Classic Homemade Chicken a la King

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Part of our classic southern foodways.
• Great for both family meals and company dinner.
• It’s rich and indulgent but can be modified with lighter options.
• Uses common, easily sourced ingredients.

🍳 Equipment You’ll Need

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• Good Sharp Knife. Ever heard “the sharper the knife, the less you cry” It’s true. You’re much less likely to cut yourself with a sharp knife. Buy the best your budget will allow and treat them right.
• Large Saucepan or Stockpot. This is one of the workhorses of the kitchen. Perfect for soups, stews, and big old pots of chili.
• Mixing Bowls. I love the classic glass Pyrex mixing bowls. They’re cheap and last forever.

🛒 Ingredient Notes

There’s nothing at all unusual in the ingredients, especially for a southern pantry! The only things you may not have on hand are the pimientos and allspice.

• Whole Chicken – I prefer a whole chicken weighing less than 4 pounds, if possible.
• Diced Pimientos – I always have these on hand because who knows when a craving for Pimiento Cheese may strike! If you need to purchase a jar, try to find the Dromedary brand. Of course, finely diced roasted red peppers will also work in a pinch.
• Whole Allspice – Many recipes for poaching or boiling chicken call for whole allspice. Use it if you have it, but if it’s not available don’t worry. It’s okay to leave it out.

🔪 How to Make Classic Homemade Chicken a la King

Start by Making an Aromatic Chicken Broth

1. Start by cooking a whole chicken in water with some lovely aromatic seasonings. Celery, carrot, whole allspice, peppercorns, and an onion stuck with whole cloves make a delicious stock!
2. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, partly covered, for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Let the chicken cool completely in the broth.
3. Take out one cup of the broth to use in the recipe and store or freeze the rest to use in something else.

👉 PRO TIP: I always leave the peel on the onion when making chicken stock. It gives a pretty golden color to the finished stock. You’ll have quite a bit of stock, but you only need one cup for this recipe. Take that out and freeze the rest – it will make a wonderful chicken soup later!

Prepare the Chicken

4. Once your chicken is done and has cooled, remove all the meat and discard the skin and bones. Cut the meat into bite-size pieces. Set that aside for now.

👉 PRO TIP: Want to skip the whole boiling and deboning the chicken part of the recipe? No problem! Simply purchase a rotisserie chicken from your grocery store, remove the skin and bones, and start from there! Alternately, if you don’t mind using a pressure cooker or instant pot, you can speed the process up significantly by cooking your chicken that way. Your choice!

Make the a la King Sauce

5. Melt two tablespoons of the butter in a large pan. Add the flour and stir together with a wire whisk until well blended.
6. Add the cup of chicken stock and whisk rapidly until smooth and well blended.
7. Cook for about five minutes, stirring frequently.
8. Stir in the half-and-half and simmer for an additional ten minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Add the lemon juice.
9. Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl.
10. To the yolks, add 1/2 cup of the hot sauce mixture and stir rapidly.
11. Scrape the yolk and sauce mixture back into the pan and bring barely to the simmer while stirring. Remove the pan from the heat.

Saute the Mushrooms and Put it All Together

12. Heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in a small skillet and add the sliced mushrooms.
13. Cook stirring constantly until wilted and golden brown.
14. Add the pimientos and Tabasco and continue cooking just long enough to heat the pimientos through.
15. Add the shredded chicken and mushroom mixture to the cream sauce. Stir together.

Make the Toast Points

👉 To Make Toast Points: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Remove the crust from 4-5 slices of bread. Cut across the bread to create triangles. Spray each side of the bread with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet. Bake until toasted and slightly crispy. May be made ahead of time.

🍽️ How to Serve

I’ve heard of people serving Chicken à la King over thin pasta, but the traditional service is over toast points. Or, if you’re serving it for a luncheon, it’s quite nice to spoon over puff pastry shells.

🔀 Recipe Variations

• Substitute turkey or tuna for the chicken. It’s a great way to use leftover Thanksgiving turkey and Tuna a la King is delicious!
• Instead of pimientos, you can always substitute finely diced roasted red peppers.
• Half a green bell pepper, diced very finely, is an excellent addition to the sauce.
• Instead of fresh mushrooms, substitute drained, jarred mushrooms.

⏲️ Can I Make Chicken a la King in Advance?

My easy to follow recipe below gives you instructions for making the recipe all at once. However, you can also cook the chicken in advance and keep it in the fridge for up to three days and then finish the recipe later.

🧾 More Recipes You’ll Like

Chicken Jallop

Lemon Olive Chicken

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole

Tender Oven Baked Chicken Breasts

• Chicken Jallop
• Lemon Olive Chicken
• Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
• Tender Oven Baked Chicken Breasts