Name: Easy Italian Chicken and Mushrooms
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 320 g chicken breast fillets (about 1 chicken breast); 3 tablespoon evo oil, divided; 2 tablespoon butter, divided; 1 sprig of thyme; 1 sprig of rosemary; 1/2 pound white button mushrooms; 1/4 glass of white wine; 1-2 cloves of garlic, slightly crushed; 1 tablespoon chopped parsley; salt & pepper to taste

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Easy Italian Chicken and Mushrooms. A classic combination for a dish that is easy, quick, and delivers in flavor. A great weeknight meal for the family, or a Sunday dinner favorite that will impress your guests without too much effort.

Song of the day: L'Italiano - Toto Cutugno

[This post is sponsored by Mushrooms Canada. All opinions are our own.]

Chicken and mushrooms

To explain, this recipe for Pollo ai funghi, Easy Italian Chicken and Mushrooms is my dad's sister, zia Iride's recipe. I remember fondly the many times she made it for my family when she invited us over for Sunday lunch in their apartment in Rome. It was kind of like her "pièce de resistance". And even though meat has never been my favorite, I liked it. The chicken was always so tender, and combined with the mushrooms, had a delightful taste. I made sure to have a piece of mushrooms with every bite of chicken and I would finish my plate, without hesitation. Indeed, in Italy, chicken and mushrooms is a classic combination, and this particular dish is common in many households. Some may add a touch of cream to the pan, while others, like my aunt, relied only on the pan juices.

Ingredients

In the end, what I like about Italian dishes, is that you can get behind them with a few ingredients and an incredible end result. Here you will need:

Chicken breast, filleted quite thin, and dredged in flour to keep the juiciness intact.
Mushrooms, whatever you like, however I've always had this dish with white button or cremini mushrooms (that in Italy we call "funghi champignon").
Flour to dredge the chicken fillets. We lightly season the flour with salt and pepper to give extra flavor.
Butter and extra virgin olive oil for the cooking process.
White wine. We never use red wine for chicken because it stains the white meat and overpower the flavor. Choose a good white wine that you would drink.
Salt and pepper.
Herbs, like thyme, parsley, and rosemary.
Garlic, whole. We lightly press the garlic clove by pushing down on it with the palm of our hand.

How to prepare Easy Italian Chicken and Mushrooms

Prepping the chicken

Firstly, take your chicken fillets, wrap them in plastic wrap, and pound them gently with the flat side of a meat cleaver.
Secondly, lightly season both sides of the fillets with salt and pepper. Season the flour and give it a mix.
Thirdly, time to dredge the fillets in the flour. Make sure the chicken is covered nicely with the dredge, then shake off any excess flour.
Clean and slice the mushrooms. Set aside. Gather up the rest of your ingredients like butter, evo oil, garlic, white wine, and herbs.

Easy-Italian-Chicken-and-Mushrooms-chicken-dredges-mushrooms-cut

Cooking the chicken

Now, drizzle evo oil into a sauté pan, add the butter and turn heat to a medium setting. Once butter is melted, place the dredged chicken fillets into the pan. Throw in a sprig of rosemary and thyme.
Sauté for 1-2 minutes then turn over and cook for the same amount of time. Take chicken out of pan and set aside. Leave the pan, we want all those flavors to cook the mushrooms in.

Easy-Italian-Chicken-and-Mushrooms-chicken-cooked

Now it's time for the mushrooms

In the same pan where you cooked the chicken, add more evo oil, butter and the garlic. Turn heat to a medium, toss in the mushrooms and season with salt, pepper, and some parsley. Reserve a bit of chopped parsley for garnish.
Sauté for 5 minutes, then pour in the white wine and let dissolve allowing the alcohol to cook out.

Combining the chicken to the mushrooms

Lastly, add your cooked chicken fillets to the pan with the mushrooms. Give it a good mix to allow the chicken to absorb the juices of the pan.
Garnish with the reserved fresh chopped parsley. Remove the garlic cloves.

Easy-Italian-Chicken-and-Mushrooms-chicken-mushrooms-in-pan-finished

Time to plate this Easy Italian Chicken and Mushrooms

Take the chicken and mushrooms and plate them into your serving platter.
Add a little bit of butter (1 teaspoon) into the pan with a splash of wine. Turn heat on low and deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon or spatula to loosen all those flavor bits.
Once alcohol has cooked out, this usually takes a few minutes, turn off heat, and pour sauce over the chicken and mushrooms.

Let's give it a taste

Finally, it is time to taste and see if it as good as my auntie's. I would have to say, it was the way I remembered it, simply delicious. The chicken has this creaminess to the outside, and when you bite in, it is juicy and tender. The mushrooms are plump and flavorful and such a great compliment to the dish. That pan sauce is like icing on the cake.

Hope this will become a family favorite, like it is for us. Grazie zia!

More Italian chicken recipes for you to try

To conclude, if you like simple recipes with a ton of flavor, Italian dishes got you covered. Like some of our very best authentic Italian chicken recipes, made from scratch, from real ingredients with genuine Italian flair. We know you will find something just right for your table.

Buon Appetito!