Recipe: Chicken & Artichokes in Wine Sauce Recipes from The Kitchn

When I was a kid, my mother took a cooking class with Giuliano Bugialli and learned how to make this dish. It tastes so rich and divine that you'd never suspect it's so economical and quick to make! She'd let me request a special meal for my birthday, and I often requested this dish.

Tester's Notes:
Kathryn published this recipe way back in 2009, and I've had it on my to-make list since then. I finally got around to it and wow was that overdue. This recipe is so deceptively simple; as Kathryn says, you would never guess it is so quick. The wine in the sauce binds the dish together and elevates it beyond the sum of its parts.

You can use either frozen or canned artichoke hearts for this dish. I used canned this time through, and they were delicious. Cut the chicken in pieces a little smaller than the artichoke heart halves.

The final dish is velvety and creamy (without cream, of course), and fragrant with wine and the artichokes' tangy taste. The chicken is very tender. This is a company dish, a supper good enough for a dinner party, but easy and quick enough for a weeknight. It's mild and delicious in a subtle, tangy way. - Faith

Chicken and Artichokes in Wine Sauce

Serves 4

2 cups artichoke hearts, frozen and thawed, or canned and drained
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1 pound
1 1/2 cups flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cups dry yet mellow white wine, such as Chardonnay
1/2 lemon
Flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, to garnish (optional)

Cut the artichoke hearts in half lengthwise. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, about 1 inch to a side. In a medium bowl, mix the flour with about 1 teaspoon salt and a generous quantity of black pepper. Toss the chicken pieces in the flour.

Set a large skillet (at least 12 inches wide) over medium-high heat. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the artichokes. Cook for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned on each side. Remove the artichokes from the skillet and transfer to a plate. Set aside.

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet along with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Lift the chicken pieces out of the flour and arrange in the skillet. Sauté the chicken pieces for 5 to 7 minutes or until well-browned on both sides. (For best flavor, look for a golden crust to develop, and make sure both sides are browned.) Add the browned artichokes back to the pan.

Pour in the white wine and and stir and scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer and let it simmer for 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat. The sauce will thicken. Stir well to coat everything with the wine sauce. Stir in a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice.

Serve with pasta or couscous. Garnish, if desired, with finely chopped parsley.

More Chicken Dinners
• Country Captain Chicken
• Barbecue Shredded Chicken from the Oven or Slow Cooker
• Braised French Onion Chicken with Gruyère
• Fake-Fried Chicken
• Pesto Chicken Tart

(Originally published 10/16/2009)

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (36)

Looks delicious! How large a package of artichokes? Would you serve it with rice or potatoes, or anything else?

@barlowgirl the standard Bird's Eye or Trader Joe's package found in the freezer section. About 2 cups of artichokes?

I usually just eat this with a green salad but you could serve it with some fettucine alfredo ...

sounds yummy. can I use canned artichokes?

@MLaura, I don't see why not.

I made this last night for my boyfriend's birthday. It was a big hit! I just served a green salad with it. This is definitely something I'll make again. Thanks!

I just made it tonight; it was really good except for the artichokes. (I had used canned artichokes) I personally would suggest steering away from canned chokes because most of them come with a really strong briny-taste that's really hard to mask/get rid of. Next time I'll go to my other grocer's and get frozen. :)

Where do you find Frozen Artichokes? My local store in Atlanta GA didn't seem to have any when I looked and I don't ever remember seeing any in the frozen aisle. I love artichokes so I'm pretty sure I would have bought them if they were there. Do I have to go to a Whole Foods or Trader Joes?

@caeebe Hmm, you aren't finding them in the frozen veg section at Publix, Kroger, etc? That's odd. Try Trader Joe's.

I can't find frozen artichokes either. I checked 3 stores this weekend. I don't think I've ever seen them before. Maybe they are only available in certain regions although that doesn't make sense since they are frozen.

that's very odd, I'm sorry you're having trouble finding them. Have you talked to the customer service rep at the grocery store? Maybe they can special order them or maybe they're in a hard-to-find place in the freezer section?

I am going to make this tonight! It sounds tasty and that photo makes a very convincing argument as well :)

Only place I've found frozen artichokes is Trader Joe's.

I'm going to make this tonight. Is the green sprinkle shown in the pic basil or parsley? Thanks.

I added that you can do a parsley garnish if desired.

The canned artichokes work just fine, just rinse them off first!

I assume that you don't actually use 1 1/2 cups of flour in the recipe - it's just for dredging the chicken and artichokes, is that correct?

@Susanintoronto, yes, Kathryn specified 1 1/2 cups, but I usually use less. Maybe 1 cup or so. The chicken is just tossed with the flour then lifted out.

It looks really tasty. Thanks!

I made this for dinner last night.Served it over bowtie pasta and a green salad.I will make this again but will probably tweak it with more vegggies. Mushrooms, olives, possibly peppers or broccoli.

