Tarragon chicken with creamy white beans
Tender chicken in a creamy white bean sauce with fresh tarragon.
About 30 min · 375 kcal · 43 g protein per serving
One pan
Chicken and asparagus with wild rice
Poached chicken and griddled asparagus over nutty wild rice.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 21 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm wild rice grains split in 40 to 45 minutes
- Confirm 150 g breasts poach through in 14 to 16 minutes
- Photograph the finished plate
- Time
- About 55 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 460 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 45 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
No regulated allergens in the ingredients as listed. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- chicken stock. Stock often contains celery, and sometimes gluten or soya; check the label.
Cooking steps
Simmer the wild rice in plenty of salted water for 40 to 45 minutes, until most of the grains have split open to show the pale inside. Drain.
Meanwhile bring the stock to a bare simmer in a pan just wide enough for the chicken, lower the breasts in, cover and poach for 14 to 16 minutes.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Lift the chicken out and rest it for 5 minutes.
Snap the woody ends off the asparagus and cook the spears in the oil in a hot griddle or frying pan for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until tender with some colour.
Toss the drained rice with the lemon juice and parsley, slice the chicken and serve it with the asparagus on top.
The useful detail
Wild rice is ready when the grains split open and curl back. Drained before that it stays stubbornly hard in the middle, and unlike white rice no amount of standing softens it.
Make it work for you
One serving is 150 g of chicken with half the wild rice and asparagus. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Pearl barley instead of wild rice
Softer and plumper, and about 15 minutes quicker.
Per serving: about 5 kcal less, about 2 g less protein, about the same fat.
Green beans instead of asparagus
Firmer and sweeter; give them 6 or 7 minutes.
Per serving: about 15 kcal more, about the same protein, about the same fat.
Turkey breast instead of chicken
Leaner and firmer; it needs a couple of minutes longer to poach.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about 2 g more protein, about 2 g less fat.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A plate where a whole grain and a poached protein keep the calories low for the volume, which is why this sits among the leanest dinners here.
| Energy | 460 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 45 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| of which saturates | 2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 44 g |
| of which sugars | 5 g |
| Fibre | 6 g |
| Sodium | 860 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| wild rice | 100 g | FDC 169726Wild rice, raw | 357 kcal | 14.7 g |
| chicken stock | 420 g | FDC 174536Soup, chicken broth, ready-to-serve | 25 kcal | 2.7 g |
| chicken breast | 300 g | FDC 171077Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw | 360 kcal | 67.5 g |
| asparagus | 250 g | FDC 168389Asparagus, raw | 50 kcal | 5.5 g |
| olive oil | 14 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 121 kcal | 0.0 g |
| lemon juice | 15 g | FDC 167747Lemon juice, raw | 3 kcal | 0.1 g |
| parsley | 10 g | FDC 170416Parsley, fresh | 4 kcal | 0.3 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 920 kcal | 90.8 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 3 to 4 days. Excellent cold the next day as a grain salad, with a little more lemon juice.
- In the freezer
- The FDA chart gives cooked poultry dishes 4 to 6 months in the freezer for best quality.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
Try another recipe
Turkey meatballs with roasted pepper sauce
Tender turkey meatballs in a smooth pepper sauce, served with orzo.
About 40 min · 585 kcal · 42 g protein per serving