Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms

This is a quick skillet dinner with real depth, and the balsamic vinegar pulls double duty. Some goes into a marinade with mustard and garlic to season the chicken, and the rest hits the pan at the end, where it cooks down with the mushrooms into a tangy, glossy sauce.

The trick to that sauce is patience with the mushrooms. Let them cook until they’re deep brown, not pale and watery; that browning is where their savory, almost meaty flavor lives. A splash of broth and a hit of thyme round it out.

It comes together fast in one pan, which makes it a weeknight kind of dish that still tastes like you put in real effort.

Chef Tips

• Cook the mushrooms until genuinely deep brown; rushing them leaves the sauce thin and bland.
• Don’t crowd the chicken in the pan, or it steams instead of searing.
• Cook the reserved marinade down in the pan; the acid mellows and concentrates as it heats.

Variations

• Add onions, carrots, or broccoli with the mushrooms for a one-pan meal, as the recipe suggests.
• Use bone-in thighs instead of breasts for juicier, more forgiving meat.
• Finish with a knob of butter for a silkier pan sauce.