This is comfort food at it’s best. Delicious hearty chicken stew filled with veggies, potatoes, and juicy chicken meat, making it the perfect dinner for a cold winter evening.
Hey yall! So it’s March so it’s still COLD in Philly so I figure why not make a delicious stew recipe. I was going to create a beef stew, which will be coming soon, but I been more in the mood for a chicken stew since It’s what I have more.
My mom loves chicken stew during the winter months. She inspired this recipe and I’m modifying it to make it mine. One day when I was under the weather she made this for me.
What I loved about it which I’ll talk about later, is it was more of a soup! She didn’t add much flour.. as a matter of fact, I’m not sure she added any flour at all.
And I sipped and sipped on that garlic broth and it broke up all the cold and congestion. She simply chopped up some chicken and a bunch of vegetables, and let everything simmer until the potatoes were done.
She added some seasonings, we all have in our kitchen, that gave it a nice touch plus some crushed red peppers and spinach which gave made me fall in love with it.
The one seasoning I remember telling her to add was some tumeric and she decided to add a little curry and that took it to another level even though we used a little bit.
So I said yea, I have to make this and do my own thing to it. So I finally got around to it and put my own spin on it to make better. So yea this is a modification of her recipe which is why I called it Nicky’s Chicken Stew.
Why you’ll love it
- It’s filling: Stews are typically filling because of their packed with meats such as chicken and beef and mainly potatoes. That holds true here! After a bowl or two of this you’ll be set and your tummy full.
- Good for winter colds: This is chicken stew, comfort food in it’s finest form. Warm, soupy, stew, filled with broth sure to warm you from head to toe.
- Hearty for cold winters: Filled with cold combating ingredients such as garlic, and broth.. this stew will definitely help to treat a regular winter cold.
- Simple and easy: This is an easy stew recipe. With all basic ingredients you can find in your kitchen and local grocery store, a quick sear of the chicken and sauteeing of vegetable and 2 hours of simmering in broth… It doesn’t take a chef to cook this masterpiece.
- Healthy: Filled with veggies, such as carrots, celery, potatoes, and spinach… this is definitely a light healthy dish you can enjoy generously without having to worry about gaining a pound or two.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs and drumsticks: I use a few thighs and drumsticks that total 2.50 lbs of chicken meat. You can use boneless thighs and drumsticks, but I like to use bone-in thighs and drumsticks because I like to add a little of the gristle, bones, and skin for flavor.
- Potatoes, Carrots, Celery, and Onions: It’s not chicken stew if you dont put potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions in it.
- Baby Spinach: My mom came up with the idea to add fresh spinach to the stew just to add some nutrition to the dish and to make it healthier.
- Minced Garlic: Minced garlic is a much for chicken stew. It adds depth of flavor and help to achieve a traditional chicken stew taste.
- Chicken Broth and Water: Chicken broth and water is what we’re going to cook the chicken and vegetables in. The base for our stew.
- Chicken Base: Chicken base is to enhance the chicken flavor. We’ll be using “Better than bouillon” roasted chicken base.
- Flour: We’ll be using all purpose flour, just a little, to thicken the broth a little for a thin gravy.
- Butter and Vegetable Oil: I use butter to add flavor and richness to the stew and to saute the vegetables and olive oil to sear the chicken.
- Salt, Garlic and Onion Powder, Black Pepper, Italian Seasoning, Thyme, Crushed Red Peppers, Tumeric (optional), and Curry Powder (optional): I experimented using different combinations of seasonings, and this combination works the best. Salt for taste, garlic, onion, and black pepper are you 3 “mandatory” seasonings for any good stew, crushed peppers for heat, italian and thyme are your herbs which a stew has to have, and curry powder and tumeric are optional.
Cleaning the chicken
So yes, I do clean my meat. Some folks dont because they believe it spreads germs and but I like to clean it because it feels right and in my opinion there’s always some foreign debris that needs to be removed.
After removing the clear slime, the yellow fat, and skin, I debone them, and let them soak in a bowl of either salt water, vinegar water, or lemon/lime juice and water.
I prefer lemon or lime juice because it brightens the chicken. After I let it soak for 2-30 minutes, I scrub it with my hands, then give the chicken a nice rinse and pat them dry.
Slurry for chicken stew
So the consistency of a stew is typically “semi-thick” not thick as a gravy but definitely not runny as soup. I personally dont like my stew too thick.
To thicken the broth for a stew consistency, you want to add a slurry or roux. A roux is typically made by add flour to the pot of oil, stirring until it reaches the color you desire, then stirring in a liquid like water or broth.
Then as the stew simmers it thickens. Im not going through all that! Im a big fan of another method to thicken liquids for gravies sauces and stews called a slurry.
A slurry is basically when you stir flour into a liquid like water or broth. You add it to a stew etc and it thickens whatever you add it to as it cooks.
So what I do to thicken this chicken stew is combine broth and flour then add it to the stew. It’s important to always add flour to cool water. Adding it to hot water will cause lumps and you dont want that.
