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!
Yesterday morning, I made this and refrigerated it for several hours before reheating for supper, which allowed the ingredients to blend a bit longer.
It was absolutely delicious and the servings are generous.
I made this twice. In the three weeks or so since I found your website. First time I followed the recipe. Fantastic. Best dinner ever.
The Second time I made this, I found out that I had no potatoes. I made it with a sweet potato instead, and added rice. SO DELICIOUS!
Thank you for the fantastic recipes here.
This was delicious, and got lots of compliments. I didn’t have as much chicken as the recipe called for, so I increased the amount of veg to compensate a bit for volume, and it worked out nicely. I also didn’t have all of the individual herbs in my spice collection so ended up using the equivalent amount of herbes de provence instead which had tasty results.
Do you have an instapot version of this? That or a slow cooker version? I tend to wait until the last minute to pull out my meat and its usually frozen, so I like to throw it in either an instapot or slow cooker if it doesn’t thaw in time.
No, unfortunately, I haven’t tried this in either of those yet.
Did you ever figure out a way for the slow cooker?
Really, really good and straightforward to make! I didn’t have any dried sage, rosemary, or parsley but did have fresh versions of the last 2 so used those in a higher amount. I can definitely see sage really rounding this out so will make sure to have some on hand next time.
I added some salt (I’ve noticed most BB recipes tend to be on the low salt side) and my favorite mixed blend, Crazy Jane’s Mixed Up Salt! The broth hadn’t reduced as much as I would have liked, so I added cornstarch slurry (water + cornstarch) to thicken it up.
Added some oven roasted green beans for extra veggies – my go-to method for adding vegetables that I’m not sure will cook evenly with what’s already in there!
Just made this for the first time. It is delicious. I would certainly make again. I might use low sodium broth next time, but its not overly salty. I also added broccoli – it kinda disintegrated as expected – but it was a nice way to use some old veg from the fridge.
YUM! I love this site, I will keep trying your recipes. Thank-you :)
Fantastic flavour! I only had russets that needed to be tossed so I subbed some egg noodles. I turned up the heat for the last 8 minutes to cook them. The chicken turned out very tender too, and carrots weren’t overcooked. It was perfect! I look forward to it with potatoes. Thanks!!
This is amazing! Thanks for the recipe. So delicious. I’m not a fan of rosemary or sage so I just used more parsley and thyme. Delicious!
Yum! This is the type of stew I always make with beef chunks but I love the idea of chicken and how it won’t be overly heavy like beef can be. Great idea!
So yummy! This is a great recipe and easily adjustable to meet whatever you have on hand. I added a handful of spinach and mushrooms and I didn’t cut up the meat. This was easy to make, too.
So delicious. I’ve made this stew 3 times already. Definitely a family favourite
Can this freeze pretty well?
I’m not sure if this one will separate upon thawing, since it does use a flour roux for thickening.
Excellent recipe, thanks you! Five stars. I made it tonight as written.
I like the consistency of the stew, but the flavor was not my favorite. Also, we don’t like dark meat. Do you have different suggestions for spices or meat for a stew with the same veggies and consistency.? We’re just not a fan of the spices in this recipe.
Hmm, I’m not sure about different spice mixes off-hand. I’d need to do some experimenting and testing.
Yes, I’d love to see more stews with this consistency on your website. Thanks so much for replying.
could you use almond or coconut flour for browning the chicken?
No, those flours don’t have the same properties and won’t produce the same result. In addition to the browning, the starch in the flour is what thickens the broth into a gravy (making it a stew), so that won’t happen with almond or coconut flour.