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
Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs about 1 1/2 pounds, diced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 small onion
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 5 tablespoons flour divided
- ½ teaspoon rosemary
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon sage
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 ½ cups potatoes peeled and diced
- 1 ½ cups sweet potatoes peeled and diced
- ½ red pepper finely diced
- ¼ cup white wine
- 4 cups chicken broth or chicken stock
- 1 cup green beans or peas
- ½ cup heavy 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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Can I use chicken breast instead of thigh meat?
Hi Jan, many other readers have made this recipe with chicken breast successfully! Let us know if you try it!
Holly, I want to use chicken breast, bc that’s what I have already. Would u rec browning it, like u do with the thighs, or just put the cubed breast in to poach in the liquid? I’m thinking that would be the best approach, but figured I’d ask you. TIA I’m looking forward to trying this, hopefully in 2 days if I hear from u, lol
I would still follow the recipe as written and brown the chicken in the first step. Enjoy Natalie!
This like chicken pot pie in a bowl. Just serve with crescent rolls.
Sounds fantastic and I’m definitely going to try this!
Can this be made in a crock pot slow cooker?
Hi Melody, we haven’t made this recipe in the crockpot yet. But I’d brown the chicken first, then take a look at the crock pot beef stew recipe to get an idea of how long to cook it in the crockpot! Hope that helps.
This was REALLY good. It DID take more than 15 minutes for prep time, but it was worth it. I served it to my husband and three other couples. Everyone said they liked it, and none was left when we finished!
Are the measurements in the recipe for dried or fresh herbs ( rosemary ect) ? Can you also give an approximate amounts of salt and pepper
Thanks
This recipe uses dried herbs. We say to taste for salt that way if you are using salted broth you can omit any additional salt. But if using low sodium broth you can add in a pinch of salt and pepper to meet your flavor preferences. I hope this helps Viviane!
exallent stew…I will definitely make again
Excellent stew! I’ve never made any type of stew. This was a complete success. It’s delicious and unique.
Best chicken stew recipe!! We have it at least twice a month. Whole family loves it!
Made this stew only omitting the white potatoes (food sensitivity) and had two sisters over for dinner. We all three of us loved it! They want me to send them the recipe. What I really love about that is both of them are excellent cooks and it was a thrill to have made them something that they liked enough to ask for the recipe! I will definitely make this again.
Awesome recipe! It’s the first time I’ve ever made Chicken Stew, and it didn’t disappoint. I added a parsnip and served it with Cheese Biscuits! My husband loved it, can’t wait to make it for a potluck one day.
I’m also going to try adding dumplings the next time during the last step when you add the beans.
Thanks for sharing.
Very good recipe. I questioned the amount of celery. Is it 2 stalks or 2 ribs?
We use two individual ribs in this recipe Mary. Enjoy!
Outstanding recipe! I’ve made this a dozen times, usually tossing in some additional veggies that I have on hand. I’ve used turnips, butternut squash, pumpkin, even cabbage. It’s always a success. I usually don’t have cream on hand to add and instead put in a chunk of butter for the added richness.
What kind of white wine should I use or can I substitute it for something else? Thanks
The wine adds great flavor; any kind you would drink should work well in this recipe. I would suggest Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc. You can replace the wine with additional broth if you’d prefer.
Delicious!
This is my go to chicken stew. Delicious!
This stew is a winner! Love the bit of bite the parmesan cheese adds!
Your chicken stew was amazing. I made it exactly like the posted recipe. This is outstanding
This recipe is definitely getting saved! I’m not one for soups and stews – it’s not that I don’t enjoy them, I just never really think to make them. I live in the Bay Area in California and we’re currently going through a gnarly storm, so I got it in my head that I wanted something warm and cozy – this definitely hit that spot. My partner loves it and I will definitely be making it again!
Made this again (for the second time this week per my partner’s request) and added in egg noodles. I cannot recommend this enough!! Stuck to the recipe as is, boiled some egg noodles on the side, topped noodles with soup and voila – a masterpiece! Passing this recipe around for sure.
I am so happy to hear this recipe is a hit Monique!
Excellent