How to Make Chicken Stew
- Debone chicken thighs and drumsticks and soak in some salt water solution.
I like to leave the bone in and skin one at least 1 drumstick. - Scrub, rinse, and pat dry.
- Add seasonings to a small container and season chicken with half of the seasonings.
- Peel the carrots and onions, then chop the carrots, onions, and celery into small pieces.
- Combine flour and broth and stir chicken base into water.
- Place a pot over medium high heat, then add in the 2 tbs butter, 1 tbs olive oil, carrots, onions, and celery.
- Saute for 3 minutes, then add in the minced garlic and continue for another 3 minutes, then remove.
- Add in another 1 tbs of oil and the chicken, and sear for 6 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel and dice the potatoes.
- Reduce heat to medium heat, then add in the vegetables, potatoes, seasonings, and bay leaf.
- Add in the slurry, and water.
- Cover with a lid, leaving a crack on the side, and cook for 2 hours.
- 10 minutes before the stew is done, chop the stems off the spinach and add to the stew.
Tips for success:
- Stir periodically: It’s important to stirr every 15 minutes or so, especially during the last hour of cooking when the stew tends to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Remove stem from the spinach: I remove the stems just because they can be sort of in the way.
Serving suggestions:
- Toasted bread: Toasted bread taste great with chicken stew. Brush it with some italian seasoning and olive oil… D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S!
- Garlic Rolls: Garlic rolls would make a good side addition to this chicken stew recipe.
Storage and reheating
- How to store chicken stew: Just place it in a Tupperware bowl or something similar and cover it with a lid, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil, then store it in the refrigerator.
- Can you freeze chicken stew: Absolutely! Just make sure it’s tightly sealed in something like a ziploc bag to prevent any freezer burn.
- How to reheat it in a pot or skillet: Place it in a pot or skillet over medium heat and stir periodically for 8-10 minutes. If it’s been sitting in the refrigerator and has become stiff, adding a splash of water or broth won’t hurt.
- How to reheat it in a microwave: Place it in a microwave proof dish and let it heat up for 2 minutes. Stir it a little bit after a minute, then let it go for another minute.
Can you use other chicken parts?
Yes! Some people add their thighs and drumsticks without removing the bones or skin to add flavor. You can use chicken breast or boneless chicken, I just prefer dark meat because it’s juicier and more flavorful.
You can use wings, thighs, breast, or drumsticks. Because chicken breast aren’t as moist, I would probably add them closer to the end to avoid overcooking it.
Equipment:
- Large Pot: This is a one pot dish! So all you need is a large size pot since we’re making a nice amount of stew.
- Knife: We’re using a knife to chop up the veggies and remove the fat from the chicken.
- Big Spoon: This you’llneed to stir the stew and to also serve it.
- Potato Peeler: Use a potato peeler to remove the potato and carrot skin.
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Enjoy, later!
PBJ~
A Hearty One Pot Chicken Stew You’ll Love | Nicky’s Chicken Stew
- Prep Time: 30 Mins
- Cook Time: 2 Hrs
- Total Time: 2 Hr 30 Mins
- Yield: 6
- Category: Poultry
- Method: American
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is comfort food at it’s best. Delicious hearty chicken stew filled with veggies, potatoes, and juicy chicken meat, making it the perfect dinner for a cold winter evening.
Ingredients
- 2.5 Lbs Chicken Thighs/Dumbsticks
- 0.5 Lb Red Potatoes, diced
- 3/4 Cup Onions
- 1/2 Cup Carrots
- 1/3 Cup Celery
- 1 Tbs Minced Garlic
- 2 Tbs Butter
- 1 Tbs Olive Oil
- 2 Tbs Flour
- 1 Qt Water
- 1 Qt Chicken Broth
- 1 Tbs Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tsp Onion Powder
- 1 Tsp Curry Powder
- 1 Tsp Tumeric
- 1 Tsp Parsley Flakes
- 1/2 Tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 Tsp Thyme
- 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1/4 Tsp Crushed Red Peppers
Instructions
- Debone chicken thighs and drumsticks and soak in some salt water solution.
I like to leave the bone in and skin one at least 1 drumstick. - Scrub, rinse, and pat dry.
- Add seasonings to a small container and season chicken with half of the seasonings.
- Peel the carrots and onions, then chop the carrots, onions, and celery into small pieces.
- Combine flour and broth and stir chicken base into water.
- Place a pot over medium high heat, then add in the 2 tbs butter, 1 tbs olive oil, carrots, onions, and celery.
- Saute for 3 minutes, then add in the minced garlic and continue for another 3 minutes, then remove.
- Add in another 1 tbs of oil and the chicken, and sear for 6 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel and dice the potatoes.
- Reduce heat to medium heat, then add in the vegetables, potatoes, seasonings, and bay leaf.
- Add in the slurry, and water.
- Cover with a lid, leaving a crack on the side, and cook for 2 hours.
- 10 minutes before the stew is done, chop the stems off the spinach and add to the stew.
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