Last Updated on November 27, 2020 by Fiona Maclean
Easy Pheasant Recipes – Pheasant Breast in White Wine:
Skip straight to the recipe for Pheasant Breast in White WineMy earliest memory of eating pheasant comes from a childhood in Norfolk. My father was the village GP and, growing up in the 1960s and 70s in the countryside was a far cry from today’s high street offerings. It was an era when much to my mother’s disgust, local farmers would turn up on the doorstep with a freshly shot brace of pheasant. Not only did we have to hang the birds, but my mum was tasked with drawing and plucking the birds. Luckily she soon discovered that the kindly lady who came in to clean the surgery was both willing and able to do both tasks for a small thank-you. I remember feasting on pot-roast pheasant, loving the rich flavour which was quite unlike anything else I’d ever tried. We didn’t have a stock of pheasant breast recipes as the idea of having just pheasant breast never crossed my mind, but then, that would have involved my mother in more butchery.
Now, pheasant breasts are widely available from good supermarkets, game butchers and from online suppliers like Wild and Game a non-profit organisation with the main aim of introducing the British public to the great taste of game meat. I was lucky enough to be sent a pack of four pheasant breasts (enough for two generous portions) and this recipe for pheasant breast with white wine, cream and mushroom sauce is the result. One of the challenges of cooking meat off the bone, particularly game which is low in fat, is that it can quickly become too dry. So, serving it with a rich creamy sauce is a good way to keep the meat moist and tender.
The cream, mushroom and white wine sauce I’ve used here is something which works well with chicken breasts too, with firm white fish or even with pork tenderloin. You can mix it up a bit by leaving out the mushrooms and adding more mustard. For me though, this version with a generous handful of buttery button mushrooms adds a touch of umami flavour to the sauce which contrasts well with the gamey meat.
I’ve served my pheasant breast recipe with buttered kale and mashed potato but, they’d work well with any seasonal autumn or winter vegetable (even buttered Brussel sprouts). Next time I’ll be cooking up a batch of my spiced red cabbage as an accompaniment and serving with sauteed potato cubes for a contrast in texture and flavour.
An easy recipe for pheasant breasts in a creamy white wine, mustard and mushroom sauce
- 4 Skinned Pheasant Breasts If the pheasant breasts are not skinned, just make sure you cook them skin side down till the skin is golden
- 20 g Butter
- 15 ml Olive Oil
- Pepper To season
- 50 ml Dry White Wine
- 50 ml Chicken Stock
- 2 Banana shallots Finely chopped
- 50 ml Double cream
- 100 g Button mushrooms Sliced
- 40 g Butter
- 1 tsp Grainy mustard
- Salt and Pepper to season
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Gently pan fry the mushrooms in 20 g of butter and put to one side
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Soften the shallots for 5 minutes in 20 g of butter
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Add the wine and stock and bring to simmering. Cook for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid by about 50%
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Add the mustard and stir through
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Add a couple of teaspoons of the reduction to the cream and stir through. Then, pour the cream mixture into the pan and heat through carefully. Continue to heat, stirring constantly, till the mixture is around the thickness of double cream.
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Stir through the mushrooms Season with salt and pepper and keep warm while you cook the pheasant breasts.
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Season the pheasant breasts on both sides with a little pepper
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Heat the remaining butter and the olive oil in a large skillet, till foaming.
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Add the pheasant breasts and cook on each side for 3-5 minutes. Check with a skewer that they are cooked through. Allow to rest for 5 minutes
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Serve the pheasant breasts smothered in mushroom and white wine sauce
Recipe Video
This is a delicious and easy recipe for pheasant breasts. If you want to prepare in advance you can make the reduction for the white wine sauce and pre-fry the mushrooms so that the final cooking takes less than fifteen minutes. And, for that reason, I’d recommend the dish as a good winter supper party option. Finally, did you know that some game birds can help improve your mood? And, for someone like me, with a slow-acting thyroid, can improve conversion of T4 to T3 (and so help improve thyroid performance). It’s all to do with the level of selenium in pheasant and partridge – about four times the level found in chicken. So, why not try my recipe for pheasant breast in white wine and mushroom sauce. And let me know what you think.
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Looking for something different? Here’s a comfort recipe for Truffled Mac and Cheese that is perfect for a cold winter’s evening. Or how about this classic Beef and Guinness Casserole with Winter Spices and Orange to lift it to a new dimension
3 to 5 mins each side wrong. completely wrong. Not unless you like it just off raw
Hi Allen
Thank you for your comment. I wonder if you’ve ever cooked pheasant breasts off the bone? They are ready REALLY quickly and unless you’ve somehow obtained giant pheasant breasts, if you were to cook them for longer than 5 minutes on each side you’d end up with very dry meat and while the creamy sauce might help a bit, I am sure you’d rather not eat cardboard. I do suggest testing them with a skewer for doneness (the juices should run clear as I am sure you know) and of course they continue to cook while they are resting. As I haven’t made this recipe for a few months I’ve googled myself to check what other reputable cooking sites recommend. Mostly they suggest cooking for no more than 3 minutes each side.
Made this recipe twice now and it is a winner! Just need to get recipe of by heart now
I made this celeriac mash. Very nice. A lovely recipe that belies its simplicity.
Sounds amazing!
This was lovely. I got a bit creative with adding garlic and tarragon to the mushroom mix. Used half an onion instead of the shallots and Dijon mustard as I’d forgotten to by the whole grain one.
I love tarragon – in fact I’ve just done a recipe from one of those food boxes that uses mushrooms and tarragon. Definitely ok to add half an onion, I’d do that myself if I had no shallots. And, Dijon mustard is nice and mild – you should have got a slightly prettier sauce as a result I would think? Thank you for the feedback and glad the recipe worked for you
That was really yummy, I had never thought about pan frying the pheasant! Pheasant is usually dry, this was tender and tasted amazing – live the mushroom sauce recipe will definitely use again, thankyou!!!
Looking forward to trying your recipe. I was brought up in Suffolk in the 1940’s/50’s and we too had Pheasants left on the doorstep for mum to deal with. Getting fed up with not being able to get out to the shops I clicked on Wild & Game on Facebook and got one of their deliveries. I’m enjoying the various sections of game and wondered if there was a recipe for the Pheasant breasts. I happen to have most of what you used so I’m already to cook late in the day
I do love Wild and Game produce – it’s a not-for-profit too, so nothing is overpriced!
I have some Pheasant breasts in the freezer and just could not find a recipe that i liked until i saw this one. I will be trying this out at the weekend, thanks!
Loved this recipe. Quick, no fuss and suitable for even novices to game cookery. The sauce is divine and complemented the pheasant breast beautifully!
So glad you enjoyed it! I don’t tend to make any complicated recipes!!!
Off the top of my head I don’t think I’ve ever had pheasant but I’d definitely be up for trying it. The creamy white wine and mushroom sauce sounds amazing x
I love game – things like pheasant have a bit more flavour than chicken – and game birds come in all sorts of sizes so you can pick a small bird for one (grouse, pigeon or partridge) or a larger one like pheasant for 2 or 3. For me, the idea of pheasant breast is quite luxurious – but ever so good!
I don’t think I have had pheasant before and your poor mum, what a job to do. But the meal looks absolutely yummy
LOL mum REALLY hated those moments – and she was SO happy when she found someone who was willing to deal with the pheasant for her. The sauce is quite yummy in its own right and works perfectly well with chicken breasts;)
A delicious and easy recipe with a cream and white wine sauce that will work for a number of other dishes.