this post may contain affiliate links
Chicken a la King is a classic American dish that consists of diced or shredded chicken, mushrooms and peas served in a rich creamy sauce, often made with heavy cream, butter and chicken broth. Due to it’s indulgent and luxurious flavor it was often served at weddings and celebrations in the late 19th century. Traditionally the creamy chicken mixture is ladled over pasta or rice. But with this recipe, it’s ladled into puff pasty shells.
This recipe came about because I wanted to create a chicken pot pie with a new flavor profile. So I borrowed a lot of the ingredients from my green bean casserole recipe and replaced the green beans with shredded chicken and frozen peas. Becuase pot pies traditionally have several vegetables I knew something else needed to be added. I thought shitake mushrooms would be a perfect addition because their meaty texture and mild flavor. Unbeknownst to me, I was creating a recipe that already exists called Chicken a la King. Because I thought I was creating chicken pot pie, I knew I wanted to pair the filling with either pie crust or puff pastry. In my trial phase I found the puff pastry stuck to the individual bowls too much and the pie crust fell flat. On my third attempt I created puff pastry shells and it was perfect.
The puff pastry shells can seem intimidating but once you make them once, all doubt is cast out. They’re very simple if you have the right tools. You need two muffin pans, muffin liners and either pie weights, dry beans or rice. The pie weights (beans or rice) weigh the puff pastry down in the first round of baking to keep the cup shape. I also like using the brand Jus-Rol refrigerated puff pastry. It is much easier to work with than frozen puff pastry.
I was astonished I had never heard of Chicken a la King. No one in my family had ever heard of it and I was shocked that it fell from popularity considering how delicious it is. It’s my working theory that chicken pot pie replaced Chicken a la King. It’s time to resurrect this dish because it is a very nice diversion from chicken pot pie with the same comforting effect, especially when served in puff pastry.
Chicken a la King
Ingredients
- 1 rotisserie chicken shredded
- 4 shallots diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 c shitake mushrooms sliced
- 10-12 oz frozen peas frozen
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 1/4 c flour
- 1/4 c dry white wine pinot grigio
- 2 1/4 c chicken stock
- 1 c heavy whipping cream
- 1 5.2 oz wheel of boursin garlic and herb cheese
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 refrigerated puff pastry sheets Jus-Rol
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
- Shred a rotisserie chicken. Set aside.
- To a pan just under medium heat, melt butter.
- Add diced shallots, stir and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add shitake mushrooms and minced garlic. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add flour to the pan. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add white wine, whisk and cook it out for 1 minute.
- Whisk in the chicken stock and turn the heat up to high. Once is starts to thicken add the heavy whipping cream, salt and pepper. Whisk, then once boiling lower the heat to under medium and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the wheel of Boursin cheese and break up with the whisk and whisk until fully melted into the sauce. Simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the shredded chicken and frozen peas. Stir then turn the heat down to low. Allow the peas to slowly cook and the chicken to warm up while you make the puff pastry shells. Stir chicken mixture occassionally.
- Flour a surface and roll out the puff pastry. Flour your rolling pin and gently roll out both of the sheets of puff pastry so they're flat and even in thickness. You aren't trying to thin out the dough, just make it even.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter cut both sheets into 8 pieces so you have 16 puff pastry squares.
- Spray two muffin pans with non-stick spray, then fill 8 puff pastry squares in the bottom of each muffin tin. You'll have to do a little folding over of the sides to make each fit.
- Place a paper muffin liner into each puff pastry and fill each with pie weights, dry beans or rice for the first round of baking.
- Bake the puff pastry shells for 12 minutes.
- Remove the pans from the oven, remove the weights and muffin liners then put the pans back in the oven so the puff pastry bottoms cook. This will take about 10-12 more minutes.
- Because the sides are folded you may have what looks to be raw spots it the bottoms of the dough cups. The best test is to pick up one of the shells, turn it over and check the bottom of the cup. If it's golden brown, it's done.
- Remove the shells from the muffin tins. Stir the chicken mixture and fill the puff pastry shells with a ladle of the chicken mixture and top with flaky salt and chopped parsley. Serve hot.