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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I’m wondering if I can use leftover turkey in the recipe instead of chicken
I think that would work just fine! You’ll want to add the turkey a bit later (likely with the green beans) as it’s already cooked and you don’t want it to dry out.
Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have wine and it still tasted great. I added bay leaf and some basil. Great recipe!
Looks yummy
This has got to be the best chicken stew ever. I did add my own twists: I lightly seasoned the chicken with garlic powder, pepper and Lawry’s seasoned salt before browning in olive oil. I substituted chicken broth with a heaping tablespoon of Roasted chicken flavored Better than Bullion in water. I used green peas 2 fresh ears of corn cut off the cob. When I also the peas and corn I also added some chopped baby collards (baby spinach would be good too). It is so delicious I made it twice in 3 days! If it needs more salt, consider adding another heaping teaspoon of the Better than Bullion instead.
Took your twist and my family loved it!
I followed the recipe exactly and it’s very bland. Not sure how to salvage the soup as it made a ton.
How disappointing for you! You could try adding extra herbs and some seasonings or even a bit of a gravy packet mixed with just a bit of water.
Question can I use cast iron dutch oven for this recipe?
A dutch oven will work just fine.
Wow! Cannot wait to try this recipe.
I was looking at this recipe and it says to brown the chicken thighs then set aside and there’s never a mention about when to add them to the stew. I watched the video and they’re added after adding the diced potatoes but not mentioned in the actual recipe..
Browned chicken is added in step 3.
This was amazing!! I didn’t taste it until the very end, right before serving (to company!), and was blown away by the great flavor! I followed the recipe pretty closely, although I used whole milk instead of cream, and added an extra cup of water. I didn’t need to thicken it further. I used frozen peas instead of green beans. I used dried spices except for the sage. I love fresh sage, and I think that added to the overall flavor. I served it with caraway bread and a salad. This one’s a keeper!
Am I missing something?? The recipe I printed calls for 30 TBSP of flour!! While reading on the recipe, I only see a total of 5 TBSP of flour being used. Also 12 TBSP of olive oil?? And 24 cups of Chicken broth?? The ingredients and recipe didn’t match. Can someone please tell me what I am missing?? I want to make this, but don’t want to mess it up either.
Thank you,
I would double check if you increased the number of servings. This is an option on the print screen. 5TBS is the correct amount for 6 servings.
Delicious! Great way to use up my produce drawer. Thank you
Oh gosh, funniest thing.
This is a delicious recipe!
I will make it again!
My stove knob was stuck and it boiled down the sweet potatoes so they became a part of the sauce. It made it sweet, but it was still great!
My family ate it up!
Glad it still worked out for you!
Made this today and it’s a keeper. I did add more broth but thickened it with flour. Very hearty it’s a great fall meal!
Absolutely gorgeous, we didn’t put the red pepper, white wine or cream in, I also cooked it slow for 5 hours in the slow cooker. My partner is usually a fussy eater but had two bowls full.
Love to hear that Gemma! ❤️
Are the chicken skin on or skinless. Skin on would would give up more flavor,but not sure how the skin would be in the final
The chicken we use is skinless.
Really really good. I skipped the green beans and did peas didn’t have wine and added a tad lemon kids loved it and I served with biscuits
This was a hit for my family. Definitely make again. I made the slurry with 1/2 c white wine and 1/2 c vegetable stock. Only used sweet potatoes, not white potatoes. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.
Love all the recipes!
Mi nombre es Luis Ruiz yo también cosino Las recetas como las suyas me gustan. Dan ideas para confeccionar las mías gracias Att Luis Ruiz desde Puerto Rico
This was fantastic! Today we had our first chilly fall day, after being out all morning for our garage sale my husband asked “how about something like chicken stew?” I found your recipe, so simple and perfect! My teen sons gobbled it up! I will be making this again & again! I did not have sweet potatoes & it was great, next time all add them for a switch-up.
Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Andrea, thanks for the review! I’m so glad your family loved it!
I stumbled upon this recipe while looking for ideas for extra turkey meat after thanksgiving next weekend. This time, I made it as originally authored and it turned out great! I used whole wheat flour and a bit of lemon juice in place of white wine. Great recipe and I think I could use turkey meat in place of chicken thigh with a similar outcome. Thank you !
made chicken stew for the first time using this recipe. i made garlic bread along with it and WOW! ITS SO GOOD! my mom specially loved it. gonna be making this very often in the coming winters
thanks a bunch ♡
You’re so welcome Sara! Happy you love the stew!