iron pot, I add the mushrooms 3/4 of the way through and just before serving stir some double Cream and crème fresh into the sauce.

      Reply
      • VJ

        November 11, 2022 at 3:41 pm

        Sounds delicious - love the idea of adding cream.

        Reply

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