Chicken Stew is a delicious meal with chicken, potatoes and sweet potatoes, onions and carrots. It’s all simmered in a rich seasoned chicken broth until tender. It’s one of our all time favorite meals (along with beef stew)!
A recipe like this chicken stew is a meal unto itself… full of protein, healthy carbs and veggies. We serve it with a salad or Easy Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits to sop up anything left in the bowl. It’s true chicken soup perfection.
Chicken soups are truly the ultimate comfort food from Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup to belly warming Chicken Rice Soup. This easy chicken stew fits the bill perfectly.
How To Make Chicken Stew
This simple chicken stew recipe is fully loaded with tender chicken and vegetables simmered in a deliciously seasoned broth! I use thighs because they tend to hold up better to the simmering but breasts can work well in this recipe too!
If you’re using chicken breasts, I would suggest browning the chunks and then adding in the last 20 minutes or so. If you have other veggies you love (root vegetables are especially great) add them in!
- Brown chicken at a high temp. No need to cook it through, you just want the caramelization and flavor.
- Soften onions/carrots/celery and add flour (to thicken a bit).
- Add broth, herbs and veggies. Homemade chicken stock or store bought work just fine.
- Simmer.
Crazy easy right? I add a bit of heavy cream at the end to make this chicken stew just a little bit creamy. You can skip the cream if you prefer or add extra if you’d like.
How To Thicken Chicken Stew
Sweet potatoes are a great addition to this hearty chicken stew recipe and they do soften quite a bit, this helps thicken it. The flour added at the beginning will thicken this chicken stew but you can certainly thicken it more if you’d like!
You can use a mixture of either cornstarch or flour with broth or water. I find cornstarch is less likely to be lumpy but flour tends to reheat/freeze better so the choice is yours! You can also add instant potatoes to thicken a little bit at a time.
How To Make a Slurry
Combine 2 tablespoons flour with 1 cup of water or broth (I prefer broth) and shake very well. Pour the slurry a little at a time into the boiling chicken stew while stirring. Once your stew is thickened, allow it to boil for a couple of minutes.
You’ll want to make sure your flour mixture has no lumps before you add it, I use a shaker jar or mason jar and shake really well.
Can You Freeze Chicken Stew?
Chicken Stew can be frozen! If you plan on freezing it, I’d suggest using flour as a thickener (not cornstarch) as it will have a better consistency. I personally freeze in individual servings because they defrost faster and I can take out as many as I need to serve.
More Chicken Soup Recipes You’ll Love
- Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Easy Chicken Taco Soup
- Chicken Wild Rice Soup (no cream)
- Chicken Barley Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs about 8 thighs, diced 1-inch
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour divided
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ¼ teaspoon ground sage
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 ½ cups diced potatoes peeled if using russets or baking potatoes
- 1 ½ cups diced sweet potatoes peeled
- ½ red bell pepper finely diced
- ¼ cup white wine
- 4 cups chicken broth or chicken stock
- 1 cup green beans cut into 1-inch pieces, or frozen peas, thawed
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- In a large pot or dutch oven, brown chicken in 1 tablespoon olive oil (it doesn't have to be cooked through). Remove from pot and set aside.
- Cook onion, carrot and celery in remaining olive oil for about 3 minutes or until onion is slightly softened. Stir in 3 tablespoons of flour, seasonings and salt & pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes.
- Add potatoes, sweet potatoes, red pepper, white wine, browned chicken and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
- Remove lid and stir in green beans and cream. Thicken if desired (below) and simmer an additional 10 minutes uncovered.
- To thicken: In a mason jar combine remaining 2 tablespoons flour and 1 cup water or broth. Shake very well (ensure there are no lumps) and add a little at a time to boiling stew to reach desired consistency.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course, Soup
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Very good recipe, easy, good flavors, comfort food at it’s best!
Thank you Julie!
I found this Chicken stew on Pinterest and made it last weekend. It is the best full of flavor we loved it. I didn’t add the sweet potatoes but added a few more white, I didn’t thicken it it was thick enough, I used chicken thighs and used “knorrs chicken tubs for the broth” and a bag of frozen mixed veggies also added a small zucchini Can’t wait to make it again. This is the best recipe I have made in a long time. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Andi
I am so glad you loved it Andi! Those sound like great additions. Enjoy!
Did you use boneless skinless chicken thighs? From the pictures it looks delicious. This is the recipe I was looking for all the others use chicken breast and I find that to be too dry
Yes, I used boneless skinless thighs (for the same reason you mentioned, they don’t dry out). Enjoy!!
I was thinking to add canned tomatoes. What do you think about that?
I have only made this recipe as written, but if you add them let me know how it turns out!
This chicken stew sounds delicious. I have a new instant pot and I would like to adapt it to use that way. It shouldn’t be hard to do. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I can’t wait to hear how it turns out!
Made your chicken stew it was a success around here will definitely make it again .
So glad everyone loved it!
Has anyone done in crock pot
I haven’t but I do think it would work just fine!
Could you substitute the heavy cream for something lighter? Thanks!
You could use light cream or skip the cream altogether if you’d prefer.
Just making this today and finding it is ending up quite soupy. Followed recipe and made a note to cut back on the 4 C broth to 3 and save 1 C to make the slurry. Other than that it looks wonderful.
I also want to know if wine can be substituted or omitted??
Thanks
You can leave the wine out and just use broth if you’d prefer!
Had everything on hand but the cream and green beans, so I did without, but it came out fantastic! I made it in the instant pot, so easy. Thank you for the recipe! A filling but light meal that is high on nutritional value!
So glad you enjoyed it Amanda, I’ll have to try it in the Instant Pot!
How long did u cook in instant pot? Did u cook chicken? Did u change anything? Ty
Sounds. Delicious. I’ll be. Making it. Today. Its. cool. Out
Is there something I can substitute the wine for?
You can leave it out if you prefer.
Can something be substituted for the wine?
Just add that much more chicken stock.
Do you use sweet or dry wine
I use a dry wine.
Hi Holly, I would like to try this recipe this weekend. It looks really delicious. What type of potatoes are you using? And what type of green beans? Thank you Lori in Minnesota
I use whatever kind of potatoes I have on hand, most often red skinned or baby potatoes. Frozen green beans (that have been defrosted) work well in this recipe!
Has anyone tried this in a slow cooker?
Do you use fresh herbs or dry. 1/2 teaspoon sounds dry herbs but the picture looks like you use fresh. Please advise.
I use dry in the recipe (as it’s what most people have on hand). I garnish with fresh if I happen to have them on hand.
The Dish was absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much. It will be a staple in our house
So glad you loved it Helen!
There meal was absolutely delicious. Thankfully where I live is a herb garden so could use fresh herbs. This will be one of our beautiful weekly meals
So glad you loved it!
Hi,
I was wondering if adding one can of tomatoes would be good with your recipe?
I haven’t tried it but do think it would be delicious!
This is one of my favorite soup/stew recipes of all time! I love the slight sweetness the sweet potatoes give off. I used ground turkey since I didnt have chicken and it was still great.
So glad you loved it!
Can I use frozen vegetables? Did you only use fresh?
You can use frozen vegetables, they may cook a little bit quicker so you’ll want to keep an eye on them so they don’t get mushy.