Baked Chicken with Broccoli

Last Updated on March 13, 2025

A low-calorie baked chicken to use up leftovers.

I love pies with rich, creamy fillings. Sadly, my waistline disagrees, but I’ve discovered a magic secret ingredient that means I don’t need to add cream or make bechamel. I’ve also been making bruschetta with leftover bread in the airfryer, and I’ve discovered that with a few minutes in the food processor, they can be turned into the best toasted breadcrumbs ever. This recipe for baked chicken with broccoli makes use of both tricks to create a frugal but tasty bake that is also low in calories

Those checking the ingredients in the photo above may be surprised by the apparently very large cauliflower. It’s actually a normal ‘large’ one – and although I used the whole head to make cauliflower cream, I only used about a third of the end product. The rest went in the fridge to be used as part of a soup recipe. There’s a good-sized cooked chicken breast in the enamel bowl left over from the Sunday roast, a small ciabatta loaf, a small leek, a handful of fresh parsley, a few florettes of broccoli and some hard Italian cheese (Grana Padano here, but you could use whatever you have in the fridge).

The preparation for this baked chicken with broccoli is relatively simple. Making the cauliflower cream involves steaming the cauliflower for 10 minutes, leaving it to rest and then using an immersion or stick blender to make a light cream. The only extra ingredient you need is a little salt.

To make the toasted breadcrumbs, slice your ciabatta, baguette or leftover sourdough and then brush the slices on both sides with a little olive oil. I can cook these on ‘airfry in the Russell Hobbs Actifry in about 6 minutes, but you should use common sense when cooking them and adjust to your own equipment. If you don’t have an airfryer, they can be baked in the oven for 10 minutes at 180C. Once they’ve cooled, just blitz them in a food processor until you have rough crumbs.

The addition of a leek to the chicken and broccoli is to add a slightly more subtle allium flavour than you’d get from chopped onion. Trim, clean and chop your leek, discarding any tough parts. You should blanch the chopped leek by covering it with boiling water and leaving it for a few minutes or steaming it in the microwave for a minute.

Cut your chicken and broccoli into chunks and florettes appropriate to the size of your pie dish(es). For my individual pies, each piece was about the same size as my thumbnail. If you are using a larger pie dish, you may want to keep larger chunks for your baked chicken with broccoli.

Make up the filling for the bake by mixing together the chicken, vegetables and chopped parsley, with enough cauliflower cream to bind everything together loosely. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste, then put it into pie dishes.

Stir the grated cheese into the breadcrumbs and cover each of the pie dishes with a liberal topping. If you have any left over, the breadcrumb mixture will keep in a screwtop jar in the fridge for a week and can be sprinkled over pasta dishes or soups as required.

Individual dishes of baked chicken with broccoli will cook much faster than one large dish. Cook in an oven or airfryer for about 25 minutes at 180C until the top is golden and the filling is heated through and bubbling.

This baked chicken with broccoli can be kept in the fridge for 2 or 3 days or frozen for up to a month.

I serve this baked chicken with broccoli with a helping of chopped spinach and a jacket potato. It’s a delicious and comforting – but remarkably low in calories. Not quite a chicken pie, but pretty close!

Here’s a printable recipe if you’d like to try making this at home.