Creamy Tarragon-Dijon Chicken with Leeks

Sometimes, you can look at the ingredient list of a recipe and know the dish will be a winner. It would have to be with X, Y, and Z perfect, rich ingredients, right? This dish was one of those, one of those love-at-first sight dishes.

With an ingredients list of heavy cream, chicken breasts, two types of French mustards, and a bit of lemon and herbs, I knew immediately that I’d like this dish I found while scouring Pinterest. I took the recipe and changed it up a bit by adding a healthy portion of fresh tarragon leaves for an herbaceous, slightly sweet earthiness. I doubled the sauce, because, obviously, if it has cream in it, I want extra! I brined the chicken for a tender, juicy texture. What resulted was sheer magic and a lot of moaning at the dinner table. 

This creamy tarragon-Dijon chicken with leeks dish is so rich and full of flavor, yet takes only a few minutes to prepare. You can use whichever chicken parts you like, but we used brined whole chicken breasts. I highly recommend against  boneless skinless anything, but if you must, you must. Using bone-in chicken breasts will take a bit longer to cook, but they’re so worth it . 

The tarragon adds a luxurious flavor that’s balanced by the subtlety of the Dijon  and whole grain mustards. The leeks provide a sweet oniony flavor without being overbearing. It really all combines to just knock your socks off. 

Though I doubled the original recipe’s sauce, it was not saucy  whatsoever, so if you’re looking for drown-your-plate-in-jus, double my ingredients, and you’ll be set. 

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Creamy Tarragon-Dijon Chicken with Leeks

Course Main Course

Cuisine French

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 2

Author Cheryl Malik

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 large bone-in chicken breasts , whole, brined (use your favorite brine or check out this "quick brine" that I love)
• 2 large leeks , finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 8-9 ounces cream (250 milliliters)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (Maille is best)
• 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 teaspoons fresh tarragon , chopped
• salt and pepper to taste (go easy on the salt, keeping in mind the brined chicken will be saltier than unbrined chicken)
• whole leaf tarragon for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Season with pepper (and salt, if you did NOT brine). Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken carefully in skillet and cook 5 minutes on each side. Place skillet in oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.*
2. Remove skillet from oven and remove chicken to plate. Add leeks and garlic to the skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Cook about 5 minutes, or until softened. Reduce heat to low to medium-low.
3. Add cream and mustards and let simmer gently about 3 minutes.
4. Add chicken, lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons chopped tarragon and let cook for about 1-2 minutes. Serve with rice, pasta, or grain of your choice. Garnish with fresh tarragon and lemon slices.
5. Note: *If you're using boneless skinless chicken breasts, you can skip the oven step. The chicken can cook all the way through in the skillet.