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 Florentine with rice
Chicken with spinach and a smooth, lightly creamy sauce.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 12 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 the sauce thickens with 10 g of flour to 250 ml of liquid
- Photograph the finished plate
- Time
- About 35 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 485 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 44 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains gluten, milk. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- chicken stock. Stock often contains celery, and sometimes gluten or soya; check the label.
- Parmesan. Parmigiano Reggiano is made with animal rennet, so it is not vegetarian. Vegetarian Italian-style hard cheeses are widely sold.
Cooking steps
Cook the rice in boiling water, following the packet, then drain it and keep it covered.
Warm the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and brown the chicken for 3 minutes on each side.
Scatter the flour into the pan and stir for a minute. Add the stock a little at a time, then the milk, stirring so the sauce stays smooth.
Simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the chicken once, until it is cooked through and the sauce coats a spoon.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Stir in the spinach until it wilts, then the Parmesan. Serve over the rice.
The useful detail
Add liquid gradually after the flour to keep the sauce smooth. All at once, the flour clumps before it can swell, and the lumps never quite disappear.
Make it work for you
One serving is 140 g of chicken (raw weight) with half the sauce and rice. 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.
A vegetarian hard cheese
The same in the sauce, without animal rennet.
Per serving: about the same energy, about the same protein, about the same fat.
Unsweetened soya milk
Thickens in the same way.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about the same protein, about the same fat.
Allergens: Adds soya. The cheese still contains milk.
Turkey breast instead of chicken
Leaner, with the same safe endpoint.
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 creamy-tasting plate made with milk and a spoon of flour rather than cream, which is why the fat figure stays moderate.
| Energy | 485 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 44 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| of which saturates | 4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 51 g |
| of which sugars | 5 g |
| Fibre | 2 g |
| Sodium | 470 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| white rice | 100 g | FDC 168877Rice, white, long-grain, regular, raw, enriched | 365 kcal | 7.1 g |
| olive oil | 4.5 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 40 kcal | 0.0 g |
| chicken breast | 280 g | FDC 171077Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw | 336 kcal | 63.0 g |
| plain flour | 10 g | FDC 169761Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, unenriched | 36 kcal | 1.0 g |
| chicken stock | 105 g | FDC 174536Soup, chicken broth, ready-to-serve | 6 kcal | 0.7 g |
| milk | 155 g | FDC 171267Milk, reduced fat, fluid, 2% milkfat, with added vitamin A and vitamin D | 77 kcal | 5.1 g |
| spinach | 150 g | FDC 168462Spinach, raw | 35 kcal | 4.3 g |
| Parmesan | 20 g | FDC 170848Cheese, parmesan, hard | 78 kcal | 7.2 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 974 kcal | 88.4 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. The sauce thickens in the fridge; loosen it with milk or water.
- 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
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Tender turkey meatballs in a smooth pepper sauce, served with orzo.
About 40 min · 585 kcal · 42 g protein per serving