These creamy chicken mushroom crêpes are ideal for an elegant date-night dinner or even a small dinner party!
So, let's talk about the crêpes!
Crêpes are super thin pancakes that are French in origin. They are incorporated into both sweet and savory dishes. I think making crêpes is a lot of fun, and while a little bit time consuming, they cook so quickly that it’s not really that big of a deal. If you are short on time, you can buy pre-made crêpes, however, if you have the time I highly recommend making them yourself as they taste much better. Total time for this dish, including making 8 crêpes and letting the batter sit, is just over 60 minutes, which is pretty good for a special and elegant dish like this!
Crêpes are a really versatile and elegant base for many different dishes, so knowing how to make them is a good skill to have in your cooking repertoire. The consistency of the batter is the key to good results when it comes to crêpes so I've found that using a blender to whip of the batter is the best method and it makes it really easy too!
additional notes from the kitchen
- I don't put a lot of sauce on top of the crêpes as you don't want to overwhelm the flavors of this dish or have the crêpes get too soggy. If you like, you can always add a little bit of extra cheese for topping.
- I use baby Bella mushrooms for this dish as I prefer the taste and texture however you can substitute your favorite mushrooms in this recipe.
- Since you are going to bake the entire dish before serving it's not critical to keep the chicken filling mixture hot while making the crepes. I normally turn off the heat and leave it in the warm pan on the stovetop while I'm cooking the crêpes.
Things You May Want for This Recipe
Crepe Pan – While you can definitely use an 8 or 10" non-stick pan to make crepes I like using a crepe pan as it's a little lighter than a regular skillet. They are inexpensive and having one in your kitchen gives you a good excuse to make crepes. It's low sides also make it ideal for making quesadillas and other non-saucy dishes.
Blender – If you want to make a lot of smoothies you'll probably want to invest in a high powered blender or even a personal blender which is what I did. But if you are just in the market for a good, basic blender I recommend something like this Cuisinart. It works for all basic kitchen tasks like soups, dressings and of course, margaritas. I do occasionally use it to make smoothies too!
Mom's Creamy Chicken Mushroom Crêpes
Ingredients
For the crepes:
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon melted butter, 28 g
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 cup white wine, divided
- ½ teaspoon dried tarragon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoon flour
- ½ cup creme fraiche
- ¾ cup sliced mushrooms
- ½ cup grated gruyere
Instructions
- Add the egg, flour, melted butter, milk, water and salt to a blender. Blend on low for about 15 seconds. Scrape down the sides to ensure all the flour is incorporated. Blend for an additional 15 seconds. Place the blender in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the bubbles in the batter subside.
- After the batter has been in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes preheat the oven to 350° and coat a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray or melted butter.
- Melt 2 tablespoon butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken, ½ cup wine, broth, tarragon, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until chicken is done, about 8 minutes.
- When chicken is cooked through remove chicken from the pan and cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add flour to the pan and mix to form a roux (a thick paste-like sauce). Slowly add the remaining wine, stirring until smooth. Add the creme fraiche and stir until combined. Add the mushrooms and chicken to the pan. Stir to combine mixture. Turn off heat and leave the pan on a warm stovetop while you prepare the crepes.
- To make the crepes, butter a crepe pan or small non-stick skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Pour ¼ cup of the batter into the pan. Tilt the pan so that the batter coats the surface evenly. Cook for 2 minutes until the edges begin to lightly brown and curl up. Carefully remove crepe from pan and repeat with remaining batter.
- To assemble the crepes, add about ¼ cup of filling the center of a crepe. Roll the crepe around the filling and place into the prepared baking pan. Repeat with remaining crepes and filling.
- Once all the crepes are in the pan, sprinkle with grated gruyere and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately.
Lindsay | With Salt and Pepper says
I LOVE LOVE LOVE savory breakfasts. These sounds amazing!
Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen says
We don't do savory crepes often enough. These look fantastic! Total comfort food and so elegant!
Sasha @ Eat Love Eat says
I love filled savoury crepes like these! They make for amazing comfort food 🙂
Jen says
This was also a special dish growing up in my family! My mom still makes it from time to time, and it's always so comforting and delicious--but she's never given me the recipe. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this!
Christianne Boudreau says
Whipped these up quickly a couple of nights ago. I added some onions in because I like them, threw together a side salad, and tada!!! A delicious meal.
FoodieGirlChicago says
Christianne - I love the addition of onion to the recipe and very happy to hear you enjoyed them!!
Lucille Trimm says
Can these be made ahead of time and frozen before baking? Can gluten free flour be substituted for regular flour?
FoodieGirlChicago says
Hi Lucille - You can make the crepes ahead of time and freeze them. I wouldn't necessarily recommend freezing the entire dish as it will impact the texture. I've not experimented with doing a straight substitution for gluten-free flour but I think you'd need to make a few other adjustments so I'd recommend finding a recipe for gluten-free crepes and subbing those in. That would probably give you a better result. Enjoy!
Dawn G says
Just came across this recipe - made it for dinner for my husband & 17-yr old son, and they absolutely loved it (so did I!) and said it was a “keeper.” Thank for a great recipe!
FoodieGirlChicago says
Hi Dawn -
Thanks! I'm so glad to hear you all enjoyed it!!
Darlene Janzen says
can you substitute the wine?
Urban Foodie Kitchen says
Hi Darlene - You could probably substitute chicken broth for the wine, though I have not tested the recipe this way so can't tell you how much it would alter the taste.
Helen says
Could I assemble the complete dish the night before and just heat through from room temperature?
Urban Foodie Kitchen says
Hi Helen - You can assemble this ahead of time however the crepes will get a little soggy. I typically cook it per the directions and then reheat. Enjoy!
JT says
Is there a substitute I can use for the creme fraiche ? That is not sold where I'm from..
Urban Foodie Kitchen says
Hi JT - You can substitute sour cream for the creme fraiche. I'd start with about a 1/3 cup and check the taste and consistency.