This creamy, easy Chicken a la King recipe is a comforting classic.
Cooked chicken is simmered in a creamy white sauce with mushrooms, peas, and pimentos in a single pan that goes right to the table from the stovetop.
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Holly’s Chicken à la King Highlights
- Flavor: This recipe has tender chicken in a pimento mushroom cream sauce.
- Skill level: Simple steps and ready-made ingredients make this dish a cinch.
- Time-Saving Tip: Buy sliced mushrooms or swap them for drained canned mushrooms. Rotisserie chicken or leftovers keep this recipe quick.
- Serving suggestions: It’s delish over rice, garlic mashed potatoes, biscuits, or homemade egg noodles.
Ingredient Tips for Chicken a la King
- Chicken: Any cooked chicken works in this recipe; I use rotisserie chicken. If you don’t have cooked chicken, check the recipe notes.
- Vegetables: Mushrooms, peas, and pimentos add earthy flavor and a pop of color to chicken a la King, but any combination of veggies works. Try celery, carrots, green beans, or spinach.
- Sauce: This easy sauce is made with stock, half-and-half, and a few basics from the spice cupboard. Feel free to swap out the sauce for a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup. Add a pinch of cayenne or red pepper flakes for a little heat.
Leftovers and Storage
- Keep leftover chicken a la King covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and reheat portions on the stovetop or in the microwave with a little milk mixed in to loosen the sauce.
- Freeze portions in freezer-safe containers for up to one month. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Leftovers can be added to a casserole dish, topped with crispy breadcrumbs, and baked until heated through for a whole new meal!
More Quick Chicken Recipes
Did you make this Chicken a la King? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter unsalted
- 8 ounces white mushrooms sliced
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup frozen petite peas
- ½ cup pimentos drained and chopped
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken
Instructions
- In a large 12-inch skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onions and cook until they start to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Season with garlic powder, black pepper, and kosher salt.
- Sprinkle in the flour and stir until a paste is formed. Cook for 2 minutes.
- While stirring, slowly pour in the chicken stock and half and half. Stir to make sure no chunks of flour remain.
- Turn the heat to low and stir until the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the peas, chopped pimentos, and rotisserie chicken. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes more.
- Serve over pasta, rice, or biscuits.
Notes
To Cook Chicken Quickly: You can quickly boil chicken while preparing the other ingredients for this recipe. Add 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts to a saucepan and cover with chicken broth. Cook on a low boil for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Shred it for use in recipes and the broth will be extra flavorful to use in this recipe (or reserve for another use).
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat in microwave or on stovetop and serve over rice or pasta.
To freeze, ladle Chicken ala King into zippered bags or an airtight container with the date on it and freeze flat. Thaw out and reheat using steps above.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 438 | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 699mg | Potassium: 554mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1838IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Excellent! Great on a cold fall day. I used chicken broth because I had it and canned peas. I also served it over noodles. Your recipes are so easy and delicious. You are my “go to” for recipes. Thank you for being an awesome cook and sharing your recipes.
Almost there! Substitute some of your water with dry white wine. It’s the crux of the dish!
Mmmm, delicious recommendation Nikki! Thanks for sharing.
JFYI….pimento is simply red bell peppers. When this recipe was “formulated”, red bell peppers were not available fresh. (1880’s/Delmonico’s). You’ll save a lot if you buy a fresh one, use some here, and the rest in other recipes. The pimento flavor is what makes Chicken a la.. into Chicken a la King!
Pimentos are a smaller, sweeter, type of pepper than a regular red bell pepper. They can be found canned or jarred. You can see them here on Amazon.
I believe that pimentos in a jar have a totally different taste from red bell peppers. They are a classic part of this dish. Plus, I pour the extra juice from the jar in with the liquids to add another flavor dimension! This is the same recipe my mother made 50+ years ago!
