This spicy Chicken Sauce Piquant has stewed chicken and a rusty red Cajun country gravy. Serve it over a bed of white rice for an authentic Cajun classic dish.
The sauce piquant stew can be made with different meats and seafood. This recipe uses browned chicken pieces. It's a tasty and satisfying meal that good home cooks have fed their families for years, and it's also easy to prepare.
Piquant means prickly in French. When we were little, we didn't like walking on the grass barefoot in case we would get stuck with a piquant (pikɑ̃), meaning a sticker. This dish, rightly named, will prick your tongue with the tanginess of the tomato sauce and the heat from the spices.
More stews like this one from Louisiana Woman's classic Cajun recipe box:
- Chicken Fricassee With Dumplings, A Rustic Stew, is a dish from the heart of Cajun country. The fricassee (pronounced free-kah-say) begins with a roux, which gives the slow-cooked chicken a rich, thick gravy and adds flavor to the dumplings.
- Comforting Cajun Meatball Stew will meet all the classic Southern comfort food criteria. It's made of moist, tender meatballs cooked in a dark, rich gravy surrounded by diced carrots and potatoes.
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Ingredients
First, we make a roux, which adds a distinct, rich Southern Louisiana taste while thickening the gravy.
Roux
- Vegetable oil - olive oil and canola oil may be used to brown the flour in the roux.
- All-purpose flour is the thickening agent in the roux for the stew.
Sauce Piquant Dish
- Chicken thighs - or your favorite chicken pieces, like chicken breasts with bone in and skin on.
- House Seasoning Blend or Cajun seasoning—use your favorite combination of herbs and seasonings or one already blended.
- Vegetable oil - olive oil or canola oil to brown the chicken.
- Onion - the Cajun holy trinity's first ingredient that distinctly flavors Louisiana cuisine.
- Celery - the second flavor ingredient in the Cajun trinity.
- Green bell peppers - the third flavor ingredient of the Cajun trinity, and they add a special flavor to the dish.
- Garlic cloves - pressed or minced pieces scatter their flavor evenly throughout the dish.
- Cajun seasoning - the unique spice blend accentuates this authentic southern Louisiana stew.
- Roux - from the above recipe, to thicken the stew's gravy.
- Tomato paste - for just a bit of tangy tomato taste, it makes a difference.
- Water - for the gravy.
- Chopped fresh parsley or green onions - as a garnish for a pretty presentation.
- Hot sauce - for a more prickly, piquant taste, serve a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce or Tabasco sauce alongside this meal.
See the recipe card below for specific quantities of the ingredients and nutrients.
Instructions
Roux
- Place the oil in a medium pot and heat it over medium-high heat.
- Add flour to the hot oil and stir until it turns dark brown. Set aside for later.
Sauce Piquant
- Place 2 lbs of chicken in a large mixing bowl and season chicken with house or Cajun seasoning.
- Heat oil in a large, heavy pot or large Dutch oven on low to medium heat.
- Add the seasoned chicken to the hot oil and brown to a golden brown on both sides.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and put it back into the large bowl, leaving the browned bits in the bottom of the pot.
- Cook the Cajun trinity of vegetables, onion, celery, and green pepper in the hot oil left in the pot from browning the chicken until they are thick and syrupy.
- Stir in the garlic until the fragrance is released, about a minute or two without burning the garlic.
- Add the chicken to the cooked vegetable mixture and stir until the chicken is covered with the vegetables.
- Cook and brown the chicken a bit more on both sides for 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat.
- Turn the chicken pieces over, add 1 cup of water, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until all the water is cooked out. The extra browning makes a richer gravy.
- Add 2 cups of water and stir in the roux and the tomato paste.
- Stir in 2 ½ cups of water and the seasonings, and simmer the stew until the chicken is tender and the sauce is thickened. Do not cover the pot. If the gravy needs to be thinner, add more water, and heat thoroughly.
- Garnish with chopped green onions and/or fresh parsley and serve over hot white rice; use hot sauce for a spicier flavor.
Hint: Move browned chicken thighs toward the side of the pot and add the roux and tomato paste in the center of the pot to stir into the gravy.
