Chicken La Madeleine Copycat Recipe (Mushroom Sauce)

Chicken La Madeleine is the dish the café named after itself, and it’s the one people try hardest to recreate at home: a seared chicken breast under a mushroom cream sauce, rich enough to feel like a treat but light enough that the café files it under their lighter entrées. It comes together in about 40 minutes in one skillet.

It comes together in about 40 minutes in one skillet.

The sauce is the whole dish. Get the mushrooms properly browned before anything wet touches the pan and you’re most of the way there. Rush that step and you get a pale, thin sauce that tastes like cream instead of mushrooms.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• One skillet, about 40 minutes, no special equipment.
• The mushroom cream sauce works on pasta, pork or potatoes too.
• Restaurant-style without wine-shop ingredients.
• Easy to scale up for company.
• Reheats better than most cream sauces.

Chicken La Madeleine vs. Chicken Friand

These are two different dishes on the same menu, and people mix them up constantly when searching.

Chicken La Madeleine is a chicken breast served under mushroom cream sauce. Plate food, no pastry.

Chicken Friand is puff pastry filled with chicken, mushrooms and béchamel, then topped with more mushroom sauce. Hand food, wrapped.

Both are on the current menu. If you came here for the friand, the recipe below gets you there too — there’s a variation at the end that turns this exact filling into pastry parcels.

Ingredients

• Boneless chicken breasts: Pounded even so they cook at one rate
• Cremini mushrooms: More flavor than white button mushrooms
• Shallot: Milder and sweeter than yellow onion here
• Garlic: Two cloves, minced fine, added late
• Butter and olive oil: Butter for flavor, oil to raise the smoke point
• Dry white wine: Deglazes the pan and lifts the browned bits
• Chicken broth: Builds the sauce body without extra dairy
• Heavy cream: The finish that makes it a cream sauce
• Fresh thyme: The herb that makes it read as French
• Parmesan: A small amount for salt and depth
• Salt and black pepper: Season the chicken and the sauce separately

How To Make Chicken La Madeleine

Step One: Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally, or pound it to an even half-inch. Uneven thickness is the main reason chicken breast dries out. Pat dry, then season both sides with salt and pepper.

Step Two: Heat olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Sear the chicken 4 to 5 minutes per side until golden and cooked to 165°F. Move it to a plate and cover loosely.

Step Three: Add the remaining butter to the same pan and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the sliced mushrooms in a single layer and leave them alone for 4 minutes. Don’t stir, don’t salt yet. They need to brown, and both stirring and salting release water that steams them instead.

Step Four: Once browned, stir and cook another 3 to 4 minutes. Now add the shallot and cook 2 minutes until soft, then the garlic and thyme for one minute more.

Step Five: Pour in the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pan as it bubbles. Let it reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Everything stuck to that pan is flavor.

Step Six: Add the chicken broth and simmer 3 minutes, then stir in the cream and parmesan. Simmer gently 4 to 5 minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Taste and season.

Step Seven: Return the chicken and any juices to the pan, spoon sauce over the top, and warm through for 2 minutes. Serve with the sauce spooned generously over.

Turn It Into Chicken Friand

Same flavors, different format. Dice the cooked chicken and stir it into about half the mushroom sauce, then chill until firm. Cut thawed puff pastry into squares, spoon filling onto one half, fold over and crimp with a fork. Brush with egg wash and bake at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes until deeply golden. Ladle the reserved sauce over the top to serve.

The filling has to be cold and thick before it goes into pastry. Warm filling makes steam, and steam makes a soggy bottom.

Recipe Tips

• Brown the mushrooms properly. This is the step that separates a good sauce from a beige one. Give them the full four minutes undisturbed.
• Salt the mushrooms last. Salt draws out water, and water is what stops browning.
• Don’t boil the cream. A hard boil can split the sauce. Keep it at a gentle simmer once the cream goes in.
• Use the same pan throughout. The browned bits from the chicken are the base of the sauce.
• If the sauce gets too thick, loosen it with a splash of broth rather than more cream.

Storing Instructions

• Refrigerator: 3 days in an airtight container, chicken and sauce together.
• Reheating: Gently in a covered skillet over low heat with a splash of broth. High heat will separate the sauce.
• Freezer: Not recommended. Cream sauces turn grainy after thawing.
• Make ahead: The sauce can be made a day early and reheated gently while you sear fresh chicken.

What To Serve With It

Angel hair or buttered egg noodles catch the sauce best, and steamed green beans or asparagus keep it from feeling heavy. For a full café-style meal, start with the copycat country potato soup, or serve the La Madeleine chicken salad alongside for a lunch spread. Browse all my copycat recipes or the dinner archive for more.

Chicken La Madeleine FAQs

What is Chicken La Madeleine? A chicken breast served under a creamy mushroom sauce, listed among the café’s lighter entrées.

Is it the same as Chicken Friand? No. The friand is chicken and mushrooms in béchamel baked inside puff pastry. Both are on the menu and both are covered above.

Can I make it without wine? Yes. Use an extra quarter cup of chicken broth with a teaspoon of lemon juice for the acidity the wine provides.

What mushrooms work best? Cremini for flavor. White button mushrooms work but taste milder. A handful of dried porcini, soaked and chopped, deepens it further.

Can I use chicken thighs? Yes, and they’re more forgiving. Add 3 to 4 minutes per side and cook to 175°F.

Why did my sauce split? Almost always heat. Cream sauces separate when boiled hard. Keep it at a gentle simmer after the cream goes in.

Can I make the sauce ahead? Yes, up to a day. Reheat it slowly over low heat and sear the chicken fresh.

More La Madeleine Copycat Recipes

If this has you wanting the rest of the café menu, here’s what else I’ve recreated at home.

The country potato soup is thick, creamy and full of tender potatoes, and it’s the natural starter before a plate of this chicken. For lunch, the chicken salad with celery, almonds and a dijon-spiked dressing is the one people order on a croissant.

For more restaurant favorites, browse all my copycat recipes or the dinner archive.

This is an independent copycat recipe inspired by Chicken La Madeleine it is not the official recipe, and no knowledge of proprietary recipes, processes, or ingredients is claimed or implied. la Madeleine is a registered trademark of its owner and Fork To Spoon is not affiliated with or endorsed by it.*