Creamed Chicken Over Biscuits
Tender shredded chicken and sweet peas in a tarragon-scented cream sauce, ladled over warm split biscuits for old-fashioned comfort food in 20 minutes.
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half (or whole milk or heavy cream)
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1/2 cup peas
- 1 pound chicken, cooked and diced or shredded
- 8 homemade country biscuits (or biscuits of your choice)
- Melt the butter in a large deep skillet over medium heat.
- Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and just starting to brown at the edges, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and season with salt and pepper, mixing until the flour coats the onions evenly and no dry patches remain.
- Pour in the chicken stock and stir until it's fully blended with the flour, working out any lumps before moving on.
- Slowly pour in the half-and-half while stirring constantly, then raise the heat and cook until the mixture thickens, about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring the whole time so it doesn't scorch on the bottom.
- Stir in the tarragon, peas, and chicken, and cook for a few more minutes until everything is warmed through. Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed.
- Split the biscuits and spoon the creamed chicken generously over top, or serve as desired.
Chef's Note: Tarragon is what sets this apart from an ordinary chicken gravy — its faint anise-like sweetness is a classic pairing with cream sauces and chicken, and just a teaspoon is enough to give the dish a distinct, old-fashioned character without overpowering it. Cooking the onion until it just starts to brown, rather than stopping at simply translucent, builds a little extra depth into the base of the sauce.
Using rotisserie or leftover chicken is an easy way to make this even faster on a weeknight, and refrigerated or frozen biscuits work perfectly well if you don't want to make them from scratch. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days — just be sure to reheat until the chicken mixture reaches 165°F throughout.
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