Chicken with Tarragon-Mustard Sauce
This easy tarragon chicken recipe comes together in less than 30 minutes and can be made in your pressure cooker! Perfect for busy weeknights!
Creating This Tarragon Chicken Breast Recipe
Pleasant Hill Grain was kind enough to ask me if I’d be interested in testing out one of the pressure cookers they sell. I hadn’t ever used one, but it’s something I’ve been wanting to learn about for a while so I jumped at the chance.
The model I received is the 5.0 L Duromatic Top Model. Along with the cooker, I received a copy of Pressure Cooking for Everyone. I have lots of recipes in this bookmarked to try. They all sound delicious and most are accompanied by beautiful photographs.
I’m embarrassed to say that the Kuhn Rikon Pressure Cooker was so simple to use that I couldn’t figure it out at first. I thought, “it has to be more complicated then that.” I couldn’t understand what I was supposed to do with the dial on top of the lid and how exactly to control the pressure of the cooker even though I had read the user manual thoroughly.
Inside the cooker are helpful 1/2 and 2/3 markings to guide you when filling the pot according to your recipe instructions. The lid locks on so easily and once you learn how to gauge the pressure you’ll feel silly for ever thinking it was ever difficult or confusing to use a pressure cooker. I am definitely not an expert on pressure cooking, but I have used my cooker several times now and it’s something I’m glad I know how to do, especially on busy nights.
Now, about the tarragon chicken recipe. This was so simple to put together. The chicken is so unbelievably tender, you’d think you’d slaved the day away on it and the sauce has tons of flavor!
Ingredients for Tarragon Chicken
It might look like a long list of ingredients and complicated instructions, but you can literally start dinner less than 30 minutes before dinner without much prep-time. Once you have the method of pressure cooking down, you’ll be even faster!
- Dried and fresh tarragon
- Salt and pepper
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Olive oil
- Unsalted butter
- Shallots
- Mushrooms
- White wine
- Chicken stock
- Half and half
- Dijon mustard
- Cornstarch
- Fresh parsley, for garnish
For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.
How to Make Dijon Tarragon Chicken
This chicken with tarragon cream sauce is so easy to make! Here are the basic steps for creating this recipe:
- Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, and dried tarragon.
- Heat some oil in the pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the chicken on both sides. Remove to a plate.
- Add the butter and shallots, followed by the mushrooms. Cook until softened.
- Pour in the wine, stock, and fresh tarragon. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Return the chicken to the pressure cooker. Seal on the lid and cook on high high at high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Quick release and remove the chicken to a plate.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, mustard and half and half. Add to the pressure cooker (along with the remaining cooking liquid) and gently simmer until thickened.
- Pour the creamy tarragon sauce over the chicken and enjoy!
The above is simply a quick summary of this recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.
How to Store Tarragon Chicken Breasts
You can keep the Dijon tarragon chicken breasts in the fridge for up to five days. Store leftovers in an airtight container and reheat gently in a skillet or in the microwave.
What to Serve with Tarragon Chicken
This chicken with tarragon cream sauce is so versatile and you can pair it with a number of sides. Some of my go-to’s are:
- Browned Butter Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
- Green Beans with Bacon & Mushrooms
- Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Honey Roasted Carrots with Balsamic
- Lemon Roasted Broccolini
Don’t see what you’re looking for here? You can always head over to check out the recipe index to look for more recipes.
Tips for Making This Tarragon Chicken Recipe
- I recommend using a dry white wine for this recipe, preferably one you’d actually drink. Wines labeled as “cooking wines” don’t always taste the best.
- Note that recipe calls for dried and fresh tarragon. You need a mixture of the two for the tarragon flavor to really shine.
- I prefer using boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe, but thighs would likely work as well. The cooking time may differ, but I can’t say for sure.
More Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes:
This Baked Honey Mustard Chicken features chicken tenderloins that are baked in a sweet and savory honey mustard sauce with sprigs of fresh rosemary.
In this Creamy Orange Almond Chicken and Rice, golden brown chicken breasts are smothered in a creamy orange almond sauce and served alongside an almond rice pilaf.
These Ground Chicken Lettuce Wraps are Asian-inspired and easy to make during the work week.
These Baked Chicken Taquitos are so easy to prepare, you’ll be amazed!
This Orange Marmalade Chicken is a sweet and spicy simple Asian-inspired chicken recipe for dinner.
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Dijon Tarragon Chicken
This easy tarragon chicken recipe comes together in less than 30 minutes and can be made in your pressure cooker! Perfect for busy weeknights!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup chopped shallots
- 16 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2 stems fresh tarragon
- 2 tablespoons half and half
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Sprinkle the dried tarragon, salt, and pepper all over the chicken.
- In a 5-7 quart pressure cooker, heat the oil over medium-high heat. In batches, cook the chicken turning once, until lightly browned on both sides, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.Remove any remaining oil.
- Add the butter and heat over medium heat. Add the shallots and stir until softened, about 1 minute.
- Add the mushrooms and saute about 1 minute.
- Pour in the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits in the cooker. Stir in the stock and add the fresh tarragon.
- Return the chicken to the cooker. Lock the lid in place. Bring to high pressure over high heat. Adjust the heat to maintain the pressure.
- Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and quick-release the pressure.
- Open the lid, tilting it away from you to block any escaping steam. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Discard fresh tarragon stems.
- Skim any fat from the surface of the cooking liquid. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat.
- In a small bowl, combine the half and half, mustard, and cornstarch. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture until completely dissolved. Cook until just thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 532Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 204mgSodium: 589mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 75g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy. This provided information is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
Gwen says
sounds great! will try tonight. I have had my Kuhn Rikon pc for a couple of years now and it would be the one "thing" I would save if my house cought on fire! 😉 I use almost every day from making my own baby food to shredded chicken tacos. love your blog.
Anonymous says
I love Rodgers "Pressure Cooking for Everyone." I got it at Williams Sonoma on clearance for, like, $3.99, and frankly I like it better than the Lorna Sass ones. It seems like so many of her recipes call for a hard-to-find ingredient, and then I'm just turned off to doing it.I find, though, that I add a lot more salt and other spices than he says. Otherwise, for me, they're a little on the bland side.I'm looking foward to trying your adaptation.Melanie
The Waspy Redhead says
Pressure cookers always seemed so intimidating, though I'm alwasy fascinated when I see them used on TV. This makes it seem a bit more approachable. Thanks for sharing!
Pauline says
That looks really good. The sauce really makes it. Wow. I wish I had tarragon and Dijon mustard. This would be a simple, good dinner to make.
DailyChef says
I think I'll have to get one of these
Kitty says
Wow. I just looked at the cookers offered on this site and they have so many that look fantastic and free s/h on $99+. Click the link in the review to see them.