Smothered Chicken & Potatoes

Some meals are classics that will live on forever. And most of those have some form of gravy and get to be called smothered! Hearty is another common aspect of classic recipes, so of course, meat and a starch are involved. This recipe for Smothered Chicken & Potatoes is going to be a fast classic for your Sunday suppers or a weeknight meals for the evenings that have a little extra time.

I don’t say that to put you off and make this recipe sound long or overly involved. It’s actually relatively hands-off. Once you have the potatoes in the water and the chicken in the gravy – it’s a waiting game. It’s important to have the right kind of pan with a lid to let the chicken cook in the gravy. You don’t want the pan too be too crowded. So you really need a 12 or 14inch saute pan – often called and “everyday pan“. It allows everything to spread out and cook evenly.

For this recipe, I used Russet potatoes for this particular dish. It’s a preference thing. For a dish like this, I like a thicker potato that can be left a little bit chunky and still taste good. You could go for a golden potato if you like a smoother potato. I went with a peeled potato, but if you wanted to go a little more rustic – you could leave the peel on. But I would avoid a red potato as they don’t smash up as well.

One thing this recipe could use is a nice drop biscuit on the side. While the potatoes do a fine job of sopping up all the goodness – a buttery biscuit could do the same. You might like my recipe for butter swim biscuits. But I will say if you add that – I would probably add some green beans or steamed broccoli.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Smothered Chicken & Potatoes

A classic roasted chicken with a silky gravy over fluffy mashed potatoes

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword Chicken, chicken and potatoes, chicken drumsticks, drumsticks, gravy, mashed potatoes, pan gravy, pan sauce, potatoes, smothered chicken, taragon

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 2 lb Chicken Drumstickes skin removed
• 3 tbsp Oil
• 2 tbsp Butter
• ½ Yellow Onion minced
• 1 tsp Tarragon
• 1 tbsp Chicken Bouillon Powder
• 1 qt Chicken Broth
• 2 cups Heavy Cream divided
• 5 lbs Russet Potatoes peeled
• ¼ cup Butter melted
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp White Pepper

For the Flour Mixture

• 1 cup Flour
• ¼ cup Corn Starch
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Celery Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Rubbed Sage

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

• Combine flour mixture in a gallon sized zipper bag. Add chicken drumsticks to bag and seal zipper. Give a good shake to get each piece evenly coated with the flour mixture.
• Start water boiling for potatoes (salt if desired)
• Add oil to large saute pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add floured chicken pieces (DO NOT DISCARD FLOUR MIXTURE!). Cook on all sides until you no longer see pink – does not need to be cooked through, just browned. Remove from pan. Reduce heat to medium.
• In same pan, add butter. Once melted, add onions and saute for 3 minutes. Then add remaining flour mix to pan and whisk together. Let cook 3 minutes then add bouillon powder, and tarragon. Whisk in chicken broth slowly. Let cook another minute then whisk in one cup of heavy cream. Once combined, return chicken to pan and coat with gravy. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover with lid. Let cook for 30 minutes.
• Add potatoes to boiling water. Once fork tender (about 25 minutes, depending on size of potatoes), drain in a colander and transfer to large mixing bowl. Add remaining heavy cream, salt, pepper and melted butter. Mash together until desired level of smoothness.
• Check that chicken in cooked through with a meat thermometer (should be at least 165degF at thickest part of drumstick).
• Serve chicken and pan gravy over top of mashed potatoes. Garnish with parsley if desired.