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 pea pearl barley risotto
A comforting barley bowl with chicken, peas and Parmesan.
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 pearl barley is tender in 35 to 40 minutes in 650 ml of stock
- Photograph the finished bowl
- Time
- About 1 hr 5 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 455 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 42 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
Warm the oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until soft.
Stir in the barley, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring now and then, until the barley is tender and the liquid has thickened around it.
Add the chicken and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until it is cooked through.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Stir in the peas and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until hot. Take the pan off the heat.
Stir in the Parmesan and parsley, and loosen with a splash of water if it has gone stiff. Divide between two bowls.
The useful detail
Barley stays pleasantly chewy even when the surrounding liquid turns creamy. It will not collapse like risotto rice, so judge it by the liquid rather than the grain.
Make it work for you
One serving is Half the pan, about a deep bowlful. 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.
Turkey breast instead of chicken
Leaner, with the same safe endpoint.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about 1 g more protein, about 1 g less fat.
Green beans instead of peas
Firmer, and they do not sweeten the pan the way peas do.
Per serving: about 25 kcal less, about 2 g less protein, about the same fat.
A vegetarian Italian-style hard cheese instead of Parmesan
Tastes similar and melts the same way. Nutrition is not recalculated; check the pack.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A deep bowl of grain and chicken with a good amount of fibre from the barley and peas. It is the longest cook in this group and the most forgiving.
| Energy | 455 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 42 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| of which saturates | 3 g |
| Carbohydrate | 50 g |
| of which sugars | 6 g |
| Fibre | 11 g |
| Sodium | 1,500 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| olive oil | 4.5 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 40 kcal | 0.0 g |
| onion | 60 g | FDC 170000Onions, raw | 24 kcal | 0.7 g |
| pearl barley | 100 g | FDC 170284Barley, pearled, raw | 352 kcal | 9.9 g |
| chicken stock | 685 g | FDC 174536Soup, chicken broth, ready-to-serve | 41 kcal | 4.4 g |
| chicken breast | 250 g | FDC 171077Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw | 300 kcal | 56.3 g |
| frozen peas | 100 g | FDC 170016Peas, green, frozen, unprepared (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program) | 77 kcal | 5.2 g |
| Parmesan | 20 g | FDC 170848Cheese, parmesan, hard | 78 kcal | 7.2 g |
| parsley | 5 g | FDC 170416Parsley, fresh | 2 kcal | 0.1 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 914 kcal | 83.7 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 barley keeps drinking the sauce, so add water when you reheat it.
- 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