Delicious, comforting and a total throwback to what I ate growing up, my mom sent me this recipe a few months ago with an email stating: “Remember this recipe? I used to make it all the time when you were at home but like the good mom I am, I’ve since changed it so it doesn’t use that cream of chicken stuff you hate. And just so you know, you ate it every week with the cream of chicken soup and it didn’t seem to do you any harm.”
See why I love my mom? She loves to get the last word.
And she’s right. I loved this meal growing up but I love it even more now, especially because it is still an extremely simple meal to throw together even with the subtle changes to the secret sauce. Perfect dinner fare for the chilly winter months (if you live somewhere that isn’t absolutely freezing and blizzardly right this second, we need to unfriend each other immediately), the hearty goodness of all the flavors will stick to your ribs. Uh, in a good way, I promise. Despite the looks of it, this meal is surprisingly healthful. Not calorie-free and skinny, but definitely on the lighter end of comfort food.
Throw in whatever vegetables make you happy. It’s called “confetti” for Pete’s sake, so let the colors shine! Of course, my brood fought tooth and nail over the cheddar biscuit topping, but hey, I didn’t intervene because I knew they were bound to get a couple peas in there, too.
One Year Ago: The Best Chicken Enchilada Soup
Two Years Ago: Classic Blueberry Cobbler
Three Years Ago: Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
Four Years Ago: Peanut Butter Crunch Snack Balls
Note: The veggies in this dish are so easily adaptable. I usually add in chopped carrots, too (but didn't have them when I snapped the photos for this post). Think: celery, green peppers, carrots, etc. Also, if you have cooked chicken (or turkey) you need to use up, just skip the first step of cooking the chicken and use your already cooked chicken later in the recipe. Even easier!
Ingredients
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 large chicken breasts), cubed
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup chopped yellow or white onion
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1/2 cup diced red pepper
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and add them to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken, stirring every so often, until browned and cooked through, 5-6 minutes. Remove the chicken pieces to a plate. Add the butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, garlic, and red pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring often, until the veggies are crisp tender but not cooked through all the way (they'll cook longer in the oven). Stir in the flour and whisk the mixture together, cooking over medium heat until the flour starts to turn golden, about 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, whisking vigorously to eliminate any lumps of flour on the vegetables. Continue adding the chicken broth and whisking and then do the same with the milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook until slightly thickened, 4-5 minutes. Add the salt and pepper (plus more to taste, if needed) and stir in the frozen peas and cooked chicken. Immediately transfer the mixture to a 9X13-inch baking dish.
- To make the biscuit mixture, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs, milk and cheese, mixing just until evenly moistened. Scoop tablespoon-size portions of dough onto the top of the chicken/vegetable mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through. Serve immediately.
Awww…you’ve got to love your Mom!
This looks delicious, Mel. I’m in the same camp with you, and I think this will be especially delicious without the “cream of whatever” soup!
That is too funny – gotta love our mom’s and their honesty with us. Mine used to make something like this, too. I love the cheddar in the biscuits and the peas – yum peas!
I think the key words here are cheddar biscuit… We´re having 95+ temp here so please don´t unfriend me…
YUM!!! I can’t wait to make it!! Do you think you can make the sauce ahead of time and then add the biscuits before baking??
Your mom sounds a lot like my mom.
As soon as I read “cheddar biscuits” I knew I’d be making this soon! Yum!!!
I feel like I was extrememly blessed the day I tripped across your blog a few months ago – I think my family has enjoyed more new recipes during that two month period than in the two years prior! One of the things I love the most about your blog was illustrated this morning. . .Wednesday morning, when I know what we are having for supper tonight (the little quinoa/broccoli bites from last week!), but I have nothing planned beyond that, and then I get an email that you posted a new recipe. I look at it, and I have EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT on hand. Just like that, tomorrow’s dinner is planned! I LOVE that your recipes are so accessible in terms of ingredients and preparation. . .you make my life better, Miss Mel!