Substitutions
- Use a whole, cut-up chicken instead of chicken thighs.
- The seasoning blends can be substituted with salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and garlic powder.
- Chicken stock or chicken broth can be used instead of water for the gravy in the sauce piquant.
Variations
- This Sauce Piquant recipe may be used with other meats and fish, such as venison, rabbit, turtle, shrimp, and alligator.
Equipment
- Cook the stew in a thick, heavy pot, such as a Magnalite pot or a Dutch oven.
- A roux spoon has a slanted edge that helps when stirring the roux and vegetables in the pot.
Storage
Store the stew in the refrigerator in a covered dish for 3 days or freeze it in an airtight container for up to a month.
Top Tip
When cooking the vegetables and browning the meat, be careful not to burn or scorch them. You don't want your dish to have a burnt taste. Allow the sauce piquant chicken to simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce is thickened.
FAQ
A sauce piquant is a spicy French sauce made with meat or fish smothered in the Cajun trinity and cooked in a roux and tomato sauce gravy. Piquant means to prick, and this spicy, tangy sauce will leave your tongue feeling prickly.
The Sauce Piquant is a spicy, rustic gravy made with a roux and tomato sauce, while the creole sauce is a milder gravy of butter and fresh tomatoes, sometimes seasoned with Italian seasonings.
A sauce piquant dish has a spicy, tomatoey, dark roux sauce, while a court bouillon usually has a lighter white sauce. See this Fish Court Bouillon recipe.
Related
Looking for other Cajun cooking recipes like this sauce piquant? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Chicken Sauce Piquant:
Chicken Sauce Piquant Recipe, A Smothered Cajun Stew
This spicy Chicken Sauce Piquant has stewed and browned chicken pieces in a rusty red Cajun country gravy. Serve it over a bed of white rice for an authentic Cajun dish.
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
Roux
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Sauce Piquant
- 6 chicken thighs (or 2 pounds of your favorite chicken pieces), bone-in, and skin on
- House seasoning or Cajun seasoning
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
- 2 cups chopped onion
- ¾ cup chopped celery
- ¾ cup chopped green bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- Cajun seasoning, use your favorite blend
- 2 tablespoons of roux from the above recipe; store the rest in the refrigerator
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup water, more if needed to thin the gravy
- chopped fresh green onion or parsley to garnish, optional
- hot sauce, optional
Instructions
Roux
- Place oil in a medium pot and heat over medium-high heat.
- Add flour to the hot oil and stir until it turns dark brown. Set aside for later.
Sauce Piquant
- Season chicken in a large mixing bowl with house seasoning or Cajun seasoning, set aside.
- Heat oil in a large, heavy pot or large Dutch oven on low to medium heat.
- Add the seasoned chicken to the hot oil and brown to a golden brown on both sides.
- Remove the chicken from the pot, put it back into the large bowl, and set aside, leaving the oil and browned bits at the bottom of the pot.
- Cook the Cajun trinity of vegetables, onion, celery, and green pepper in the hot oil left in the pot from browning the chicken until they are thick and syrupy.
- Stir in the garlic until the fragrance is released, about a minute or two; do not burn the garlic.
- Add the chicken to the cooked vegetables and stir until the chicken is covered with the vegetables.
- Cook and brown the chicken some more on both sides for 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat.
- Add 1 cup of water, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until all the water is cooked out.
- Add 2 cups of water and stir in the roux and the tomato paste until combined.
- Stir in 2 ½ cups of water and the seasonings, and simmer the stew until the chicken is tender and the sauce is thickened.
- Add more water if the gravy needs thinning.
- Garnish with chopped green onions and/or fresh parsley and serve over hot white rice; sprinkle with hot sauce for a spicier flavor.
Notes
- Move browned chicken thighs toward the side of the pot and add the roux and tomato paste in the center of the pot to stir into the gravy.
- When cooking the vegetables and browning the meat, be careful not to burn or scorch them, this dish needs attention when making the gravy, cooking the vegetables, and browning the meat.
- Allow the chicken sauce piquant to simmer slowly until the chicken is tender and the sauce is thickened.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Simmer
- Cuisine: Cajun
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