A

Ingredients

  • Chicken breasts
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup chicken / vegetable / mushroom stock (or base)
  • 3 tablespoons milk (if using stock) or 1 cup milk (if using the base, just put it in the milk)

Optional Ingredients

  • garlic
  • shallots
  • fresh herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary)

Notes

  • If you have a skillet or pan that you can put in the oven, use that (like cast iron or stainless steel). If you don’t have one of those, then you’ll want to make sure that you transfer all the browned bits from the skillet into whatever you bake the chicken in.

Steps

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
  2. Brine the chicken breasts in saltwater for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat up a skillet to low / medium heat with the oil and 1 tablespoon of butter.
  3. Add the garlic / shallots / fresh herbs if you are using any of them to the skillet.
  4. Brown the chicken breasts on the skillet. Maybe 3-4 minutes each side.
  5. Plop the rest of the butter on the top of each chicken breast and transfer the whole pan into the oven until the chicken is 165F.
  6. When the chicken reaches 165F, take it out of the oven and transfer it to a plate. Keep all the goodness in the pan.
  7. Make a Roux by whisking the flour into the pan drippings one tablespoon at a time. The consistency should be like wet sand.
  8. Slowly mix in your broth and milk to achieve your desired consistency. If the gravy gets too thin, turn up the heat slightly and whisk.