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Tender Southern smothered chicken is seared until the skin is crisp and golden then simmered in a creamy onion gravy. Southern dish combines Asian bok choy for an easy and delicious fusion weeknight dinner. Keto friendly too!
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SOUTHERN SMOTHERED CHICKEN
Southern smothered chicken is has got to be one of my favorite southern meals. Plus, I’m a huge fan of chicken. Vegetables too, thanks to my grandmother who grew a lot of veggies when I was a kid.
I know you may be thinking, why smothered chicken with bok choy….well, to answer your question, I love southern food. I don’t eat it too often, but when I do, I like to mix things up, like I did in this recipe.
BOK CHOY WITH CHICKEN
This year, I’ve been eating a good amount of Chinese greens called baby bok choy. I love it. It’s basically a Chinese cabbage that’s really good for you. One cup has 9 calories! I’ve made smothered chicken with Shanghai bok choy also. It’s pretty much the same. One is bigger than the other. You can use either one to use in your smothered chicken. Bok choy is one of my favorite vegetables. Collard greens is my other fav.
Some say that baby bok choy has a sweet and mild flavor, whereas, Shangai bok choy has a mineral flavor. To be totally honest, I don’t really taste a difference. If you’ve never made boy choy with chicken with a southern twist you gotta try this recipe out!
HOW TO MAKE SOUTHERN SMOTHERED CHICKEN WITH A TWIST
This amazing southern recipe with bok choy and mushrooms is, oh my goodness good and super easy! The chicken is smothered in a rich onion gravy. Pure deliciousness. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
And staple ingredients that I’m sure you already have. You’ll probably have to go to the store for the baby bok choy or Shanghai bok choy. Pick one. No biggie right?!
Traditional smothered chicken recipes usually say to coat the chicken in flour first but I don’t follow cooking rules…
Instead of coating the chicken in flour, I like to season the chicken then sear the chicken first on both sides until the skin crisps up. I use flour to help thicken the gravy. Here’s the quick breakdown of the recipe.
Ingredients:
Tender southern smothered chicken is seared until the skin is crisp and golden then simmered in a creamy onion gravy. This comforting dish combines Asian bok choy for an easy and delicious fusion weeknight dinner.
- 6 chicken thighs with skin on
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 small red onion diced
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 1 cup mushrooms add more if you like
- One bunch of baby bok choy cleaned dried and cut lengthwise then quartered
- 1/2 tsp or two of garlic
- 1/2 tsp or two of onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 2 cups milk
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
- 1 tbsp flour
- salt and pepper for taste
Reserve 1 tsp of seasoning for later. Add the remaining seasoning to a small bowl. Mix well to combine. Season the chicken with the seasoning that was in the bowl. In a cast iron skillet with vegetable oil over medium high heat saute the onions for 2 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic on top of the onions. Cook until fragrant.
Remove the onions and garlic and set to the side. Add more vegetable oil. Over medium high heat sear the chicken on both sides until the skin crisps up. Drain most of the fat...Add milk and butter, the Better Than Bouillon base and the remaining tsp of the seasoning and flour. Mix well.
Add the chicken, onions and garlic back into the skillet. Add the mushrooms. Set stove to medium high. Once boiling reduce temp to low. Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Make sure to check the liquid. If it's getting thick too fast, thin it out with a bit of milk.
Take the chicken out of the skillet and set to the side. Scrape the bits stuck on the bottom of the pan and mix it into the gravy. If the gravy is too thick add a bit of milk to thin it out some. Add the chicken back to the skillet.
Steaming - Now we will steam the veggies easily using a one pot method. Add the bok choy on top of the chicken but hold up...you may have to push the chicken closer together just so the bok choy can lay on top of the chicken without it sinking into the gravy. But if it does not biggie.
Set the stove back to medium high. Once boiling reduce to low. Cover the skillet and cook for about 6 minutes or until the bok choy is tender.
TIP TO MAKE THIS SMOTHERED CHICKEN
Gravy - In steps 5-8 shown in the body of the post, I talked about making the gravy. When you remove the seared chicken from the skillet, scrape the bits stuck on the bottom of the pan and mix it into the gravy. If the gravy is too thick add a bit of milk to thin it until its creamy then add the chicken back to the skillet with the gravy and proceed with the recipe.
Seasonings - Once the chicken is done and you've removed the bok choy from the skillet and set to the side. Taste the gravy. Add more onion powder, pepper or other seasonings if you like.
