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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
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!
This has become a staple in my house, I make it at least a couple times per month in the winter. Whole family loves it.
One key modification I do is that once I get to the “let it simmer till done” stage I stick the whole Dutch oven (covered) into my oven at 250 or 300 and let it cook for 1.5 to 2 hours. I find that super easy and love how tender it makes the chicken.
Not a fan. Recipe should have indicated salt in the list of ingredients.
I used chicken broth, not reduced sodium broth.
Recipes are usually good. I consider this one a miss for me.
I really love this recipe. Made many stews and soups and this is a winner. Made it as written, only added some boullion because my broth is notoriously mildly seasoned. I imagine it gets better the next day but my first batch did not last!
Do you think you could sub corn starch for flour and still get the same result? Trying to cook for someone gluten free.
Bridge, this would work just fine! You’ll need less of it, so add a little and then add more if needed.
Great for a large family. I doubled the recipe. Everyone loved it and requested it again. I did add dumplings making it a very hearty meal. The leftovers were amazing.
This is probably the best dinner I’ve made myself in a long time. I followed the recipe and I actually doubled it. Which I think is a good amount for one person plus leftovers. I also made Dumplings for the stew. Perfect flu meal or winter meal.
We love this! I’ve made it two time already and I know it will be a regular during cold weather. My husband doesn’t like the texture of celery so I just sub more carrots.
Need some help with this one. Could someone rework the measurements for this recipe again? They are very inaccurate when you actually weigh out the ingredients by mass. My comment earlier was deleted. This recipe ended up working out and tasting amazing if you halve the vegetables and chicken and double the broth. Cheers!
Hi Alex! So sorry you had a hard time with this! This is one of our most popular recipes and countless people (including myself) have made it repeatedly without those issues. It sounds to me like there was an unfortunate miscalculation somewhere along the way! All of these amounts are pretty standard for a pot of soup. The only weight amounts given are 1.5 lbs. baby potatoes, 1.75 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and .5 lb of carrots, which, again, aren’t exorbitant amounts of food. Could you have possibly used a smaller pot than you thought or had your scale on a different setting? I wish I could help more, but this a pretty atypical result from this recipe!
This recipe is SERIOUSLY wrong. I don’t believe anyone has actually made this according to the written recipe. As written, this would require something like a 12QT stockpot due to the sheer amount of food (yes – I measured everything with a kitchen scale). After prepping all of the veggies and the chicken, I had to HALVE everything to fit in my 5qt pot. Then comes the problem with the liquid. Even after halving the ingredients, the 2 cups veggie + 2 cups chicken broth were NOWHERE near enough liquid, so I doubled that to a total of 8 cups, ie 2 QUARTS, of broth. So the recipe should call for 2+2 quarts if you don’t halve the chicken and veg.
I’m sitting eating it right now and I love it so much. Wonderful soup/stew, wonderful for fall and winter. Make it now!
I made this tonight for my young granddaughters- usually critical of a new dish.
This was delicious! I made it as directed and they ate it with no criticism!
I look forward to making this again and doubling the recipe for them!
Your prices are WAY off. You must have typed this recipe in the 70’s. The recipe looks tasty though. I think I’ll use chicken “legs” to save more money.
I think the prices are done by how much you actually use/measurements. Most packs of chicken thighs in my area are around $3.99 per lb. She has a 1 1/2 lbs of chicken thighs at ~$6.50. This really isn’t too far off. So considering how much you are actually use for each product, this appears reasonable.
Had some leftover chicken and this was perfect for it. I did increase the broth and added some string beans and squeezed some tomato paste; other than that I followed the recipe. Really good. Thanks for posting🤙🏼
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.
Thank you!