Chicken with King
Chicken that was left over (or rotisserie) in a creamy sauce with mushrooms and a little sherry. A filling, comforting, and simple meal.
- Time to get ready: 10 minutes
- Time to cook: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Four servings
- Dinner is the course.
- Food: American and British
Introduction
A true classic! For years, I’ve been making this chicken ala king. My mom used to prepare this for me when I was a kid, and she gave me the recipe.You may use rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken to make this.
I’ve always loved how the sauce soaks into the rice and makes every bite taste creamy, savory, and good.
“A recipe that is quick and easy to follow and requires basic ingredients. The result was great. It was easy to clean up. “I’ll do this again.”
– Kurium
Sherry? With milk?
I’ve been eating chicken a la king since I was a youngster. I was able to receive the recipe from my mom in my 20s, and I was SHOCKED to find out that sherry and milk were the secret components.
When you mix the sherry into the milk-based sauce, a few things happen:
- It brings out the flavors of the other ingredients and adds depth to the dish.
- It makes things a little more complicated by adding acidity and umami to the smoothness of the milk.
- It adds a savory flavor that makes it feel more expensive, and we all know that smell affects how you taste.
You don’t need a lot of sherry (in fact, too much is bad), but you do need it, so don’t forget it.
Ingredients
I use two huge cooked chicken breasts to feed four people. You can use any leftover chicken from making a roast chicken, or you can use rotisserie chicken if you want.
Mushrooms— I use baby chestnut mushrooms, but you could also use cremini, baby portobello, or white mushrooms. If you can, use brown mushrooms instead of white mushrooms because they have the least flavor.
You can make chicken stock at home, but hot water and a few stock cubes work just as well.
You can use either full-fat or semi-skimmed milk.
You simply need 2 tablespoons of dry sherry to get a lot of flavor.
For the recipe:
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 12 baby chestnut mushrooms cut in half (you can use button mushrooms or 5–6 regular-sized mushrooms instead)
- 1 big onion, peeled and cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons of plain (all-purpose) flour
- A cup and three tablespoons (280 ml) of boiling chicken stock, hot water, and a few stock cubes are good.
- 200 ml (3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp) of semi-skimmed or full-fat milk
- ½ teaspoon of dried thyme or 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons of dry sherry, precisely measured (too much will make the sauce taste like sherry)
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 big cooked chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces (approximately 250g/9oz)
To serve:
- parsley that has been cut up
- boiled rice or pasta
Cooking Instructions
- Put 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan or skillet and heat it over medium-high heat.
3 tablespoons of olive oil - Add the chopped mushrooms and sauté them for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Take it out of the pan and place it in a bowl.
12 baby chestnut mushrooms -
Put the onion in the pan and heat the rest of the oil. Fry the onion wedges for 5 to 6 minutes over medium-high heat, or until the edges start to color a little. To keep the onions from burning, move them about in the pan.
1 big onion
- Add the flour and simmer for one minute while stirring.
2 tablespoons of plain (all-purpose) flour - Add a little bit of the hot stock and mix it into the onion and flour with a whisk. It should turn into a thick paste. Add the rest of the stock in big splashes and keep swirling with the whisk to keep your sauce from getting lumpy.
1 cup and 3 tablespoons of boiling chicken stock - After all the stock is in, add the milk and thyme. As the sauce heats up, it will get thicker if you keep stirring.
200 ml (3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) of semi-skimmed or full-fat milk and ½ tsp of dried thyme - Add the sherry, salt, and pepper when it has thickened. Taste it and add more seasoning if you think it needs it.
1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, and 2 tbsp dry sherry - Stir in the cooked chicken and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes to make sure the chicken is heated all the way through.
Two big cooked chicken breasts - Put it on top of some fluffy white rice and finish with some parsley.
fresh parsley, diced up, boiling rice or spaghetti
Notes
Swapping out ingredients
You can use cooked thigh meat instead of shredded chicken breast.
Add peas or chopped green peppers to the recipe. Fry them with the mushrooms, then add them back to the sauce with the mushrooms at the end.
How to make this recipe bigger or smaller
You can make this dish twice as big or half as big by using the same amounts of each ingredient.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is an estimate for per serving, not including rice.
Nutrition: 318 calories, 11 grams of carbs, 31 grams of protein, 16 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 78 milligrams of cholesterol, 952 milligrams of sodium, 1 gram of fiber, and 5 grams of sugar