Easy Chicken Legs with Creamy Mushroom Sauce - delicious, easy recipe that uses just a few simple ingredients. A perfect weeknight dinner!
The sauce I made for these easy chicken legs is so good - you will have a hard time keeping yourself away from it. I made the sauce by simmering everything in one skillet: mushrooms, garlic, chicken legs, chicken stock, and then adding heavy cream at the very end. And, of course, make sure to add just the right amount of salt and pepper.
It's been a long time since I cooked whole chicken legs last time. In fact, I think it's been years. I am so glad I finally made something with them - this easy chicken legs recipe is one of the best ways I ever cooked chicken. So juicy! And, you'll love creamy mushrooms, too!
What is chicken legs, by the way?
Chicken legs are often confused with chicken drumsticks, while in fact whole chicken legs are the combination of BOTH drumstick and thigh. Chicken legs are pretty large. For example, these 3 chicken legs in the photo are total 2 lb in weight:
This recipe is perfect for those days when you are busy and want something quick, yet delicious and nice looking - try these easy chicken legs with creamy mushroom sauce and you'll love it!
I used regular white mushrooms, sliced in half and cooked with minced garlic in olive oil:
Here are a few photos showing you how to cook chicken legs in a skillet on stove top. First, coat the chicken in flour mixture (flour, salt and pepper):
Next, brown chicken legs on high-medium heat in olive oil:
Then, remove chicken legs from the skillet, add mushrooms and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes:
Next, add chicken stock, add chicken legs back, add extra salt, cover and cook for 25-30 minutes until chicken legs are completely cooked through.
Finally, remove the chicken from the skillet, make the cream sauce by adding heavy cream, add the chicken back, and your easy chicken legs are ready!
If you love chicken and mushroom combination, you might enjoy these 2 recipes:
Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Rice
Chicken Thighs with Creamy Bacon Mushroom Thyme Sauce
Easy Chicken Legs with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup flour (you can use gluten free flour)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 lb chicken legs (about 3-4 large chicken legs)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 10 oz mushrooms (each sliced in half)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (if needed)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper. On a large plate, dredge chicken legs in this seasoned flour mixture.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken legs skin side down and brown for about 4 minutes until the skin turn nice golden color. Flip chicken legs over to the other side and brown the other side for about 3 minutes. Remove browned chicken legs and set aside. Also remove those parts of olive oil that got too dark from browning the chicken with flour mixture.
- To the same, now empty skillet, add mushrooms (sliced in half) and minced garlic, add extra tablespoon of olive oil (if needed) and saute them together on medium heat for 2 minutes.
- Add chicken stock to the skillet, scraping up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Add ¼ teaspoon of salt and stir.
- Place chicken legs back in the pan.
- Bring the chicken stock to boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer on low-medium. Simmer chicken legs for 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is completely cooked through and the juices run clear when chicken is cut in the middle.
- Remove the cooked chicken legs to a plate and keep warm.
- Turn heat under skillet to medium-high, and simmer the mushroom sauce for about 4 minutes until it is reduced by about a third. Stir in the ½ cup heavy cream into the mushroom sauce and simmer for another 2 minutes on low-medium heat, constantly stirring and scraping from the bottom of the skillet, until the sauce gets thicker.
- Add chicken legs back to the skillet to warm them up. Serve
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Hi Julia..your chicken legs with mushroom sauce looks perfect for a group coming for weeknite dinner. My only problem is I will be walking in the door about 20 min. Before they get here! Can I make this the night before and reheat. Thanks Elaine
Elaine, yes, you can make this the night before and reheat! I recommend not adding the heavy cream until the next day. So, you can complete all the steps (cook the chicken, mushrooms, reduce the broth, etc.). But add 1/2 cup of cream the next day when you reheat everything! Enjoy! 🙂
Absolutely delicious. I fried some onion and red peppers before adding the mushrooms. I couldn't keep my fingers out of the completed sauce! Yum
I love your addition of red peppers and onions! Sounds so good!
I was a little surprised there were no onions in the recipe. I tried the recipe as is first, but next time, I would saute sliced (or chopped) onions for a couple minutes immediately before adding the chicken.
Onions would make a great addition!
I absolutely loved this dish! Added extra liquids to mix in mushroom raviolis and everything was so delicious. Thank you for this easy, one-pan, tasty recipe! My husband and I talked about how good this was even the next morning . I'll definitely be making this again.
SaeHee, thank you for your rave review - I really appreciate it! 🙂 Love that you served this with ravioli!
Ravioli? Not sure this is a comment on this recipe? My own rating is great. Really easy and tasty, in the recipe book.
Brian, thank you for sharing your positive feedback and the 5-star rating - I really appreciate it! 🙂
This is my first attempt fortunately had ingredients but added sliced gree capcicum and onion , delicious.
Alan, love the addition of veggies! Thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
I used mushroom bisque in place of the heavy cream and put it over some rice.. this dish is phenomenal. I especially loved that it didn’t call for any butter and that I found a dish I could use that bisque that’s been sitting around in. I needed to add a bit more salt by the end but hello and welcome to my regular rotation!
Samantha, I am so glad this recipe was success! Thank you for your feedback and the 5-star review! ❤️
Delicious! Served over rice. Will definitely make again.
Carolyn, thank you for trying this recipe! This is delicious served over rice! 🙂
It was delicious but steaming the chicken after pan frying it made crispy skin soggy, any suggestions on how to avoid this?
Hi Jasmine. Just a heads up that pre-searing meat is basically to provide flavour only and quite possibly create a "seal" on the meat, if you will, ensuring the most juicy and moist result possible. The crispiness will indeed disappear but the flavour that remains is what your after in stewed dishes such as this one. Obviously just having a fried chicken dish will satisfy any craving for crispiness. : )
Chaz, I couldn't have said any better - thank you for such a detailed and insightful comment. Yes, the chicken skin will not necessarily be crispy, but it will still be flavorful and delicious. Similar in texture to cooked rotisserie chicken - not necessarily crispy, but also not overly thick and not overly chewy.
This was awesome thank you! Made it tonight according to directions except it took slightly longer to cook and I added some left over bacon bits. Delish!
So glad the recipe was enjoyed! Thank you for taking the time to share your positive feedback! 🙂
Excellent. Made as written.
Donna, thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