You had me at “cheddar biscuits.” Looks amazing!
Love the cheddar biscuit topping!
Thanks again for Dinner tonight!
Oh my gosh I truly love your mom. And you for quoting that email. I have no relatives who send me emails like that, and you have seemingly more than your fair share. I cry foul!
xo Nicole
This is almost exactly the recipe that I had planned on making tonight for my family and another family that I am taking dinner too. I have never used cream of anything soup in it either, but I did still use a biscuit recipe with shortening, because I figured it’s the only way to have a tender biscuit. So I am so excited to try your biscuit recipe without the yucky shortening! I love your blog.
What if you use green pepper instead? It loses the confetti effect, but does it matter to the flavor?
Also, I love your blog.
Yum! This looks kind of like a chicken pot pie, and I love anything even remotely resembling a chicken pot pie. Your pineapple salsa chicken is in my crock pot for dinner tonight. Thanks Mel! Love your mom’s comments. What a great mom!
Looks like this is going to be dinner tonight since it’s freezing here and this would hit the spot. Thanks for sharing! Tell your mom thanks too.
Wow! This looks so good! As soon as I read the recipe, and realized I had all the ingredients, I fired up the cooking pot! Thanks for sharing, I’ll have to report back on the recipe!
My mom made something very similar to this and it was one of our favorites, also! She didn’t use milk, but the sauce was still very creamy. I think she used a bit of cornstarch or flour to thicken the chicken broth?? I’ll have to ask her
I have used the electric fry pan and put the biscuit mixture on top for 10 minutes uncovered, then covered for 10….I think I might have to make this tonight! I like your version with the cheddar biscuit much more 
Those cheesy biscuits caught my eye, I have been looking for an easy to split recipe for the 2 of us, Thanks!!!!
Emily, there is a note above the recipe that tells about substituting vegetables. The sky’s the limit – if you prefer green peppers, I’d say go for it!
Yum! Looks like a delicious dish for this awful cold. I love the cheesy biscuit idea. Thanks!
I had chicken pot pie on the menu tonight and already had the filling made, I just needed to make the pie crust….that’s when I saw this! I whipped up the chedder biscuit topping instead and this dish was fabulous. A real winner with my kiddos! Tell your mom thank you! (Not only for this great recipe but for raising such a great daughter.)
Hey, I had pot pie on the menu and quickly changed…biscuits are so much easier for me to bake than crust. ???question…is the recipe suppose to be butter free???I made them tonight and am wondering if it was accidentally omitted?
I’m the type of person that would eat everyone’s cheesy biscuit topping and leave the veggies and chicken for them. Think they’d be down with that?
Amy Jo – there isn’t any butter in the biscuit recipe. It’s a biscuit, in the loose sense of the word (i.e. not loaded with butter). It ends up being a light, cheddar-y, biscuit-dumpling combination of sorts.
Just had to say that I made this for dinner tonight, and we all loved it! Thanks for the great recipes.
this seems like the ultimate chicken pot pie. i really like the red peppers in there, and the cheddar biscuits are superior to pie crust in any and every savory way.
I made this for dinner last night! Didn’t have peas so diced some carrot and sauteed for a few minutes before adding the onion and red pepper. Also threw in some frozen corn. Only downfall was I should have doubled the biscuits! Absolutely delicious! Thank you!
Hi Melanie!
I made this last night for my husband and son. They loved it! I loved it! Instead of cows milk, I used Almond milk. In addition to frozen peas, I added in frozen ocra and thinly sliced carrots. Also, I used Pillsbury Grands biscuits for the topping per my husbands request. The guys ate it until they were stuffed! Next time, however, I’m going to mix together the biscuits per your recipe b/c I felt like the Grands were a bit doughy. Also, I bet it’s yummy with corn. Thank you for a great comfort food recipe! It worked great for a cold rainy night!
Made it. Loved it. Thanks for always posting killer recipes.
