This is step by step simple recipe on how to make Coq Au Vin ( chicken and wine ) in Instant Pot and Dutch Oven side by side. Recipe is inspired by Julia Child and simplified for beginners.
Coq au Vin in pressure cooker vs. dutch oven, which one tastes better?
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Ingredients: ( servings 4-5 )
Chicken thighs ( bone-in & skin on ) - 5pcs
Red wine - 1 ½ cup ( pick a wine you actually like )
Brandy or Cognac - ¼ cup ( optional )
Chicken stock - 1 cup
Onion ( chopped ) - 1 pcs
Garlic ( minced ) - 5 cloves
Bacon ( cut in to ½ inch slices ) - 340g ( 12oz )
Carrots ( cut in to 1 inch pieces ) - 4pcs
Mushrooms ( sliced ) - 230g ( 8oz )
Pearl onions ( peeled ) - 500g ( 16oz )
Tomato paste - 2 tablespoons
Fresh thyme ( tights with the cooking string ) - 2-3 sprigs ( or you can use 2 teaspoons of dry thyme )
Salt & Pepper - to taste
Avocado or olive oil - 2 tablespoons for frying ( if you fry mushrooms and onions separately )
Butter ( softened ) - ¼ stick
Flour - 2 tablespoons
For decoration - parsley
Served with:
Sautéed greens with lemon and garlic
Haricot verts with lemon garlic brown butter sauce
Step#1
I am starting with pre-cutting all the ingredients. Chop onions, peel and cut carrots into 1 inch pieces. Mince garlic. Now, peel pearl onions. I am a big fan of pearl onions, so I am using quite a bit more as the recipe requires. As Julia once said “ it is hard to imagine civilization without onions “
Cut mushrooms. Get the bacon ready. We need to pre-cut bacon into ½ inch slices. As you can see, everything is fair, I am using the same amount of ingredients for both Instant Pot and Dutch oven methods.
Step#2
Let's get Instant Pot ready. Put bacon in a cold Instant Pot Pan and Start Instant Pot on Sauté mode. Pro Tip: Always put bacon on the cold pan, it will allow fat to slowly melt and not burn.
Cook bacon until crispy, remember to stir in the process. When bacon is crispy, take it out from the pan using a slotted spoon. Leave the bacon fat inside, we will use it to cook chicken and vegetables.
Now, season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook until brown on both sides. Don’t overcrowd the pot, do it in 2 batches. When ready, remove chicken to the plate.
For dutch oven, I will follow the same process of cooking bacon and browning chicken on both sides. I do like the searing in a dutch oven better than instant pot. It is a bit faster and the skin looks crispier.
Step#3
Instant Pot:
Now, add chopped onions and carrots to the pan and cook until the onion is translucent. Cook for about 6-7 minutes, then add garlic and mushrooms and cook for 2 more minutes. Now, add tomato paste and cook for another minute.
Now we can add pearl onions, thyme bundles and cover with wine, brandy and chicken stock. I am using my favorite French wine, but you can use any red wine of your choice.
And finally, layer the chicken inside the instant pot, close the lid, set on high manual pressure for 8 minutes and wait for natural release.
Dutch Oven:
In the meanwhile I am following almost the same process with Dutch Oven. Except I have decided to cook mushrooms on a separate skillet with oil and then added pearl onions to cook them as well. Since I am not cooking under pressure, I wanted to make sure pearl onions and mushrooms would cook through.
Then I followed the same process of cooking onion, carrots, garlic and tomato paste in the dutch oven. Cover it up with wine, brandy, and chicken stock. Layered the chicken on top along with the thyme bundle and let it simmer on medium low for 30 minutes. 30 minutes is enough to cook the chicken through, but if you want it to fall off the bone, you can simmer it for up to 1 hour on low heat.
All in all cooking this dish in the Instant Pot vs Dutch Oven takes about the same time. Instant Pot is a bit easier, as I cook everything in the same pot at once.
Step#4
Instant Pot:
Wait for natural pressure release. Remove chicken and vegetables to the serving platter. Sauce looks a bit watery. Now we need to make it look like a gravy by adding Beurre Manie which is a combination of ¼ stick of melted butter with 2 tablespoons of flour. Mix it well with the sauce, add bacon and set Instant Pot to Saute mode. In about 7 minutes, your sauce will thicken to desired texture. Remember to add salt and pepper if needed. Then add chicken back in and it is ready.
Dutch Oven:
After 30 minutes of simmering, take out chicken, add the butter mix, mushrooms, onions and bacon.
Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Add chicken back in and it is ready.
Overall Coq Au Van turned out really good. So all in all use either method……they both are good and take about the same time for this particular recipe.