Chicken a la King
Chicken a la king is an American home-style dish where bite-sized chicken breast, sliced mushrooms, and diced bell pepper are simmered in a butter-roux cream sauce. The roux - flour cooked briefly in melted butter - is thinned gradually with milk and chicken stock, producing a smooth sauce free of lumps. Cooking the chicken separately and returning it only at the end prevents the meat from toughening in the extended simmer. Onion dissolves into the sauce with a quiet sweetness, and the mushrooms contribute an earthy depth that rounds out the mild chicken. The finished sauce is typically spooned over toast, rice, or split biscuits, where it soaks into the starch and turns a simple base into a filling meal.
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Instructions
- 1
Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- 2
Melt butter and cook chicken through, then set aside.
- 3
Saute onion, mushrooms, and bell pepper in the same pan.
- 4
Stir in flour for 1 minute, then gradually add milk and stock.
- 5
Return chicken and simmer 5 minutes until creamy and thick.
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