High proteinLow carb

Chicken & Broccoli Bake

A white sauce turns two ingredients into dinner.

45 min Serves 2 Stove, Saucepan, Oven

Per serving

890

kcal

74.8 g

protein

67.6 g

carbs

35.2 g

fat

8.4 g protein per 100 kcal · 5.9 g fibre. Calculated from the exact weights below using standard food composition data, so they are close estimates rather than lab values.

Full screen, one step at a time, with timers and how-to guides. Free, no sign-up.

Your marks stay on this device. Solviro Max uses them to put recipes like the ones you liked first.

Ingredients

For 2 servings.

  • Chicken breast300 g
  • Broccoli300 g
  • Semi-skimmed milk350 g
  • Cheddar cheese80 g
  • Butter30 g
  • Plain flour30 g
  • Pasta, dry weight(optional)100 g

Method

  1. 1Poach or fry the chicken and cube it; blanch the broccoli four minutes.
  2. 2Butter, flour, milk in stages; cheese off the heat.
  3. 3Combine in a dish, bake at 200°C for 20 minutes.

New to cooking? Read this first

The techniques and safety points this recipe uses, explained from scratch.

Chicken and turkey: cook it all the way throughShow

Raw poultry often carries campylobacter and salmonella. They are killed by heat, not by washing — so the one rule is: cooked right through, every time.

  1. Do NOT rinse raw chicken under the tap. It does not clean it; it splashes bacteria around your sink, worktop and clothes. Take it straight from the pack to the board or pan.
  2. If it is wet, pat it dry with kitchen paper, bin the paper, then wash your hands.
  3. Check the thickest piece, not the thinnest. Cut into it: there should be no pink meat at all, and the juices should run clear, not pink.
  4. Most reliable: a food thermometer pushed into the thickest part should read at least 75 °C.

Ready when: White all the way through, juices clear, steaming hot — or 75 °C in the thickest part.

Cutting broccoli into floretsShow

The 'trees' are florets. The stalk is sweet and perfectly good to eat.

  1. Turn the head upside down and cut the florets off where they meet the thick stalk.
  2. Split big florets through their stem so they are all roughly the size of a large grape.
  3. Peel the tough outside off the stalk and slice the inside into coins — it cooks in the same time.

Ready when: Cooked: bright green and a knife goes in with a little resistance. Grey-green and floppy is overdone.

Cooking pastaShow

Plenty of salty, fast-boiling water and a taste near the end are the whole secret.

  1. Use about 1 litre of water per 100 g of pasta. Bring it to a rolling boil, THEN add salt — about a level teaspoon per litre.
  2. Add the pasta and stir for the first minute so it doesn't stick together. No oil needed.
  3. Start tasting a piece 1–2 minutes before the time on the packet. 'Al dente' means soft but with a slight firm bite in the very middle.
  4. Before draining, scoop out a mug of the cooking water. A splash of it makes sauces glossy and helps them cling.
  5. Drain, don't rinse, and mix with the sauce straight away.
Cutting raw chicken into piecesShow

Pieces the same size cook in the same time — which is how you avoid some being dry and others raw.

  1. Use a separate board for raw meat if you have one. Don't rinse the chicken.
  2. Trim off any white stringy bits or fat.
  3. Strips: slice across the breast about 1 cm thick. Cubes: cut strips about 2–2.5 cm wide, then cut across them.
  4. Afterwards, wash the board, knife and your hands in hot soapy water before touching anything else.
Frying and stir-fryingShow

Frying is cooking in a thin layer of hot fat. A stir fry is the fast, hot version where you keep everything moving.

  1. Have everything chopped and ready BEFORE the pan goes on — there is no time once it starts.
  2. Heat the oil first (see above), then add the food in a single layer. If it doesn't fit in one layer, cook it in two batches.
  3. Let pieces sit for a minute to colour before you turn them; stir-fries get stirred or tossed every 20–30 seconds.
  4. Hardest things go in first (carrot, pepper), soft things last (spinach, spring onion).

What can you make with what's in your fridge?

Tick what you have and Solviro's Meal Builder shows every meal you can cook right now, with the macros worked out. Free.

Open the Meal Builder

Made with similar ingredients

All 252 recipes

A standard home version of a well-known dish, written for Solviro. Nutrition is estimated from ingredient weights and will vary with brands and portions.