One of the Test Kitchen’s favorites, this quick sauté pairs wine and grapes in a luscious sauce for pan-seared chicken breasts. If you’ve never used grapes in a sauce before—try it—you won’t be disappointed. This is simple enough for a weeknight, but elegant enough for entertaining. Make it a meal: Serve with brown basmati rice or mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed chard.

Makes 4 servings

ACTIVE TIME: 35 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 35 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 chicken breast cutlets, trimmed (about 1 pound)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
5 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 cups halved seedless green or red grapes
1 cup white wine
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour (reserve excess flour). Heat 3 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until golden on the first side, 2 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, turn the chicken and cook until the other side is golden, 2 to 4 minutes more. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until just starting to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add grapes and cook, stirring occasionally, until just starting to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with 5 teaspoons of the reserved flour; stir to coat. Add wine and broth; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits, until the sauce is reduced and thickened, about 8 minutes. Stir in parsley.
3. Return the chicken to the pan, turning to coat with sauce, and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve with the sauce.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 343 calories; 8 g fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 67 mg cholesterol; 29 g carbohydrate; 30 g protein; 1 g fiber; 399 mg sodium; 636 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Selenium (33% daily value), Vitamin C (25% dv), Potassium (18% dv).
2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 1 1/2 fruit, 1 vegetable, 3 1/2 very lean meat, 1 fat

I made this dish thinking forward to my mom visiting, as she was recently diagnosed as a diabetic--she controls her blood sugar through diet, she has not been given insulin. I found the dish tasty without bordering on annoyingly sweet, and I tried it with both red and white seedless grapes and both versions are quite good. I highly recommend this dish. Even non-diabetics will enjoy it.

Anonymous, Brooklyn Park, MN

My husband and I both enjoyed this last nite. It was easy, delicious and looked beautiful. I served it atop egg noodles with green beans. Normally when a recipe says it makes 4 servings, for us that means 6 servings as we don't eat like linebackers. However, I thought this recipe made 4 pretty skimpy servings. If I were serving this to company, I would use four smallish skinless breasts (not cutlets) and increase the sauce ingredients by at least 50%.

Elizabeth, Raleigh, NC

I thought this was good but not memorable. The only change I made was to use mild onions since I had no shallots. I used purple grapes and chicken breast. Easy enough to make. I served it with orzo and a side salad.

Diane, Liberty, MO

This dish was pretty good... although I forgot to add the excess flour to thicken up the sauce. It was tasty but not all that memorable.

Pam, Pittsburgh, PA