Okay guys, this chicken stew recipe is definitely at the top of my list of all-time favorite recipes! Chicken Stew is thicker and heartier than chicken soup, but lighter than a beef stew. The flavor is absolutely on point, it’s totally cozy, and it’s just one of those things that I could happily eat for three meals per day and still want more the next day. With nearly 200 5-star reviews, you have to try this chicken stew!
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No but why is this seriously one of the best stews I’ve ever made? I’ve made it many times now and each time it is SO delicious, hearty and cozy. It is definitely one of my go-to’s. Simple and so good.
Courtney O
Thank you!
What is Chicken Stew?
Chicken stew is like chicken soup‘s older cousin that is a little rough around the edges. It’s a little more rustic with a rich, thick, gravy-like broth. It’s packed full of vegetables and is a true meal in a bowl. It’s just the perfect comfort food for fall and winter. Oh, and you’ll definitely want some crusty bread for sopping up all that delicious gravy!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this incredible chicken stew recipe:
- Chicken Thighs: Dark meat chicken thighs stay tender and moist in the stew and add just enough fat to make the gravy extra rich. We use boneless, skinless thighs to make it easy, although you could use bone-in and remove the bones later, if desired.
- Flour: The chicken thighs are lightly coated in flour before browning to get even more of that delicious brown color and flavor, and it helps thicken the broth into a gravy.
- Vegetables: A classic mirepoix mix of onion, carrot, and celery, plus a little garlic gives this stew a rich and hearty flavor, plus tons of color and texture. Small gold potatoes are added to make the stew even more hearty. If they aren’t available, simply cut Yukon gold potatoes into 1-inch cubes.
- Butter: A little bit of butter combines with the flour in the pot to create a roux that helps thicken the broth into a gravy. It also helps make the flavor of the stew extra rich.
- Herbs: A robust mix of parsley, thyme, rosemary, and sage give this stew a warm and cozy flavor. Not to mention, they make your house smell great while it cooks!
- Broth: We use a combination of vegetable and chicken broth in the stew for maximum flavor and a deep golden-brown color.
Storage Instructions
This chicken stew gets even tastier the next day! Divide the stew into single-serving portions, then refrigerate for up to 5 days. You can also freeze this stew in a large container or single-serving portions for up to 3 months. Make sure to label and date! Refrigerated or frozen chicken stew can be reheated using the microwave, or in a saucepot on the stove over medium-low heat, stirring often.
Recipe Tips
- Use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. Chicken thighs stay juicy and tender, even with a long cook time, and have TONS of flavor.
- Make sure to brown the chicken well. All of the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot after browning the chicken (called “fond”) flavors the gravy and gives it a nice deep color.
- Use good quality broths. Skip boxed broth and opt for something full-flavored. I like Better Than Bouillon, which really packs a flavor punch. Homemade broth is great, too!
Serving Suggestions
This chicken stew is a total one pot meal, but I like to serve it up with a little bread to sop up all that soupy goodness once I’ve emptied the bowl. Classic dinner rolls are so good, or try my no knead focaccia bread!
Chicken Stew
Servings 6 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.28)
- 3 ribs celery ($0.64)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1/2 lb. carrots ($0.32)
- 1.75 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs ($6.52)
- 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour, divided ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.18)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1.5 lbs. baby potatoes ($2.89)
- 1 tsp dried parsley ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried sage ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.26)
- 2 cups vegetable broth ($0.26)
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional) ($0.10)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and celery, mince the garlic, slice the carrots, and cut the baby potatoes in half before you begin.
- Cut the chicken thighs into 1-inch pieces. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of the flour over the chicken and toss until the chicken is evenly coated.
- Add the butter and olive oil to a large pot. Heat the butter and oil over medium until they are hot and sizzling.
- Add the flour-coated chicken to the pot with the butter and oil and allow the chicken to brown on all sides (avoid stirring until browned on the bottom). When the chicken is browned and there is a nice brown layer of flour on the bottom of the pot, remove the chicken to a clean bowl with a slotted spoon. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point, just browned on the outside.
- Add the onion, celery, garlic, and carrots to the pot and continue to sauté until the onions are soft. Use the moisture released by the vegetables to dissolve and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Once the vegetables are slightly softened, add the remaining 2 Tbsp flour to the pot and continue to sauté over medium for about two minutes more. The flour will begin to coat the bottom of the pot again.
- Return the browned chicken to the pot. Also add the potatoes, parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper, chicken broth, and vegetable broth. Stir to combine and dissolve any flour off the bottom of the pot.
- Place a lid on the pot and allow it to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, remove the lid and turn the heat down to medium-low. Allow the stew to simmer over medium-low, without a lid and stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the broth has thickened.
- Taste the stew and add salt if needed (I did not add any, but it will depend on the salt content of the broth you used). Add a tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley if desired, and serve hot.
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Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- Chef’s Knife
- Garlic Press
Nutrition
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How to Make Chicken Stew – Step by Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion, slice ½ lb. carrots (3-4 carrots) and 3 ribs celery, and mince 4 cloves garlic.
Chop about 1.5 lbs. potatoes into 1-inch pieces. I used baby potatoes, so they only needed to be cut in half.
Chop about 1.75 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs into 1-inch pieces. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour over the chicken pieces and toss until they’re coated.
Add 2 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large pot. Heat the butter and oil over medium until they are hot and sizzling. Add the chicken thigh pieces and let them cook until browned on all sides (the chicken does not need to be cooked through, just browned on the outside). Avoid stirring too often, as that will prevent browning. You want the flour to brown a bit on the bottom of the pot. Remove the browned chicken to a clean plate or bowl.
Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pot after removing the chicken. Continue to sauté over medium for about 5 minutes, allowing the moisture released by the vegetables to dissolve some of the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Once the vegetables are slightly softened, add 2 more tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Continue to sauté for about 2 minutes more. The flour will again begin to coat the bottom of the pot.
Return the browned chicken to the pot along with the potatoes, 1 tsp dried parsley, ½ tsp dried thyme, ½ tsp dried rosemary, ½ tsp dried sage, about ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper, 2 cups chicken broth, and 2 cups vegetable broth.
Stir everything to combine and dissolve any flour off the bottom of the pot.
Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow it to come up to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid and turn the heat down to medium-low. Allow the stew to simmer over medium-low, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the broth has thickened.
Give the stew a taste and add salt, if needed (I did not add any, but this will largely depend on the salt content of the broth you used). Add some freshly chopped parsley, if desired.
Don’t forget to make some crusty homemade bread to dip in that amazing stew!
I made this today and it was AMAZING. Perfect and easy to meal prep. I can already tell it’s going to be even better tomorrow. Thank you so so much for this recipe. I’ve sent it to all my friends. 😅
Alli B
I need to make this gluten-free so I can’t use wheat flour. Do you know if there is another flour I can use in an equal amount to achieve the desired effect?
Hi, Jason! The flour is there simply to help thicken the broth — so it wouldn’t be a huge deal if it was omitted. Potatoes are also a great, natural thickener as well because they are high in starch. You could remove some cooked potatoes, blend/mash them, and then return to the stew to thicken it (or just smash some around in the pot once they’re cooked.) We haven’t tested this recipe using gluten-free flour or a cornstarch slurry to thicken, so I can’t promise equally successful results. Both will likely affect the final look and texture of the stew slightly. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it and let us know how it goes! ~Marion :)
Jason,
I made this using “gluten-free measure for measure flour”(1:1 substitute for wheat flour). I also had to substitute the butter with dairy free butter. Of course since I haven’t made it with regular flour, I can’t compare with the original recipe, but I thought it turned out great!
This tastes heavenly, so comforting and healthy. I use homemade vegetable bouillon cubes which enhances the flavour even more. I’ve made this three times in a row and it’s keeper!
Can you freeze this? I like to make soup recipes ahead of time and freeze them for my husband to take to work when he works away from home.
Hi, Erin! This will stay in the fridge for about 4 days and will definitely freeze well! The only thing is if your husband has a sensitivity to texture changes. Sometimes freezing potatoes can give them a more “mealy” texture that some don’t find as appealing. If that’s the case, I might also suggest freezing a single portion and reheating it to see how you like it before making a full commitment! — Marion :)
This recipe is amazing! So good, the combo of the roasted garlic bouillon and chicken bouillon is heavenly — I think if you used regular vegetable broth with chicken broth, it probably wouldn’t have the same punch. I intend to use the combo in other recipes! The only change I made was leaving out parsley because I’m not a parsley fan, this is a total winner!
Hi, Megan! I totally hear you about the parsley. (I love flat-leaf Italian parsley, but the curly stuff can take a HIKE.) One of my absolute favorite substitutes in recipes that also call for celery, like this one — I might even like it better! — is to pick the greenest leaves off the celery, chop them up, and use that as my herb-y garnish instead of parsley. It’s also a great way to take an ingredient as far as possible and reduce waste! — Marion :)
Our whole house is sick on this snowy day and this is a great recipe. Very comforting and filling! I added more carrots and some bell pepper to clean out the fridge. So good.
On a scale of 1-10, how good of an idea would it be to substitute the minced onion for pearl onions added with the potatoes? I wouldn’t want to change the base flavor if missing that step is a bad idea, but…kinda want to chop into a spoonful of onion-y, potato-y, chicken-y goodness, perhaps.
I think that sounds delish! It’s hard to estimate how much it will change the flavor without trying it myself, though.
Best ever tummy warmer great for those off the red meat❤️
Not only did I already have all the ingredients, but it was so filling and very easy to make. Chicken noodle but with potatoes! SO happy we have extra to take to lunch :)
any reason this couldn’t be made in a crockpot?
Hi, Phyllis! That’s a great question. You can definitely make this in a crockpot — however, I will say, this recipe was not tested for use with a crockpot and doing so could affect the flavor development and final product slightly. BUT, if I was making this recipe with a crockpot, I would start by searing off the chicken, so you develop the flavor and color you want in the stew, before adding it and the rest of the ingredients to your slow cooker. Best of luck! – Marion :)
Made this today with chicken breast and added some rutabaga I had, it was nothing short of delicious, full of flavour and definitely a keeper, I will make it again and again !!
This was delicious. I used chicken breast so was mindful about the temps, but the directions were spot on, the flavors are very harmonious, and it’s a great comfort food dish you can feel good about serving to your family. This one’s totally a keeper!
Just had it and it came out very well. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Reminds me a bit of Cambells soup but 100x better. Thanks for sharing
It’s near thanksgiving and all the spices are gone so I used Bragg’a 24 herb seasoning in the same total amount of dry herbs and it came out good.
I salted the chicken before the flour
Added baby bok choy 🥬 because it wanted a green that was a bit more hearty then celery
I was going to make southern style drop dumplings but got lazy so we put rice into our bowls with the stew and it was really good.
L
Made this last night. Doubled the recipe and used a 2 lb. 14 oz pack of Costco pulled rotisserie chicken instead of chicken thighs. Chicken was the only change. WOW, it was good and made a lot stew. Spices were spot on! Excellent recipe, thanks, I will be making again
What size is your dutch oven? I just don’t want to start in mine and have to transfer to a different pot, and I’m not sure mine is as big as yours because it is oblong.
We have a 6 quart. XOXO -Monti