Braised Chicken Thighs with Pancetta, Sage and Beans

A close up of braised chicken thighs sitting on a plate with beans in sauce with sage and vegetables.

5 from 5 votes

Braised Chicken Thighs with Pancetta, Sage and Beans

Comforting and delicious chicken thighs with crispy skin served with vegetables, pancetta, sage and beautifully creamy beans. Hearty, home cooking for cosy weekends.

Prep Time20

Cook Time1 20

Total Time1 40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Author: Emily Wyper

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs skin on and bone-in
1 Carrot
1 Celery
1 Onion
2 Garlic cloves
3.5 oz Pancetta (100g)
⅓ cup dry Italian white wine (80ml) can omit if preferred
5-6 Sage leaves
1-2 sprigs Rosemary
1 Bay leaf
3.5 cups white beans (855g/30oz total undrained weight)
2 and ¼ cups low-sodium chicken stock (500ml)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt

Instructions

Prep

Finely chop the carrot, celery and onion and place in a bowl, set aside. Finely chop the garlic and keep it separate. Make up your stock and season the chicken on both sides with salt.
Heat a large saute pan (with high sides) until hot. Add the olive oil, then place the chicken skin side down. Brown the chicken skin side down for 10 minutes, then turn it over and brown for another 10 minutes. Set the chicken aside on a plate.
Next, add the pancetta to the pan and fry until slightly golden. Add the vegetables and herbs and saute for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute until fragrant.
Add the white wine and let it reduce by half, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Once reduced, add the chicken back in and pour over the stock. Let it simmer gently, uncovered, for 40 minutes.
Note: If the liquid reduces too much, add ½ cup (125ml) of water to top it up.
After 40 minutes, remove the chicken to a clean plate. Add the cooked beans with a little of their cooking liquid (I like to rinse the beans but keep about 2 tablespoons of their starchy water to add to the sauce, which helps thicken it) and stir into the pan.
If you would like the consistency a little saucier, you can add a splash of water. Cook the beans for about 5-10 minutes until hot and slightly creamy, then serve with the chicken.

Notes

Chicken - I serve 2 chicken thighs per person, but if your chicken thighs are large, you may only need 1.
Note on beans - the quality of the beans makes a big difference. Look for beans slowly cooked and stored in jars; there should only be 3 ingredients listed: beans, water and salt. My go-tos if in the UK are Bold Bean Co or M&S’s own jarred white beans. If you are in the US, then Impulse Beans look very similar, although I haven’t tried them myself.
Note on bean cooking water (stock) - good quality beans have excellent cooking water, which is starchy and has a jelly-type consistency. This is gold for thickening sauces and adding flavour. You can either drain the beans but don’t rinse them or reserve some of the cooking liquid (around 2 tablespoons) and rinse the beans. I prefer to do the latter when I don’t want an extra-thick sauce.
Storage and reheating - leftovers will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days. I like to reheat the chicken on a tray in the oven at 180C/350F for about 15 minutes (or until hot all the way through) and reheat the beans in a pan on the stove. Add a splash of water to adjust the consistency and loosen.

Nutrition