The Mysterious Origins Of Chicken à La King

Creamy and savory chicken à la king delights with a tried-and-true formula. Saute mushrooms, peppers, and oftentimes alliums, throw in already cooked pieces of poultry, then tie it all together with a rich cream sauce — what could go wrong? The rendition can range from unfussy to all-out decadent, ready to be served over pasta, rice, as well as toast, or even luxuriously stuffed into pastry.

It's hard to imagine a time before the reliable classic, yet as with other old-school comfort foods, the dish is upheld by a storied history. Chicken à la king traces back as far as the late 19th century, with an air of mystery regarding both its initial creation and name. Despite various claims regarding its heritage, the dish has no actual ties to royalty. It is far more likely the recipe was developed within a professional hotel or restaurant setting.

Some suggest the food emerged during the 1880s in homage to the Keenes, a wealthy horse-breeding family. Such theories reference refined establishments like London's Claridge's Hotel or New York City's influential Delmonico's Restaurant — a kitchen that also invented eggs Benedict and Delmonico potatoes. Meanwhile, others claim chicken à la king was first made at the Brighton Beach Hotel, custom prepared for a family with the King surname. Regardless, the dish found rapid success soon after inception, with the earliest printed recipes appearing by 1896 and circulating in newspapers by the early 1900s. Such a quick rise to fame is easy to understand: Chicken à la king's decadence impresses immediately.

Like many other foods, chicken à la king continued to evolve soon after inception. Peppers didn't become a cornerstone until the late 1910s, with cooks subsequently reaching for varying red, green, and pickled pimento varieties. Though mushrooms appeared from the start, onions did not, an addition that's still contentious. And while some early renditions poached the chicken, others roasted or pan-fried it, leaning à la king into classic French chicken-and-mushroom fricassee territory.

For the first several decades of the 20th century, chicken à la king endured as a luxurious creation. Some shaved truffles into the mix, while others simmered the poultry in elegant broths. Yet into the 1920s, the food shifted into the domestic realm, working in increasing convenience. Scratch-made poultry swapped for leftovers or pre-roasted birds. Industrially manufactured foods grew more prevalent, leading cooks to use canned soups for the dish's creamy composition. The release of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup — which debuted in 1934 — proved especially momentous, with the ingredient infusing into chicken à la king and opening the door to simple casserole recipes.

In this way, chicken à la king entered a comfort food era. Cooks transformed the recipe into a casserole, using components like biscuits and pasta to flesh out the chicken-sauce pairing into a hands-off, one-dish meal. This approach likely winked at later creations like the creamy million dollar chicken casserole. With an even easier assembly in hand, chicken à la king was poised for a new era of enjoyment.