Wonderful recipe! This was a hit at my house last night! All 3 of my children, PLUS my husband ate it! Now that’s saying something!!!
Another A+ recipe Mel. My husband, acting as sous chef, and I made this the other night and it was stupendously yummilicious. I am forwarding the idea on to my other friends using my own blog but have a link back here, hope it’s ok with you. There is a photo of my completed dish there of this meal…it was sooooooo good.
[...] most recent one that caught my eye was called Confetti Chicken with Cheddar Biscuit Topping. Since that day I read her recipe (less than a week ago) I have not stopped thinking about [...]
Made my version of this tonight and it was great! Thanks!!! Posted about it here: http://foodwithpictures.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/creamy-chicken-and-veggies-with-cheesy-biscuit-topping/ (Linked back to this post and to your site, of course!).
I’m totally going to try baking this as a pie tonight, with the biscuit as the pie top.
I made this tonight and it was the best comfort food! I may try making the biscuits on their own…they were the star
This is definitely what makes moms so great – they’re always looking out for us! This chicken bake looks so so so delicious =)
So thanks to pintrest I stumbled upon your blog and can I just say you are my new favorite person – I am trying to be a good wife/mom and cooking dinner more. The hardest part for me is finding recipes that my hubby and girls will eat but since finding your site that seems to no longer be a problem!!!!
next time though my husband is requesting more biscuit topping.
Tonight this was dinner for the veggies I did potatoes, carrots, celery, red pepper, onion and garlic. I was a little worried about the biscuit topping because it didn’t look like any biscuits I had ever made but looking at the picture the dough seemed like what was on top so I just went with it of course then I read through the comments and wasn’t to worried about them after that. The smell while it was cooking was absolutely divine!!! I couldn’t wait for it to be done and it was kind of late because I wasn’t feeling the greatest so everyone was half starved (okay not really starved but the yummy smells coming from the kitchen weren’t helping the hungry tummies wait). The flavor definitely did not disappoint
I made this last night for dinner and it was delicious!! I don’t how you do it, Mel, but every single thing I’ve made from your blog is fantastic and always a hit with my family and guests… and I’ve made a lot of things. Amazing!
I made this tonight for dinner with some leftover shredded chicken. I wouldn’t do that again. It wasn’t my favorite dish of Mel’s, but we liked it okay. Could have been the shredded chicken….
I made this over the weekend and thought it was fantastic! A super easy, super flexible, pot pie substitute! I just threw in all the veggies I had–carrots, celery, onion, frozen peas and corn–next time I would load in even more veggies. I thought I was being clever and used 2 lbs of leftover turkey from the freezer, but fyi 2 lbs of raw meat is much less than 2 lbs of cooked meat, so if you go for the leftover meat option, use a lot less meat (unless you like a super super meaty meal!)
Is there any way to turn this into a make ahead meal? A 2 year old and 7 month twins doesn’t allow me a lot of on the spot cooking time but I think this looks so yummy. Could I freeze half as well?
Marci – it’s worth at try, but I’ve never made it other than to serve right away. You could make the vegetable/creamy filling and refrigerate until ready to bake. Then make the biscuits and pop them on top. I can’t guarantee the results of freezing – you’d have to experiment and try. Good luck!
This was pretty tasty. I thought, from your picture, that the ratio of veggies to chicken would be opposite of what it ended up being. I had about twice as much chicken as vegetables! I didn’t even use a full two pounds. I can’t decide whether I’d just add more peas, or if I’d like to add some carrots, too. I also might have skimped on the salt or something because it was a smidgeon bland. Worth making again for sure!
[...] Adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. [...]
Mel, I tried this recipe when I was at the height of the “nothing in this world can make me ingest food” stage of pregnancy. It whipped up easy-peasy after church and I’ve never tasted anything so delicious in my miserable pregnant life. We didn’t particularly care for the dumpling things on top but I have since made it again just using my regular baking powder biscuit recipe and it was fab.