Tarragon Mushroom Sauce Chicken Cutlets Recipe

I wanted a quick, healthy chicken dinner and found a simple recipe for chicken cutlets with tarragon-mushroom sauce. I had the ingredients on hand, so it came together quickly. My husband and I enjoyed the dish, and the kids liked the chicken even if they left the mushrooms behind. This easy chicken breast recipe pairs well with garlicky quinoa with toasted pine nuts and roasted asparagus with a Dijon-lemon sauce for a complete meal.

Chicken Cutlets with Tarragon-Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• ¼ onion, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• 1½ cups mushrooms, quartered
• ½ yellow onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp water
• 2½ tsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped

How to Make Chicken Cutlets with Tarragon-Mushroom Sauce

Combine the chicken broth, diced carrot, diced celery, diced onion, bay leaf, and minced garlic in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer about 10 minutes, or until the liquid reduces to roughly 1¼ cups. Remove and discard the solids with a slotted spoon.

Halve each chicken breast horizontally to make cutlets, then cut each piece in half so you have four smaller cutlets from each breast.

Season both sides of the chicken with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Place the flour in a shallow dish and dredge each piece of chicken, shaking off any excess.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter, swirling until the butter melts. Add half the cutlets and cook 2–3 minutes per side, until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and keep warm loosely tented with foil.

Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 tablespoon of butter, and the remaining cutlets. Set those aside and keep warm as well.

Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sliced onion and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned and the onion is softened.

Pour in the reserved reduced chicken broth, bring to a boil, and scrape the skillet to loosen any browned bits for extra flavor.

In a small bowl, whisk 1 tablespoon cold water with the cornstarch to make a slurry. Stir the slurry into the bubbling broth and cook about 1 minute until the sauce thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Stir in the chopped fresh tarragon until evenly distributed. Return the cooked chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet and spoon the sauce over each piece to coat.

Serve each cutlet with the tarragon-mushroom sauce generously spooned on top. Enjoy.