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.
Tried this recipe out. It turned out good. I thought it needed more flavor, so I added Slap your MaMa seasoning. Game changer!
I would also change the amount of flour to maybe 1/2 cup instead of 1 cup, it was way too thick. I added more 1/2 & 1/2 but that didn’t help. So if I make it again I will with those changes.
Love ,Love your recipes
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Latrice!
So yummy!! Followed recipe exactly and turned out awesome. Very easy to make! I baked chicken breasts in the oven for this. Served with Pillsbury biscuits. Added to my go-to recipe binder. ❤️❤️
Was SO good, had it with mashed potatoes.
I have had chicken Al la king and love it! I decided to try a new recipe..this recipe had a good flavor but was too thick and creamy. If I were to make again I definitely would reduce the amount of cream to half and possibly the flour.
This was easy and delicious. i wish I’d doubled the recipe. i did add a little dry sherry at the end.
Great addition, Karen! Thanks for sharing :)
Easy and delicious!
delicious recipe…nothing to change or tweek!! yummy!
I have made this dish a couple times now and it is so quick and easy as a weekday staple using rotisserie chicken. Very tasty I serve it over butter puff pastry cups!!! Yummy!!
This dish was delicious! I added broccoli florets and corn. Yum yum
Love this recipe, very easy to make.
I made this evening. It was very good. I served it with gluten free biscuits
This looks really good and I plan on trying it soon. Tell me though, what other vegetable would you recommend besides peas (it’s the one vegetable I can’t stand)? Does it matter?
Thanks!
You can substitute for your favorite vegetable Bree! Colorful peppers, corn, carrots, or broccoli are great additions!
Absolutely with left over roast chicken. Added thin red strips of fresh red capsicum instead of pimentos, added a pinch of nutmeg and a couple of tablespoons of sherry { if no sherry, use white wine }
Wow yum. Me and husband loved this. it is a treat…a little rich in calories. So good! That being said I am making your turkey chili tomorrow…238 cals a serving and 5 stars… Thank you Holly
OMG, This was amazing absolutely amazing. The wife loved it as well we had the leftovers today and was amazing as well… just became Another of the favorite meal on the forever growing list of favs from Holly’s recipes!!! Thank you very much for all your hard work Holly we truly appreciate your recipes a lot!!
Hi Holly, just finished making this and I think it will be really good. One thing I might do differently next time is put less flour in. It’s very thick, which is fine, but I will probably put 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup in. I also added a bit more salt than the recipe called for. But I think it will be really good, serving it over rice. Thanks for another great recipe!
Made this recipe twice. Great both times.
All the classic and delicious ingredients to a *proper* Chicken ala King made easy with this wonderful recipe! I have been making this dish for almost fifty years following a classic old time recipe and yours simplified the procedure and was just as tasty if not more so than the other recipe. Thank you for sharing, it will now be the only ala King recipe I use.
As an aside, pimento’s are definitely an integral part of the recipe, not red peppers
I’ve been making this dish with my 50-year old recipe for, well, 50 years! Your recipe is just as good, but streamlined and still tasty! Thanks!
Thank you, Nikki! Glad you enjoyed out version too :)