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!
This was delicious! I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s leftovers. I did a red bell pepper because we had one in the house. My daughter liked the rosemary. So did I. I love chicken thighs.
This chicken stew was totally yummy. It is perfect to make on a cold day. Definitely will be making it again,my husband can’t get enough of it.
How would you recommend changing this to use precooked chicken? I have a rotisserie that would be perfect in this
I’m not sure I would suggest that because you’d be missing a lot of the flavor that comes with browning the chicken in the beginning. You could potentially just start with sautéing the vegetables and then adding all the flour at the step when I added the second half, that way you still get the thickening action. Then add the pre-cooked chicken at the end of the simmering process.
My family and I loved this! Everyone commented on how flavorful this stew is. This recipe will go in to one of our fall and winter favorites.
This was such a comforting, flavorful meal to make during the middle of a snow storm! My store was out of chicken things so I made due with chicken breasts (they worked just fine, but I could see how thighs would be more flavorful). I was also out of dried parsley so I used 1/4 tsp of dried basil. I also used better than bouillon chicken & veggie base and they have great flavor to the stew. I highly recommend this recipe, it made a good amount and is perfect for cold days!
Really tasty, and loved how tender the chicken came out! Some things I added (if others want some variation): 1/2 tbsp grated ginger to the onions, etc. brightens it up even more and 1/4 tsp red chili flakes, 1/4 tsp smoked salt, and 1/2 tsp smoked paprika add more smokey, deep flavor. Still delicious as is :)
Beth, this looks delicious! How would you recommend converting this to a slow cooker recipe?
I’d need to test it because you’d have to change quite a few things. Most importantly, you wouldn’t get any of that nice browning action, which really adds a lot of flavor to the stew. It would also affect how you use the flour as a thickener. The flour wouldn’t get toasted, so it might taste more “floury” and you’d probably have to add it at the end in a slurry so it doesn’t clump… I have seen a couple of people say that they made this in their slow cooker or Instant pot and they enjoyed it, but I’d definitely want to test out a few methods before offering a suggestion.
I made this tonight with buttered sourdough toast to dip and it was delicious!!
Not my favorite, I found the soup to be very bland
Holyyyyy smokes this recipe is awesome, it’s totally delicious as is but part of the beauty is that it’s really conductive to substitutions and additions to fit your own tastes, this technique is flawless. It was a bit too much chicken for me so next time I’m decreasing the chicken to 1lb and upping the veggies with the addition of parsnip, peas & leeks. Great way to clean out your veggie drawer.
Delicious! And it’s definitely a forgiving, flexible recipe. I was missing sage, never bothered to get the butter out of the fridge, used more potatoes than called for, and just threw in carrots and celery without double checking the amounts. Turned out great, and I plan to make again! Only thing I might do differently next time would be to play around with shredding the chicken.
Also – I was short on time, so I actually made the chicken in one pan, the veggies in the stew pot, and boiled the potatoes in a 3rd. Once I combined everything, I brought it to a boil and let it sit about ~8-10 minutes instead of 30.
this was my first time making stew and this recipe was very easy to follow and fairly inexpensive! my stew came out much thicker than hers so i think next time i’m either going to a) add more broth b) cut my ingredients smaller or c) keep it covered for longer. but even with it being thicker the flavor was still really good and filling!
This is now a favorite. The flavors are spot on!
Just made this today- so good! The broth is perfect. The only sub was a teaspoon of poultry seasoning for the sage and rosemary.
perfect. My wife would have preferred a little less chicken. I think 1.25 lbs would be good.