Vegan Chicken ala King – Connoisseurus Veg

This scrumptious vegan chicken ala king is made with hearty seitan “chicken,” tender mushrooms, pimentos and peas in a rich and creamy sauce! Perfect over pasta, rice, biscuits or toast!

I’ve had a few requests for vegan chicken ala king over the years, and well, I kind of procrastinated. Chicken ala king is one of those dishes that I never ate growing up, so I had no idea what it’s supposed to taste like! I looked up a few recipes and couldn’t really wrap my head around it.

I’ll be frank: it didn’t sound very good.

But I’ve had this problem with other vegan dishes. I felt like I was flying blind when I created my vegan meatloaf and vegan chicken pot pie, and they both turned out delicious!

I recently posted a call for some recipe requests on my Facebook page, and multiple people asked for vegan ala king, so I decided it was time. I’m so glad I did! This dish was absolutely scrumptious!

What You’ll Need

• Raw cashews. This is what we’ll be making our creamy vegan ala king sauce from. Make sure they’re raw and not roasted — roasted cashews will make your sauce taste like cashew butter! You’ll also need to soak your cashews in water for a bit before cooking.
• Vegetable broth. I used Better Than Bouillon in seasoned vegetable flavor.
• Vegan butter. You should be able to find this near the regular butter at your supermarket. Look for brands like Earth Balance and Miyoko’s.
• Mushrooms. The recipe calls for button mushrooms, but cremini can be substituted if needed.
• Onion. This isn’t an ingredient you always find in chicken ala king, but I included it for maximum flavor.
• Seitan. You can use store-bought or homemade seitan. If you make my homemade seitan, use the chicken flavor. You’ll need a whole batch!
• Garlic. And this is an ingredient that you almost never find in chicken ala king, but again: flavor!
• Dry sherry. You can leave this out if you prefer to cook without alcohol.
• Frozen peas. Thaw them out before adding them to your stew.
• Pimentos. Look for these in jars near the roasted red peppers.
• Salt & pepper.
• Pasta, rice, toast, or biscuits. Serve your stew over one of these!

How to Make Vegan Chicken ala King

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d prefer to skip right to the recipe!

• Place your raw cashews in a blender or food processor with about half of your broth.
• Blend everything until smooth and creamy. This can take a few minutes, particularly if you’re not using a high-powered blending device. Be patient!

• Melt some vegan butter in a skillet and add sliced mushrooms. Make sure you don’t crowd them in the skillet — mushrooms need space in order to brown properly. Let them cook for a few minutes on each side and resist the temptation to stir them while they cook.
• Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and transfer them to a plate when they’re done cooking.

• Melt some more butter in the skillet, then add diced onion. Cook it until it begins to soften up. Give it a stir from time to time to prevent it from burning.
• Add chopped seitan and cook it with the onion for a few minutes, until it begins to brown.
• Add the garlic and cook it with the onion and seitan for about a minute, then return the mushrooms to the skillet and pour in the sherry. Bring it to a simmer and let it cook until it’s almost gone.
• Now add the remaining broth, bring it to as simmer, and let everything cook for about 10 minutes.

• Finally, stir in the peas, pimentos, and cashew sauce. Bring everything back up to a simmer, then take the skillet off of the burner.

• Season your stew with some salt and pepper.

• Serve your vegan chicken ala king over rice, pasta, toast, or vegan biscuits.

Leftovers & Storage

This dish keeps well and makes for great leftovers! Store them in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Vegan “Chicken” Recipes

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Vegan Chicken ala King

This scrumptious vegan chicken ala king is made with hearty seitan “chicken,” tender mushrooms, pimentos and peas in a rich and creamy sauce! Perfect over pasta, rice, biscuits or toast!

Total Time 4 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1
  cup
  raw cashews,
  soaked in water 4 to 8 hours, drained and rinsed
• 1 ½
  cups
  vegetable broth,
  divided
• 4
  tablespoons
  vegan butter,
  divided
• 8
  ounces
  button mushrooms,
  cleaned and sliced
• 1
  small onion,
  diced
• 16
  ounces
  seitan,
  cut into ½-inch pieces
• 2
  garlic cloves,
  minced
• 3
  tablespoons
  dry sherry
• 1
  cup
  frozen peas,
  thawed
• ½
  cup
  pimentos
• Salt & pepper,
  to taste
• Pasta, rice, biscuits, or toast,
  for serving

Instructions

1. Place the cashews into a blender or food processor bowl with ¾ cup of broth. Blend the mixture until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the pitcher or bowl as needed.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons of vegan butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

3. Add the mushrooms in an even layer. Don’t overcrowd the skillet — cook them in batches if needed.

4. Cook the mushrooms for about 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and tender. Remove them from the skillet and transfer them to a plate when done.

5. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet, then add the onion.

6. Cook the onion for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes soft and translucent.

7. Add the seitan to the skillet and cook it with the onion until lightly browned, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

8. Add the garlic to the skillet and sauté it for about 1 minute, until very fragrant.

9. Return the mushrooms to the skillet then carefully pour in the sherry. Stir it in, bring it to a simmer, and allow it to cook until most of the liquid has cooked off, about 2 minutes.

10. Stir in the remaining ¾ cup of broth, raise the heat, and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and allow the broth to simmer for 10 minutes.

11. Add the peas and pimentos to the skillet, then stir in the cashew mixture. Cook everything briefly, just until the mixture comes back up to a simmer. Add a bit of water if the sauce thickens too much.

12. Remove the skillet from heat and season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.

13. Serve the stew over pasta, rice, biscuits, or toast.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Chicken ala King

Amount Per Serving

Calories 486

% Daily Value*

Sodium 855mg36%

Potassium 477mg14%

Carbohydrates 25.9g9%

Fiber 5.7g23%

Sugar 7.5g8%

Protein 32g64%

Calcium 33mg3%

Iron 6mg33%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.