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Poulet Marengo: chicken pieces in a rich tomato sauce, topped with fresh parsley, in an earthenware dish
Photo: “Poulet Marengo” by Arnaud 25, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized)

Chicken Dishes · Recipe No. 1031

Chicken Marengo

Chicken Marengo is chicken sautéed in butter and oil, then simmered with white wine, tomatoes, garlic and mushrooms and finished with glazed pearl onions and parsley. It's a classic one-pot dish with a famous, partly legendary back-story.

  • Serves 4
  • One pot
  • Simmers 1 hour
  • French / Italian

Napoleon and the Battle of Marengo ↓

Method

  1. Heat the butter (25 g) and olive oil (25 ml) in an ovenproof dish or pan. Add the chicken pieces and cook until they start to colour.

  2. Add the chopped onion and brown it. Sprinkle with the flour (1 tbsp) and stir until golden brown.

  3. Add the white wine (150 ml), scraping up the residue from the base of the pan as you stir.

  4. Add the tomatoes (500 g) and garlic (2 cloves). A bouquet garni can be added at this stage. Season, and barely cover with stock (about 300 ml).

  5. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

  6. Meanwhile, glaze the pearl onions (24) in a little sugar and butter; keep warm.

  7. Fry the sliced mushrooms (125 g) in a little butter for a couple of minutes and add them to the casserole 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

  8. Garnish with the glazed pearl onions and chopped parsley.

Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.

Chef’s notes

  • A dish of chicken or veal named after the Battle of Marengo and created by Dunand, Napoleon's chef, from local provisions.
  • This dish can be served garnished with croutons.
  • For authenticity, garnish with steamed crayfish and fried eggs!

A bit of history: Napoleon at Marengo

On 14 June 1800 Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, defeated the Austrian army at Marengo, near Alessandria in Piedmont, northern Italy. It was a close-run battle that the French very nearly lost, and it secured Napoleon's power at home.

Tradition has it that his chef, Dunand, had to feed him after the battle with whatever the foragers could find nearby: a chicken, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, crayfish from the river and some eggs. He sautéed the chicken, made a sauce with the tomatoes and a splash of brandy or wine, and served it with the crayfish and fried eggs. Napoleon is said to have liked it so much that he thought it brought him luck and wanted it again after later battles.

That's the legend, and it's probably more good story than recorded fact. Historians point out that Dunand is usually said to have joined Napoleon's household only after 1800, and accounts of the dish appear in print years later. Whatever its true origin, "Marengo" became a standard French restaurant dish. Classic cookery books, Escoffier's among them, keep the crayfish, fried eggs and croutons as the traditional garnish, and many versions use veal instead of chicken.

Shopping list for 4 portions

Meat & poultry

Fruit & veg

Dairy & eggs

Tins, jars & stock

Baking

Oils, vinegars & sauces

Wine & drinks

Fresh herbs

Store cupboard (check you have)

Converted from Cookeryonline recipe card No. 1031 (Marengo).