Chicken a la King is a creamy, savory, and easy-to-make comfort food dish that your whole family will devour! Dinner is ready in under 30 minutes.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
You are going to love this simple recipe. Chicken a la King is a delicious, comforting combination of chicken, mushrooms, and peas cooked in a rich and flavorful creamy sauce. Serve over rice, pasta, or buttermilk biscuits for a quick dinner. Chicken a-la-king will be ready in under 30 minutes.
This dish has a semi-French name, and sometimes when we see French words for foods we might assume that this dish is fancy or difficult. That is not the case for a la King Chicken. This meal is far from fancy. It’s a homestyle skillet meal that anyone at any cooking skill level can make.
I’m not certain why this recipe is “the king’s chicken”, but I can say that the name makes sense. This easy to cook chicken dinner is so delicious that it is fit for a king, and for your family too.
I have another recipe that is amazing served over biscuits! Try making homemade Sausage Gravy.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Start with Cooked Chicken. You can cook fresh chicken to add to Chicken a la King, but it works just as well with leftovers, frozen cooked chicken pieces, or a rotisserie chicken. You can even use leftover turkey to make this dish!
- Creamy Sauce. The best part of a la King Chicken is the creamy sauce that you can enjoy over pasta, rice, or fresh biscuits. This sauce doesn’t use any canned cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup to get that creamy effect, and it’s so much tastier made from scratch. Serve over rice or pasta to get a casserole-style meal without all the fuss.
- Lots of Veggies. This dish includes protein and vegetables, making it a well-balanced and hearty meal. We’re adding mushrooms and frozen peas, but you can add other frozen veggies too.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Chicken: 3 cups of cooked chicken are needed for Chicken a la King. Consider making this dish with leftovers or a grocery store rotisserie chicken. Cubed or shredded chicken will work.
- Butter and Flour: To make a creamy sauce we’ll create a roux (fat plus flour plus liquid). Don’t worry, it’s easy!
- Milk and Chicken Stock: To finish the creamy chicken a la king gravy we’ll add both chicken stock and milk. This gives us a creamy chicken gravy that is irresistible.
- Mushrooms and Onions: Cooked into the sauce, these vegetables add tons of homestyle flavor.
- Seasonings: Just a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic powder is all that’s needed to make this meal taste amazing.
- Frozen Peas and Jarred Pimentos: For an extra bit of nutrition and lots of color, these final ingredients are key.
Tip!
Make Chicken a la king gluten-free by using gluten-free flour to make the sauce.
Options for Pre-Cooked Chicken
Not sure how to make pre-cooked chicken for recipes? Try one of these easy options.
- Buy a Rotisserie Chicken. You’ll get about 4 cups of meat if you shred up the whole thing, which is perfect for this recipe.
- Make a Whole Chicken. If you have the time, roast your own chicken and do the same.
- Use Leftovers. Leftover grilled or baked chicken works well, or leftover Roast Turkey.
- Quickly Cook Chicken: Use your air fryer to quickly cook some chicken tenders to use in this recipe.
- Shredded Chicken: Plan ahead by using the crockpot to make shredded chicken, or boil chicken and then shred it.
How to Make Chicken A La King
- Sauté Vegetables: Start by melting the butter over high heat in a large high-sided skillet. Add the onion and mushrooms, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and sauté until the veggies are softened.
- Make the Sauce: Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook it while stirring with a spoon for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to low. Slowly pour in the chicken stock and whisk to stir it until smooth. Then add the milk, stirring until you get a smooth, creamy sauce. Allow to thicken for a couple of minutes.
- Finish: Stir in the cooked chicken, frozen peas, and pimentos. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of water or stock and stir again. Remove from the heat and serve your Chicken a la King over pasta, rice, or biscuits.
Recipe Tips
Use a Deep Skillet: There’s nothing worse than starting a recipe only to find out at the end that it won’t all fit in the pan! I suggest using your largest, deepest skillet to make Chicken a la King. I suggest this Cuisinart sauté pan for dishes like this one if you don’t already have one that will work.
Garlic Powder is Optional: If you don’t have any, or don’t want to add it, it’s ok. The flavor is still quite good without the addition of garlic.
Cook with Wine: To give this sauce an additional layer of flavor, you can add ½ cup of white wine to the pan before adding the chicken stock. You can also add sherry to the sauce toward the end (with the milk). With sherry, you don’t need more than 1-2 tablespoons.
