Chicken à la King

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Any night of the week is a perfect night for Chicken à la King. This old-fashioned recipe has tender chicken with vegetables in a luscious cream sauce and is ready in under an hour.

Chicken a la king on a white plate.

Chicken à la King is officially an antique recipe enjoyed by enthusiastic eaters for over one hundred years. If you’ve never tried it, get ready to fall in love with how easy it is to make and how quickly it disappears off the plate.

This recipe uses boneless chicken breasts, but you can use cooked chicken too: leftover rotisserie chicken, roasted chicken, or even leftover holiday turkey.

Ingredient notes:

  • White wine: Choose a light-bodied dry white (such as sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio) that you enjoy drinking. Use more broth instead of the wine, if you prefer.
  • Chicken broth: Make your own chicken broth or use store-bought.

Step-by-step instructions:

  1. Marinate the raw chicken pieces in the cream (holding some cream back to use later), salt and lemon juice. You can put everything in a zipper-top plastic bag, or use a shallow glass baking dish for marinating. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for half an hour.
    Chicken marinating in a plastic bag.
  2. In a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add onion, carrots, and celery and sauté for several minutes until softened, stirring occasionally.
    Chopped vegetables cooking in a black skillet.
  3. Stir in the flour and cook for about a minute. Pour in the wine and cook until the mixture thickens, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. .
    Chopped vegetables and broth cooking in a black skillet.
  4. Pour in the chicken broth and the remaining cream. Cook for 5 minutes, until the sauce is very thick. Then stir in the chicken mixture, cream and all. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in the frozen peas, and cook for another minute. Remove the pan from the heat and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
    Chicken a la king ingredients being mixed together in a black skillet.

Recipe tips and variations:

  • Rotisserie chicken: Shred up a grocery store chicken (or make your own rotisserie chicken) and use the leftovers to make the recipe. No need to pre-marinate with cooked chicken; just stir in the lemon juice when you add the peas.
  • Slow cooker: In the bottom of a slow cooker, add cream, wine, chicken broth, flour, and 1 teaspoon salt and stir until smooth. Stir in chicken, celery, carrots and onion. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 7 to 8 hours. Stir in peas and lemon juice, then cook 30 minutes longer or until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley.
  • Make ahead: The recipe comes together in almost no time, but if you need to make it ahead of time, add the peas when you reheat the dish, to keep them bright.
  • Freezing: The cream sauce freezes well. Let the recipe cool, then portion, label, and date. Before reheating, let the dish thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Chicken a la king on a white plate.

More delicious chicken recipes:

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Chicken a la king on a white plate.

Chicken à la King

Any night of the week is a perfect night for Chicken à la King. This old-fashioned recipe has tender chicken with vegetables in a luscious cream sauce and is ready in under an hour.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Calories 271
5 from 7 votes

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • In a large zipper-lock back, combine ½ cup cream, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the chicken and mash until evenly coated. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Add onion, carrot, and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
  • Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add wine and cook until thickened, scraping up any browned bits, about 1 minute. Stir in the broth and the remaining ¼ cup of cream. Cook until the sauce is very thick, about 5 minutes. 
  • Stir in chicken mixture and peas. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with parsley. Serve on toasted bread or biscuits.

Notes

  1. White wine: Choose a light-bodied dry white (such as sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio) that you enjoy drinking. Use more broth instead of the wine, if you prefer.
  2. Chicken broth: Make your own chicken broth or use store-bought. 
  3. Rotisserie chicken: Shred up a grocery store chicken (or make your own rotisserie chicken) and use the leftovers to make the recipe. No need to pre-marinate with cooked chicken; just stir in the lemon juice when you add the peas.
  4. Slow cooker: In the bottom of a slow cooker, add cream, wine, chicken broth, flour, and 1 teaspoon salt and stir until smooth. Stir in chicken, celery, carrots and onion. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 7 to 8 hours. Stir in peas and lemon juice, then cook 30 minutes longer or until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley.
  5. Make ahead: The recipe comes together in almost no time, but if you need to make it ahead of time, add the peas when you reheat the dish, to keep them bright.
  6. Freezing: The cream sauce freezes well. Let the recipe cool, then portion, label, and date. Before reheating, let the dish thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Calories: 271kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 4gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 364mgPotassium: 296mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 3556IUVitamin C: 22mgCalcium: 60mgIron: 1mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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Comments

  1. This is awesome! My family can’t get enough of this…which makes me happy and look like an awesome cook!5 stars