This Chicken Stew is made with tender chicken, potatoes, and carrots simmered in a deliciously seasoned broth and garnished with fresh herbs. It’s quick and easy one pot meal perfect for cold nights!
We also love this slow cooker chicken stew and Instant Pot chicken stew.
This chicken stew recipe comes from my grandma. Growing up in Ukraine, she made it whenever she had chicken available. It is a very simple stew recipe, the way I like to cook and I think you will appreciate its simplicity as well.
It’s everything you need to get you through cold days!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- One pot meal: Everything cooks in one pot, I love to use my Lodge Dutch oven but regular pot works too.
- Easy: Basic pantry and fridge ingredients with minimal effort but that get you maximum flavor.
- Delicious: Loads of tender chicken breasts, chunky potatoes, and a flavorful broth make this one of the tastiest stews you’ll ever try!
Ingredients for Chicken Stew
- Chicken: You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts. Chicken thighs are more juicy and fatty, where as chicken breast is more lean and a bit more dry.
- Onion and garlic: Chopped onion and minced garlic to add flavor.
- Veggies: Diced carrots, diced celery and cubed potatoes. You can use any potatoes, just keep in mind russet potatoes will fall apart more, thickening the stew, which is delicious.
- Oil: Any oil for frying. I used extra virgin olive oil because we are not cooking at high heat and I love the taste it adds to the stew.
- Herbs and spices: Dried rosemary, oregano, and thyme. Ground cumin, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
- Broth: Low sodium store-bought or homemade chicken broth.
- Garnish: Fresh parsley, dill, or green onion. They add another layer of flavor, don’t skip!
How to Make Chicken Stew
- Sauté the veggies: Preheat a 6 quart Dutch oven or large pot and add the oil to coat the bottom. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery to sauté and stir occasionally.
- Add chicken: Next, add the chicken, dried herbs, and spices with exception of the bay leaves. Continue to sauté just until browned a bit, stirring once.
- Simmer the stew: To the pot, add chicken broth, potatoes, and bay leaves and scrape off any bits off the bottom of the pot. Stir then cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are tender. Pierce with a fork to check.
- Garnish: Turn off the heat, discard bay leaves and add fresh herbs. Taste and if you wish, season with more salt and pepper to taste.
Variations
- Potatoes: Red potatoes, white potatoes or baby potatoes are great for roasting and soups because they hold their shape better. This is essential if you are using bone-in chicken and will be cooking your chicken stew longer. In all other cases, russet potatoes will make a more starchy stew and give it more body, like in Instant Pot potato soup.
- Chicken drumsticks: If bone-in, skin-on chicken drumsticks is what you prefer, you can use it. Brown them on both sides first, remove onto a plate and then brown the vegetables. Then cook with potatoes for about 30 minutes.
- Other vegetables: You can also add chopped cauliflower, sliced mushrooms, rutabaga, or okra. I would saute mushrooms first.
- Thicken the stew: If you like thick stew, mash a few potatoes and add them back to the pot. Especially works very well with russet potatoes. Or make a slurry with 2 tablespoons of cold water mixed with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
- Finishers: A squirt of lemon and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese are always a great way to put the finishing touch on a soup or stew.
Serving Recommendations
Keep this chicken stew recipe on hand for making a quick and hearty weeknight dinner or a simple comforting meal on a weekend afternoon. Pack the rest away for leftovers and allow the flavors to marry even more the next day!
Serve hot in a small bowl with a basket of Greek yogurt bread or cottage cheese bread along with this amazing olive oil bread dip and a nice light lemon kale salad.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Stew will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Freeze: Although freezing a stew containing potatoes is possible, it’s not highly recommended. Potatoes may change the texture and taste over time and might be a disappointment when reheated. If you do freeze it, make sure to use an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheat: If frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight or on the counter for 6 hours. Simmer on low heat for approximately 5-7 minutes.
FAQs
Yes. Brown vegetables and meat as per the recipe, then add remaining ingredients, cover, and cook on High heat for 3-4 hours or Low heat for 4-6 hours. Or try my crockpot chicken stew recipe.
Yes. I do have Instant Pot chicken stew recipe. But for something different but just as quick, easy, and delicious try my Instant Pot chicken and potatoes.
Yes. Just double each ingredient and be sure to use a large pot or Dutch oven that can hold it.
You can always play around with the amount of seasoning you add or the amount of spice. You can also switch up the seasonings a bit, and add a bit of smoked paprika, lemon pepper seasoning, or Italian seasoning.
This happens when chicken is overcooked. It becomes tough and rubbery and no longer as pleasant to bite into. To combat this, make sure your pieces are uniform in size and thickness so they cook evenly. Otherwise, some pieces may end up overcooked and some undercooked. Also using chicken thighs helps to solve this problem.
More Stew Recipes to Try
Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves 4 minced, 1 grated
- 4 large carrots diced
- 2 large celery stalks diced
- 2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken thighs or breasts cubed
- 2 lbs potatoes cubed
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 3 tbsp fresh dill or parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat 6 quart Dutch oven or large pot on medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add onion, minced garlic, carrots and celery. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add chicken, rosemary, oregano, thyme, cumin, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Saute for 2 minutes, stirring once.
- Add chicken broth, potatoes and bay leaves and stir. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
- Turn off heat, add dill, stir and serve hot. Add grated clove of garlic – yum!
Video
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat portions by simmering in small pot on low heat.
- Freeze: Technically you can freeze this stew. I am personally not a fan but some people do not mind that potatoes change texture. Freeze in a glass container or resealable silicone bags for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or on the counter for 6 hours.
- Potatoes: Red potatoes, white potatoes and baby potatoes will hold their shape better, especially if you are using bone-in chicken pieces and cooking stew longer. However, I love starchy stew russet potatoes make.
This sounds delicious, may I just ask is that dried bay leaf or fresh, I don’t want to muck this up !
Dried bay leaves.
Just what I needed! It’s a keeper for sure. Easy, hearty and flavorful.
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Looks so delicious 😋 thanks very much I’ll try it 😋
Yum! This stew is so good! We will definitely be making this a lot! Thank you for another great recipe Olena!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Do you think rotisserie chicken would work well?
While it hasn’t been tested, it should work.
Made this. Loved this. Easy to put together and ready to serve in short order. This will be in my favorites section☺
So glad you enjoyed it!
This stew is simple and soooo delicious. Thank you!
So happy to hear this, it’s so warm and cozy during the colder months!
I’ve made this stew several times last winter and it is so good. I made it twice for a homeless shelter for 50 during CODE BLUE and the smell is so inviting as the people come in and they are so grateful for homemade stew! Once you get the chopping finished…it is an easy dinner! Thank you Olena
Thank you Kim and for sharing it with those in need!
I made this last night and it was so good. Wish I could include a picture with my review!
So glad to hear it went well! Always feel free to share a picture on social media and tag us! 🙂
This stew was DELICIOUS and so easy and quick to make!
So happy to hear!