What To Serve with Chicken A La King
This meal is best served on top of a starch, such as pasta, rice, or some type of bread. Potatoes work too! Make one of these simple side dishes:
- Texas Roadhouse Rolls
- Buttermilk Biscuits
- Crockpot Mashed Potatoes
- Buttered Noodles
- Air Fryer Tater Tots
- Lebanese Rice with Vermicelli
- Bread Maker White Bread
- Homemade Flat Bread
Or go the easy route and bake up a tray of refrigerated biscuits. Serving Chicken a la King is so easy!
Chicken ala King Variations
Make it without Mushrooms: I know that there are some of you out there who really don’t like mushrooms, and it’s ok if you leave them out of this recipe. You can add another vegetable if you like, but you don’t need to.
Add More Veggies: Frozen peas are so simple to add to this recipe because they cook just by being warmed up slightly. You can do the same with other frozen veggies, such as french cut green beans, corn, or carrots. Try using frozen mixed vegetables to get a bit of each!
Make it with Tuna: I haven’t tried it myself, but many people make Chicken a la King with tuna fish, which is a very economical way to make a hearty dinner. It will be similar to the flavor of Tuna Casserole. Add around 4 cups of drained canned tuna to the sauce. Using higher quality tuna will be best.
FAQs
Place any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Yes, this recipe freezes fairly well. Place leftovers in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 1 month. Allow to thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Pimentos are most typically seen as the red part in the middle of green olives, but you can find them in jars or cans on their own too. Pimento is the Spanish word for pepper, and specifically, the word refers to very sweet bell pepper. If you don’t have these you can use fresh red bell peppers, diced. Add them in with the onions to soften. You can also use a spicier canned pepper if you want to add heat to the recipe.
Add this recipe to your favorites list using Pinterest so that you can find it easily the next time your family asks you to make it. I promise that they will ask!
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Chicken a la king
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- ½ stick unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 8 ounces (225g) mushrooms
- ½ teaspoon salt you might need to add more, to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder optional
- ½ cup all purpose flour 60g. I used GF and it worked fine
- 2 cups (500ml) low sodium chicken stock
- 1½ cups (350ml) whole milk
- 4 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken use rotisserie chicken, or leftover cooked chicken – I boiled 2 large chicken breasts and shredded them. About 16 ounces, 450g.
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup pimentos diced, or a diced red bell pepper
Instructions
- In a large high sided skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add the onion and mushrooms, season with salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder if using and sauté until softened (5 minutes).
- Sprinkle the flour, and cook it while stirring with a spoon for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low.
- Slowly pour in the chicken stock, and use a whisk to stir it until smooth. Then add in the milk, and keep stirring with a whisk until you get a smooth creamy sauce. Allow to thicken for a couple of minutes.
- Stir in the chicken, peas, and pimentos. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of water and stir again.
- Remove from heat, and serve over pasta, rice, or biscuits. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Notes:
- Use a Deep Skillet: There’s nothing worse than starting a recipe only to find out at the end that it won’t all fit in the pan! I suggest using your largest, deepest skillet to make Chicken a la King. I suggest this Cuisinart sauté pan for dishes like this one if you don’t already have one that will work.
- Garlic Powder is Optional: If you don’t have any, or don’t want to add it, it’s ok. The flavor is still quite good without the addition of garlic.
- Cook with Wine: To give this sauce an additional layer of flavor, you can add ½ cup of white wine to the pan before adding the chicken stock. You can also add sherry to the sauce toward the end (with the milk). With sherry, you don’t need more than 1-2 tablespoons.
- Storing: Place any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Rena Neathery says
Best chicken A La King ever! Served it with rice.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Thank you so much for the awesome feedback, Rena! Enjoy!
Rhonda Sullivan says
it was good. not as complicated as other gf recipes. l will add egg yokes next time simply because l like the deep yellow color and pass on the smoked paprika.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Hi Rhonda! Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m thrilled to hear that the recipe was simple for you to make!
Mary Lou lou Wiegand says
Very good taste, consistency. We used toast. Had applesauce with it.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Sounds like a lovely dinner. Thank you so much for stopping back with a review!
Katherine Dooley says
I loved this recipe for Chicken Ala King that I haven’t had since I was a child. It was such an easy dish to make and delicious comfort food. Thank you for this great recipe.