Chicken can often be quite boring, so it's time to level up your chicken game, and this dish is the perfect one to make that happen. This Grapefruit Herb Chicken with Supreme Sauce will take your chicken from ordinary to extraordinary!
Most people like chicken. Some even “love” chicken. But let’s be real here…chicken isn’t the most flavorful protein out there. Who hasn’t had an overcooked, rubbery chicken, or a bland chicken breast that just leaves you feeling sad?? When making a chicken breast, it needs to have some serious love and attention to even be considered close to “great.”
So, what is the answer? How about a rub, marinade, or a sauce? Ha! We have an idea…how about all three? We are talking about a delicious paste and a silky, flavorful sauce!
What makes this chicken recipe so special?
Let’s start with the “paste.” Using a paste isn’t a new concept, but it sure does beat rubs and marinades often and crushes them in this application.
A nice assembly of dried herbs and spices that aren’t overpowering but complement one another is a perfect start. Adding some grapefruit zest for a subtle taste and a touch of sweetness and acidity is the secret addition. Because the paste adheres itself to the chicken, you get to retain the flavor of everything, unlike a marinade. You also allow the ingredients to meld together on the chicken in a more thorough manner than just using a dry rub. Adding just a little olive oil to the herb blend and allowing a little time for the paste to sit on the chicken, gives you the flavorful foundation of this dish.
And don't worry, the chicken only needs to sit for about 30 minutes and up to an hour, so the total time to prepare this dish is about an hour. This dish is easy to make any night of the week, but can also be a fun date night dish because it tastes like what you would order in a fancy restaurant.
The grapefruit herb paste makes the chicken taste fantastic on its own, but why stop there when you can add a delicious sauce on top? We didn't stop there, of course, and we topped this chicken off with a delicious Supreme Sauce.
What's a Supreme Sauce?
A sauce added to this chicken brings it to a decadent level that changes this common protein from quite boring to spectacular. A supreme sauce is not anything special or difficult to make. In fact, it is a very classical sauce. It is referred to in classical French cuisine as a "small sauce" from the French mother sauce velouté.
There are many techniques to make a supreme sauce, but it is traditionally a white stock, in this case chicken, combined with a white roux (making a velouté), and with the addition of heavy cream. That’s the baseline supreme sauce. The use of aromatic herbs, wine, or different thickening techniques can all produce a brilliant outcome.
Here we make the sauce with deep roasted chicken stock and the pan juices to incorporate some of the flavor from the chicken and it’s seasoning. Doing this will really make the sauce complement the chicken even better. The darkening color of the sauce due to this technique is actually a bonus as it looks as rich and delicious as it tastes!
It goes without saying but the better the quality of the chicken stock, the better the sauce will be. In fact, Mark will say it anytime he gets asked, and often when no one asks at all. We say this for all ingredients as well, but the stock is the foundation of the sauce, so it only makes sense! The rest of the ingredients are common and classic, but there is a reason they work so well in this sauce. Once you taste it with the chicken, you’ll know why we love it so much!
The Garnish
If you are making this as a date night meal, then you can't skip the garnish! We added our Wine-Poached Shallots and Onions to the plated chicken and we highly encourage you to do this as well! They provide a nice additional texture and flavor that really complements the whole dish. And they look quite fancy, and a nice presentation always enhances a dish.
Chopped parsley and some thyme leaves at a minimum will brighten the dish and give you some nice herbal pops of flavor, as well.
Enjoy!
We hope you enjoy this recipe for Grapefruit Herb Chicken with Supreme Sauce. If you give it a try, leave us a comment below or tag us on Instagram @cooking_with_wine!
Looking for recipes like this one? Check out some of our popular dinner recipes below:
- Crunchy Chicken with White Wine Lemon Butter Sauce
- Chicken Piccata with Caper Lemon Butter Sauce
- Olive and Artichoke Braised Chicken with Barley Pilaf
- Saltimbocca alla Romana
- Coq au Vin – Chicken in Red Wine
Do you love our recipes?
We work hard to provide you with delicious FREE recipes here on Cooking With Wine. If you love and value our content and want to support our efforts, you can contribute whatever amount you are comfortable with below.
Buy me a coffeeWe will continue to provide you with recipes no matter what, so there is no obligation to contribute! Any and all contributions are greatly appreciated!
Thank you for being part of our community! You are the reason we do what we do!
📖 Recipe
Grapefruit Herb Chicken with Supreme Sauce
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (18g) olive oil
- 2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon zest of grapefruit
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (24g) kosher salt
- 4 tablespoon (57g) unsalted butter
For the Sauce
- 21 oz (620ml) chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1 sprig of parsley
- 10 black peppercorns
- 2 oz (60ml) Dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoon (23-24g) AP flour
- 3 oz (90ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh chopped parsley
Garnish
- 1 recipe Wine-Poached Shallots and Onions (optional)
- chopped fresh parsley leaves
- thyme leaves
Instructions
- Start by trimming the chicken breasts of unwanted fat and gently pound the breasts to achieve a somewhat uniform thickness. Just pound the fattest part so they cook more evenly, but DO NOT make thin chicken breasts. Then mix the olive oil, pepper, thyme, oregano, garlic and onion powders and grapefruit zest together to form a paste. If it is too dry, add a little bit more oil. Then rub the chicken with this mixture and place on a rack over a pan and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to a couple of hours.
- Warm the chicken stock in a saucepan, covered, with the bay leaf, thyme, parsley sprig, and peppercorns.
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and salt each piece on both sides. In a large enough pan to hold all the chicken, melt the butter over medium heat and cook the chicken gently – 6-7 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm.
- In the pan you used to cook the chicken get the pan warm again and deglaze with the white wine, scraping the bits. Cook over medium heat until the wine is almost gone – just a minute or two.
- Add the butter and melt, then add the flour. Stir to combine and cook this roux for a couple of minutes until the flour is turning color.
- Strain the warmed stock into this pan and whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. It should be a bit thick, but not at sauce consistency yet. Simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the cream and stir to combine. Cook for another 5 minutes and then add the vinegar and salt. Cook for a few minutes until the sauce is as thick as you want it. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.
- Serve over the chicken with your favorite side (rice is perfect) and garnish with the chopped parsley, thyme leaves, and sliced Wine-Poached Shallots and Onions (optional).
Leave a Reply