Delicious! I left out the mushrooms and pimentos, and added some carrots, basil and oregeno. I also substituted veggie broth (mom’s a vegetarian, so I put the chicken in after dishing hers out). I served it over smashed potato and it was so good! My husband and youngest really enjoyed it, but my older 2 weren’t a fan.
I plan on making this again, and using pie crust and muffin tins to make mini pot pies! The older boys will have to make sandwiches that night! Lol!
I used a jar of roasted red peppers and it was just as yummy.
looks yummee will be attempting this recipe this weekend what is pimentos tho
Pimentos are a type of pepper, found canned or jarred. They’re red, and mild in flavor. You can see them here on Amazon. Enjoy the recipe Trisha!
Has to have 4 table spoons of worchester sauce
Made this tonight. It was so good. Everyone enjoyed it. It’s going in our rotation. Thanks!!!
first time ever making chicken a la king and it was yummy. i definitely will be making it again (: i also used fresh garlic instead of garlic salt and served on biscuits!
So good! Just like my grandmother used to make it! I added corn.
What can I use as an alternative for pimientos? Thanks.
You could add some cooked or roasted red pepper in place of pimentos.
I did not use any just peas
I made this tonight to use up some chicken bi had in the fridge and some biscuits it has flavor and it tasted great followed the recipe to the T.
Not the flavor profile I was looking for. Although it was tasty, it was a bit pasty and lacked in overall flavor. I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of omitting the peas. I served over white bread toast. My husband, who loves about anything, enjoyed it, but I missed his normal rave. Still searching for that perfect recipe. Thx!
Thank you for your feedback Barbara.
Here’s how I made it: I cooked the mushrooms in the butter and skipped the onion. Then I removed the mushrooms with a slotted spoon. I added the flour and cooked the roux (butter and flour paste, with the spices) a good 10 minutes, even letting it brown a bit. Cooking the roux well is what will remove the pasty taste. After adding the chicken stock and cream and cooking till thick, I added the other ingredients. I found it needed another half cup or so of 1% milk to thin.
I also added a teaspoon of Worcester sauce and several dashes of Tabasco sauce to the roux. I would have added a tablespoon or two of sherry but didn’t have it on hand.
This is a very nice recipe.
Very delish, but of course it takes more than 10 min. to prep!! I served over baked potatoes, yum. Because it made a good amount, I took out half the sauce before adding the chicken, peas and pimentos and will use it to make a Welsh Rarebit of sorts. A very nice basic recipe with plenty of room for variations. Thanx
Perfect! I was concerned it might be too rich, but perfect amount of cream is in this recipe. I omitted pimiento and added cut carrots.
Superb chicken a la king recipe that will now become a classic in my family. Thank you.
This is a great recipe for chicken a la king. But the sauce was a bit thick until I added another cup of half and half.
This recipe is a keeper.
Do you use half and half or heavy whipping cream in chicken ala king recipe? Half and half is listed in ingredients, but in the instructions it says heavy whipping cream.
Apologies for the confusion. We use half and half, we did test with both types of cream and found the results to be similar but half and half is a bit lighter.
I’ve used whole lactose-free milk in the past with great results.
Will be making this recipe in a few minutes so I’ll report back.
Very easy to make and it was delicious!!
So happy to hear that Kristi!
Hello, what if I do not have pimientos? What substitute can I use?
Roasted red pepper or chopped red bell pepper.
I’ve been doing this for 65+ years & you need flavor. I’ve always used thinly sliced celery, & defi Some thyme. Cook your flour paste gently until the flour is cooked. It’ll be the color of a brown Paper bag. (Always do this when thickening with flour for your Roux. *Then* incorporate your half & half, whisking small amounts at a time! Voila, no lumps! If you want to take this dish up another notch, substitute a little of the half & half with a dry white wine! Also, it needs a rib of celery, & some thyme! 5 star retired chef.
Thanks for the tips Nikki!
What is half and half?
Find out more about half and half and how to make it here Judith.
You can buy it in the grocery store where you find the milk. It is a little heavier than regular milk as far as consistency.