Sauce Piquante is Louisiana comfort food at its best - tender chicken thighs simmered in a spicy, tomato-rich gravy thickened with a light roux. Serve it over rice and bring the hot sauce.
If gumbo is the soup, sauce piquante is the gravy. We start this Cajun classic with a simple roux, build big flavor with the Trinity and tomatoes, then simmer chicken until it’s fall-apart tender. It’s bold, a little fiery, and made for a big scoop of rice.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy to customize for heat level and even the protein (chicken, pork, shrimp, game, and more).
- Deep Creole flavor from a light roux, the Trinity, tomatoes, and a long simmer.
- Super comforting with a rich, thick, spoon-coating gravy that's perfect over rice or creamy grits.
I’ve cooked a lot of Louisiana-style dishes over the years, and sauce piquante is one of my go-to comfort meals because it’s all about simple technique done right. Brown the chicken, take your time with the roux, and you end up with a pot of bold, spicy gravy that tastes like it simmered all day.
Key Ingredients
Exact ingredient measurements are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Chicken thighs - bone-in for best flavor, boneless works too.
- Oil and flour - for the roux that thickens the gravy.
- Bell pepper, onion, celery - the Cajun Trinity.
- Garlic - the "Pope".
- Tomato paste - deepens the sauce flavor.
- Diced tomatoes or Rotel - Rotel adds extra “piquante” heat.
- Cajun seasoning - Use my homemade Cajun seasoning recipe for wonderful flavor.
- Cayenne pepper - optional for extra spicy.
- Chicken stock
- Dry red wine - optional, or use more stock.
- Bay leaves and thyme
- Hot sauce - optional, to finish.
- Sugar - optional, if the tomatoes taste too sharp/acidic.
- Parsley - fresh finish.
How to Make Sauce Piquante
This is the quick overview so you can see the flow. Full instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Brown the chicken thighs in a large pot or Dutch oven, then set aside.
- Make a light roux (stir constantly) until it turns the color of light peanut butter.
- Cook the Trinity and garlic until softened.
- Bloom the tomato paste, then deglaze with red wine (optional) and scrape up the browned bits.
- Add tomatoes, seasonings, and stock, then return the chicken to the pot.
- Simmer covered until the chicken is tender.
- Uncover and simmer until the sauce thickens into a spoon-coating gravy.
- Finish with parsley and serve over rice with extra hot sauce.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Roux color matters. A lighter roux thickens more. A darker roux adds more toasted flavor but thickens less. If you go darker, you may need a longer uncovered simmer to reach gravy consistency.
- Go for real browning. The sear on the chicken and the fond in the pot bring a lot of flavor to the finished gravy.
- Heat control:
- Mild: skip cayenne, use diced tomatoes, and go light on hot sauce.
- Medium: 1 teaspoon cayenne and a few dashes of hot sauce.
- Hot: Rotel + 2 teaspoons cayenne + your favorite hot sauce to finish.
- Protein swaps. Sauce piquante is made for smothering any of your favorite proteins. Make it with pork chops, alligator or other game, andouille sausage or other smoked meats, ham, duck, shrimp, catfish or other seafood. Adjust your simmering time as needed. Seafood is best added at the end until just cooked through.
Sauce Piquante Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2-2.5 pounds chicken thighs bone-in for best, or boneless (chopped if desired)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup peanut oil or vegetable oil or lard or butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 medium bell pepper chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry red wine Cabernet, Merlot, Malbec (optional - or use extra chicken stock)
- 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz) or Rotel (tomatoes + green chiles) for extra “piquante” heat
- 1-2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper optional for extra spicy
- 3 cups chicken stock or more as needed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1-2 teaspoons hot sauce optional for heat, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon sugar optional, if needed to balance acidity
- Chopped parsley to finish
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large pot or Dutch oven to medium-high heat.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook a couple minutes per side until browned. Set aside until ready to use.
- In the same pot, add the peanut oil and reduce heat to medium heat. Add flour and stir. Cook for about 10 minutes, constantly stirring, until the roux turns the color of light peanut butter. You can go lighter or darker (chocolate brown) if you’d like. NOTE: if it smells burnt, discard and restart.
- Add bell pepper, onion, celery and garlic. Stir and cook about 5 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and stir. Cook 1-2 minutes to bloom and develop the tomato flavor. It will darken a bit.
- Add the red wine and simmer 2-3 minutes, scraping any browned bits from the bottom.
- Add canned tomatoes, Cajun seasoning, cayenne, chicken stock, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Return the cooked chicken to the pot and add bay leaves and dried thyme. Stir in hot sauce to taste.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, until the chicken is tender (you might need longer for bone-in). Taste and adjust for salt and hot sauce. If too acidic, stir in 1 teaspoon sugar.
- Remove the cover and simmer another 15-20 minutes to thicken. Add more chicken stock if it is too thick.
- Serve into bowls over rice and top with chopped parsley and extra hot sauce.
Notes
- Wine option: Use a dry red wine. Simmer it for a few minutes after adding so the alcohol cooks off.
- Consistency: This should be a thick gravy, not soup. Uncover to reduce; add stock to loosen.
- Some store bought Cajun blends can be salty, so taste before adding extra salt.
- Roux Notes. Lighter roux offer more thickening power, while darker roux offer more flavor but with less thickening power.
Nutrition Information
Serving Ideas
- Steamed white rice or my dirty rice recipe
- Creamy grits for a Louisiana-style twist - Like shrimp and grits
- Crusty French bread for mopping up the sauce
- Simple side salad or slaw to cut the richness - like my vinegar coleslaw recipe or this creamy coleslaw recipe
- Southern collard greens or smothered green beans on the side
Storage
Store leftover sauce piquante in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat (or microwave in bursts). Add a splash of chicken stock to loosen the gravy if needed.
It also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy this recipe for sauce piquante. Let me know if you make it. I'd love to hear how it turned out for you, and if you decided to spice it up.
Want More Cajun and Creole Recipes?
- Chicken Fricassee Recipe, made with a light roux
- Cajun Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Recipe, made with a dark roux
- Shrimp Etouffee Recipe, extra creamy
- Shrimp Creole Recipe, extra tomato flavor
- See all of my Cajun recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Michael Souther says
turned out great. I pretty much followed recipe easier to make than I thought it would.
Mike Hultquist says
Great! Thanks for sharing this, Michael!! Happy to finally get this recipe out there. More people need to know how good it is! I appreciate it.
Terry H says
That sounds delicious and I’m planning to make it. My question is about the images attached. The recipe says full pieces of chicken thighs or chops, etc., but the images look like it’s chunks of chicken or pork. I like that better over whole pieces of meat I need a fork and a knife or a roll of paper towels to eat with. I gather this could be made with chunked up thigh pieces.
Mike Hultquist says
Hey, Terry! Yes, it is CRAZY good. I did use chopped boneless chicken thighs, but you can use whole with our without bones. This recipe is SUPER versatile and will work with any chicken or any other meat. I hope you enjoy it!