Unfortunately I couldn't find any frozen artichokes here in
Sydney. Hopefully the tinned version works. Cooking it this week, can't wait! :)

We actually do something similar with sundried tomatoes and artichokes, but I also love the idea of mushrooms and olives. We also use bonesless chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts - I find them more flavourful.

I would recommend against canned artichokes too, because of the brine. Though I didn't rinse them too well, which might help. Next time though, I'll make it with frozen artichokes (can you use fresh if you steam them?) The canned artichokes were very sour and acidic and the taste overpowered the dish. The chicken was yummy and the sauce was nice and thick - and it was such an easy, elegant recipe that I will definitely try again WITHOUT canned artichokes.

I used 1 can and 1 box of frozen artichoke, but the dish is a bit too sour for my son's taste. I would try the frozen only! But otherwise all the adults loved it. I served with baby summer squash and zitti.

This dish looks awesome! I've never been able to find frozen artichokes for some reason, even at Trader Joe's - not sure why, maybe it is a regional thing? In any case, I've had good luck using Trader Joe's canned with no flavorings in various dishes - I just rinse them well and don't find them to be overly brine-y, and they will brown up nicely in a little oil if you pat them dry first.

Okay, I wanted to like this recipe - but I just tried it for a second time and I really think it is one of the worst meals I have ever made. I did use canned artichokes, but they were only canned in water and I rinsed them thoroughly. I used pinot grigio wine this time (last time I used sauvignon blanc). The sauce gets too "goopy" and the overall taste is just sour. Ick. Too bad, because it sounded so good!

Those of you who found the dish sour, did you *cook* the dish with the lemon juice? If so, try it one more time, adding the lemon juice as a finishing touch after removing it from the heat. Sometimes, if you cook lemon juice, it can go a bit bitter. Also, if your sauce is getting "goopy" you might have better results if you remove the chicken from the pan while you deglaze the pan. Once you're deglazed and the sauce is beginning to come together, add back in your chicken and artichokes and heat through.

Birdseye does really good frozen artichokes - I have found them in even the small grocery stores we have in NYC - I have learned not to microwave them though, it leaves them limp and flavorless

Meh. Added olives, white wine balsamic vinegar. Still meh.

I made this on a Monday night. It was an easy weeknight dinner to put together. I served it over quinoa. Over all, I think the dish lacked a rich flavor. I did like it enough and it was better the second day, but maybe next time I will add maybe some paprika or a chili flake for color and flavor. Also, I think some garlic and cilantro may deepen the flavor.

This sounds really good. However, I wonder if sweated shallots or onions and a little garlic might be worthy additions. What about sautéed mushrooms too?

Just made this, and yuck--totally didn't work for me. Perhaps my mistake came in when I decided to double the recipe (so we'd have leftovers). Perhaps the pan was overcrowded. Either way, I thought this was bland, and what little flavor it did have wasn't very tasty.

I made it, and both the hubby and I loved it! I used canned artichokes (Whole Foods 365 brand, not brined). Served with polenta (which was perfect).
Now that I think about it, I did make tiny changes (for a second there, I thought I hadn't). I remember that I did add some butter to the sauce. I wasn't thinking when I did it-- I just sort of went the instinctual "I just poured wine into a pan, so now I add butter because that's what I always do" route. I've made too many pan sauces in my life. Also, I only dredged a tiny bit, and in potato starch, because my hubby can't eat gluten (celiac's disease). Darn it, it drives me crazy when people leave reviews of recipes after having made a million changes, and now I'm doing it too!
What a great week-night option. SO FAST.

I had similar "meh" results. The chicken coating was like paste, the overall flavor was sour, and the wine never really cooked down into the rich sauce I was hoping for.

I love this recipe - quick, uncomplicated, and easily adaptable. It's wonderful as written, but tonight I made it without the flour (new dietary restrictions) and only had about half the amount of wine on hand, so I used some creme fraiche in place of the remaining wine. Incredibly delicious, sauce was thick and creamy and tangy, reminiscent of my favorite white wine coq au vin. Next time I will try it with Jerusalem artichokes, which I had a good harvest of this year. No matter how I make it, it's delicious on its own, over pasta, or with steamed new potatoes.

I really liked this! Though, for me, it was pretty hard to make. The next time I won't let the chicken sit in the flour, and I will peel an extra layer off of the canned artichokes I used.

Excellent flavors! I think the wine you use will have a HUGE impact on what the flavor is. I think there is no way to make this the same way twice. Wines vary so much by variety, vintage, and even bottle to bottle. So if you didn't like it try it again, with a different wine. I can't remember right now which wine I used.
I did use canned artichokes and they were really very good. No problems.
The last thing was that I really needed to use a lighter hand with the flour. Made the sauce gloopy and thick. Almost slimy. But the flavors were so good that everyone still ate it. I'm even eating the leftovers right now.