Blanquette de Volaille
Gentle white braise of chicken in a creamy sauce.
Ingredients
- 800 g Chicken thighs
- 2 Carrot
- 1 Leek
- 200 g Button mushrooms
- 150 ml Heavy cream
- 2 Egg yolk
- 40 g Butter
- 40 g 00 flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 Bay leaves (optional)
Method
- Cube the chicken and chop the carrot, leek, and mushrooms.
- Poach the chicken with the vegetables and bay in water until tender, skimming, about 40 minutes.
- While the chicken poaches, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low and stir in the flour. Cook gently 2 minutes, stirring, until the paste turns the colour of pale straw and smells nutty. Pull off the heat and set aside.
- Set the roux back over low heat and gradually whisk in the hot cooking liquid, ladle by ladle, until you have a smooth, velvety sauce.
- Off the heat, whisk a few spoonfuls of the hot sauce into the cream and yolks to warm them, then stir that mixture back into the sauce so it stays silky without curdling.
- Fold the chicken and vegetables back through.
- Serve with rice or buttered noodles.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Blanquette de Volaille
Blanquette de volaille is a chicken version of the classic French blanquette, a gentle white braise defined by what it deliberately avoids: no browning at any stage. The chicken and vegetables are poached slowly in water rather than seared, so the meat stays pale, tender, and mild, and the cooking liquid becomes a clean, clear stock. That stock is then transformed into a velvety sauce with a blond roux, cooked only until it smells nutty but before it takes on any color, and finished with a liaison of cream and egg yolk that thickens it into something silky and luxurious without breaking. It's a dish built on restraint and technique rather than aggressive flavor.
The result is comforting and elegant, delicate rather than rich in a heavy way, with sweet leek and carrot, earthy mushrooms, and fork-tender chicken suspended in a pale, glossy cream sauce. Traditionally it's served over rice or with buttered noodles to catch the sauce, and it's the kind of homey-yet-refined main that suits a cold evening or a quiet dinner. High in protein and naturally low in carbs, it earns its longer cooking time through the sauce-building, and this version walks you through the two moments that matter most: cooking the roux only to pale straw so it never colors, and tempering the hot sauce into the cream and yolk off the heat so the liaison enriches without curdling.
Blanquette de Volaille: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Blanquette de Volaille?
A serving has about 749 calories — 38.5g protein, 17.9g carbs, 57.5g fat, 2.4g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 38.5g of protein, roughly 21% of its calories.
Is Blanquette de Volaille gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains 00 flour. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Blanquette de Volaille dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Heavy cream, Butter. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Blanquette de Volaille take to make?
About 80 minutes start to finish, but only around 21 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Blanquette de Volaille?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out bay leaves — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Blanquette de Volaille make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.