Easy Chicken, Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots in a Velvety Sauce
This easy weeknight chicken dinner with broccoli, cauliflower and carrots is all cooked in one skillet. Serve it with pasta or rice and the creamy and aromatic sauce will soak in and bring all the ingredients together in a comforting meal.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Course
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb boneless (skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces)
- salt (ground black pepper)
- 2 Tablespoons oil
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 1–3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 2–3 carrots (peeled and sliced)
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- fresh parsley (to garnish, optional)
Instructions
- Since I usually serve this dish with pasta or rice, I start the large pot of water boiling or the rice cooking before I start this dish, since it cooks fairly quickly and that way I’ll have my entire meal ready at the same time.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon of oil until it’s shimmering, then add the chicken, seasoning with salt and ground black pepper. (You can season the chicken with whatever kind of poultry seasoning or spices that you like.) Cook the chicken on medium high heat until golden on all sides, 5-7 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside.
- There should still be some oil remaining in the skillet, if it needs more, add a bit each time you add more vegetables, depending on what it looks like. You shouldn’t use more than 2 Tablespoons total.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and add the onion and garlic, seasoning with salt and ground black pepper. Cook for 3 minutes, until the onions are tender and translucent. As the onions cook, they will exude some liquid, so use it to scrape up all the brown bits left over from the chicken. It will add lots of flavor to the sauce.
- Add the carrots to the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes, until the carrots are starting to soften.
- Add the flour to the skillet and mix it in to the vegetables, until all the flour is absorbed. If your skillet is really dry, add 1/2-1 Tablespoon of butter, just enough for all the flour to be absorbed.
- Gradually pour in the chicken broth (you can also use vegetable broth), whisking to combine so that lumps don’t form.
- Bring the broth to a boil and add the broccoli and cauliflower florets. Season the broccoli and cauliflower with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet, keeping the heat at a simmer and cook until the vegetables are cooked through. This really depends on how crisp or soft you like your vegetables to be, anywhere from 5-10 minutes.
- Return the chicken to the skillet, cooking just enough for the chicken to heat through. The chicken should still be pretty warm, so it should only take a minute. Garnish with fresh parsley.
- Serve with pasta, rice, couscous or mashed potatoes.