This baked chicken and green bean skillet is a delicious, hearty, and easy casserole recipe perfect for dinner. It's baked pasta meets green bean casserole with flavorful, seared chicken added to make it a complete, one pan meal. Your family will love this one!
12ozfresh green beanstrimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1lbboneless, skinless chicken breast
½tbspsmoked Spanish paprika
½tbspgarlic powder
½tbsp kosher salt
1tbspolive oildivided
12ozbutton mushroomscleaned and sliced
1largeshallotpeeled and sliced thinly
3clovesgarlicminced
3tbspall-purpose flour
1½cupsmilk2% or whole milk
ground black pepperto taste
kosher saltto taste
2½cups chicken stock
2cupsdried orzo
1cupFrench-fried onions
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add several tablespoons of kosher salt to the water. Then add the green beans to the water. Cook for about 3 minutes. Then drain and rinse with very cold water to stop the cooking. Let fully drain set aside back in the pot. Note: that this cook time will create a crisp tender green bean in the final dish. If you like a softer green bean texture, up your cook time to 5-6 minutes during this step.
Preheat your oven to 375F.
Place a 10-12-inch, high sided, oven-proof skillet over medium heat. This is a job for cast iron, if you have it. Let this heat up while you prepare the chicken.Dry the chicken with paper towels and cut into 1-2 inch bite-sized chunks. In a small bowl, whisk together the smoked paprika, garlic powder, and salt. Sprinkle over the chicken so each piece is evenly coated.Add 1/2 tbsp of olive oil to your skillet. Then add the chicken pieces to the pan in one layer. Sear on all sides until golden brown. Remove from the pan and add to the pot with the green beans.
Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan. Cook until the mushrooms cook down and start to brown. Then add the second ½ tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add the shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes until the shallots have softened.Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Then add the flour to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes stirring to mix into the vegetables. The texture will be somewhat sandy looking and you shouldn't see any streaks of white flour. Once the flour has toasted for a couple of minutes, slowly whisk in the milk. Let the mixture come to a simmer and cook until the sauce mixture reaches a gravy consistency. Taste the sauce and add salt and black pepper to your liking. Pour the sauce into the pot with the chicken and green beans; scrape the pan well to get all of the sauce out of the skillet. Stir everything in the pot together to combine.
Add the chicken stock to the pan and bring to a simmer. Stir in the orzo and level it off in the pan. Carefully and evenly add the chicken and green bean mixture to the skillet so it's in as even a layer as possible. This is going to feel wrong and weird. But trust me, it will all work out!Bake for 15 minutes and then top with the French-fried onions. Bake for another 10 minutes. Rest the casserole for about 10 minutes to let it set up. Serve.