Sear - A cast iron is best for a good sear. To achieve a great flavorful seart, let the chicken cook in the skillet without disturbing or moving it around.
Temperature -The chicken is done when the meat thermometer reads 165 F.
Here is the pdf of the original recipe --> Smothered Chicken with Baby Bok Choy
Post and recipe was updated on 3/12/2019
Don’t forget to check out these other keto friendly meals, beef with broccoli with a twist, or maybe these steak rolls, beef asparagus rolls, cheeseburger salad
If you think this southern smothered chicken with gravy looks good, save it to your Pinterest Board or share it on Facebook. Let’s connect on Pinterest too.
Have I missed something? Where does the flour come in. I’m guessing with the gravy but I don’t see it
Hi Glynis, You must’ve missed it but that step is in the recipe.
Hi, I’m confused about the gravy. All you say is “mix the bits at the bottom of the pan into the gravy”. In the previous set of directions, you say drain the pan of fat. So how do you make the gravy? This sounds like a delicious dish and I’d love to make it for my family but could you please let me know about the gravy. Thank you!
Yes you want to drain the fat. When the chicken is done cooking there will be “bits of flavor” from the chicken stuck on the pan. You need to scrape it up and mix it into the gravy. You don’t want to leave all that flavor stuck to the pan 🙂 I hope that helps ya!
What a wonderful combination of ingredients. I would definitely give this recipe a try for my family.
This chicken is just incredible. Tender and juicy and so comforting. I will totally be making this again!
Thank you Danielle!
I still don’t see the gravy recipe. Can you please share?
Hi Ximena, the gravy steps are in the recipe and instructions. The gravy is made with the milk, flour butter, seasonings, btb base etc.I made this recipe two ways. If you take a look at the bottom of the recipe card you’ll see the attached original recipe. Most people seem to like that one better. I may just update the recipe to reflect just that one. I hope I clarified everything.
I must try this recipe. Never made Smothered Chicken, but have eaten it. Thank you. Love your recipes.
Thank you so much Mahy! I’m so happy you like them! 🙂
I have never had bok choy. I love greens so this sounds right up my alley and we all love chicken and mushrooms so this is a must try! thanks
Claudia Lamascolo
These is a most delicious recipe! Big hit with my family. Thank you so much for the recipe
Very happy you and your family enjoyed it! Thank you so much Barbara!
I am confused how I would save 1 teaspoon of seasoning for later when the total quantity of the seasoning (1/4 tsp garlic, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp paprika) totals 1 teaspoon. I also have no idea what 1/4 tsp or two means. Do you mean 1/2 tsp?
Sorry about that. It’s actually supposed to be 1/2 tsp each of onion and garlic powder. I updated the recipe.
Why did you change the recipe? It was great the way it was. I found the PDF of the original so but you don’t have the oven temp indicated and I can’t remember what it was other than over 400
Thanks Jenn! I like it both ways but I just think the new way is easier and uses less pans. You can bake at 450. I’ll update the recipe with the temperature. I can’t believe I missed that!
Can I substitute almond milk and cornstarch to make it dairy free and glutton free ?
I’ve never tried using almond milk and cornstarch but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know if you try it.
Hi! I have all of these ingredients on hand and I am looking forward to making this tonight! My only concern is I do not have the chicken bouillon base. Can I replace it with chicken stock? Or best to just leave it out? Thanks!!! Can’t wait to try.
Hello Katie! Yes you can use chicken stock. I’m not sure if you have homemade chicken stock which is better than the bland store kind. If you are using a store brand, they are not as flavorful as the chicken base so you’ll need season the sauce a bit more. Enjoy!
The chicken with mushrooms and bok choy sounds great. Never cooked bok choy but the beautifully cooked chicken and other veggie makes me crave for it
Thank you Lathiya! Bok choy is delish. You should try it out.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! All of my kids (5, 3, and 2) are it all up! The only thing I was confused about is when to incorporate the flour. Do I add that to the seasoning (garlic powers, onion powder, cayenne and paprika)?
Yay!…I love when the little ones enjoy their dinner! Thanks so much luv! I updated the recipe. I can’t believe I missed it! Thanks for letting me know!
This looks incredibly delicious! I can practically taste the crispy chicken and the smooth gravy!
Thanks Stephanie!
I recently stumbled across bok choy and fell in love with it. I can’t wait to make this dinner.
Enjoy Thanks!
That chicken skin must be so crisp and yum that I would eat all the skin first! 🙂 And if there was a perfect sauce to serve it with, it would definitely be this creamy onion gravy. So delicious!