Chicken vol-au-vent on grilled croissants
- Preparation 30 min
- Cooking 45 min
- Servings 4 to 6
- Freezing I do not suggest
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🥐 The croissant beats the shell
I don’t think the regular vol-au-vent shell is the best one. The croissant, though, I love: it’s crispier and it has more flavor. One day I had croissants left over from the day before, so I built my vol-au-vent right on top of them. Unreal.
If you want to make this on regular vol-au-vent shells, go for it, I’m not going to fight you over it. The sauce also works very well in store-bought vol-au-vent shells.
🍗 A sauce that makes a whole meal
It’s a homemade roux with chicken broth and milk, plus nutmeg. In it: chicken roasted in its spices before being diced, leek, carrots, mushrooms, edamame and maple bacon.
If you know chicken à la king, you’re in the neighborhood: chicken and vegetables in a creamy white sauce. Here, the bacon and the edamame make the difference.
🧀 Both halves flat, and cheese on top
The croissants get cut in half and go in the oven just long enough to turn a little crispy. To serve, both halves go flat on the plate, the sauce is spooned over generously, and Le Fin Renard cheese is grated over the whole thing.
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🥐 The croissants are where it’s won or lost
Four to five minutes in the oven, not one more. Overdone, the fat comes out, they go dry and they’re just not as good. You want them only a little crispy, and you cut them in half before they go in the oven.
🥣 Lumps in the roux
If the sauce fails, it’s almost always this. Keep stirring while the flour cooks in the butter, then whisk well when the broth and the milk go in.
🥄 Sauce too thick or too thin
Too thick, thin it out with a little milk. Too thin, let it reduce a little longer on the heat.
🍗 Leftover cooked chicken works
It does the job. But cooked with the spices from the dry rub, it’s even better, so if you have the time, make it the way the recipe says.
🥧 On real vol-au-vent shells
The sauce goes into store-bought shells without any problem. I prefer the croissants, but I won’t fight you over it. If it’s puff pastry you’re after, look at my lobster and mushroom vol-au-vent, served in real shells.
🫛 The edamame
I use frozen edamame that are already shelled. Nothing to shell, nothing to cook ahead.
✅ What to serve with my chicken vol-au-vent on grilled croissants?
Chicken, vegetables, bacon, croissants: it’s already a complete meal on the plate. If you like creamy chicken sauces, also try my creamy chicken with olives and artichokes or my creamy pasta with ranch chicken, mushrooms and spinach. And for more croissant ideas, there’s my crescent sandwich with maple ham and bacon.
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Ingredients for the dry rub
- 525 g chicken breasts, trimmed and boned
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) paprika
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) onion powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) herbes de Provence
- A drizzle of olive oil
Ingredients for the vegetables
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 leek, thinly sliced
- A drizzle of olive oil
- 3 Nantes carrots, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
- One 227 g package of white mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup (250 ml) shelled edamame, frozen
Ingredients for the sauce
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) butter
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) flour
- 2 cups (500 ml) chicken broth
- 1 cup (250 ml) milk
- 2 pinches of nutmeg
- 375 g maple bacon, cooked crispy and coarsely chopped
Ingredients for serving
- 6 croissants
- 170 g Le Fin Renard cheese, grated
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Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- In a large bowl, combine the spices, season with salt and pepper and mix. Pour the mixture over the chicken breasts and drizzle with olive oil. Toss well to coat the breasts.
- Place the breasts on a baking sheet and put in the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink and the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C). Dice the chicken and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the garlic and leek with a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring.
- Add the carrots and cook for 7 to 8 minutes to soften.
- Add the mushrooms and edamame, drizzle with a good amount of olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Set aside and keep warm.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir to form a roux. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
- Add the chicken broth, milk and nutmeg, then season with salt and pepper. Whisk to dissolve the roux. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes to thicken the sauce.
- Add the vegetables, the diced chicken and the bacon, then stir. Remove from the heat.
- Cut the croissants in half. Put them on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven at 400°F (200°C) for 4 to 5 minutes, just long enough to get them a little crispy.
- Divide the croissants among the plates, both halves flat, then spoon a generous amount of chicken sauce over them. Top with cheese and serve right away!
Roast chicken breasts coated in spices, dice them, then cook the leek, carrots, mushrooms and edamame. Make a roux with butter and flour, add the chicken broth, milk and nutmeg, let it thicken, then stir everything together with the chicken and the maple bacon. The croissants, cut in half, go in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes at 400°F (200°C). Lay them flat on the plate and cover them with sauce and cheese.
A white sauce built on a roux of butter and flour, with chicken broth, milk and nutmeg. Then the chicken, leek, carrots, mushrooms, edamame and maple bacon go in. You can also spoon it into store-bought vol-au-vent shells, and it works very well.
Chicken and vegetables in a creamy white sauce. Mine has chicken roasted in its spices, leek, carrots, mushrooms, edamame and maple bacon.
It’s in the same family: chicken and vegetables in a creamy white sauce. Mine is built on a roux with chicken broth and milk, and it adds maple bacon and edamame.
3 to 4 days in the fridge. I don’t suggest freezing it.
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