Great for the smaller households but easy to double for larger families. With tender chicken, potatoes, and veggies all in a seasoned chicken broth, this chicken stew is both healthy and delicious.
Introduction
The idea of a crock pot is to make your life easier. Not much is easier than this family-pleasing stew. Using things you probably have on hand anyway, you spend about 10 to 15 minutes preparation time and eat in 8 hours.
Like most of the soup/chili/stew recipes, I'm "cooking for two with leftovers." It is a perfect recipe for a small crock pot (3.5 or 4-quart) and makes only 4 servings.
A double recipe fits nicely in a full-size crock pot. I usually do a double, which is about the same work, and it will freeze well.
This is a simplified version of a slow cooker recipe that appears identically on multiple recipe sites. It is not only delicious but very simple to make.
This stew is loaded with chicken and veggies and delicious. It is easy to make with these simple step-by-step photo instructions.
My Rating
I liked it a lot, and my wife loved it. It is so easy and really quite excellent for what it is. But all chicken stews are a bit bland.
🐓The Chicken
Like most ingredients in many soups and stews, the amount of chicken can vary some. 1 to 1 ½ pound range is fine. This will be about 2 chicken breasts.
I tend to always use skinless boneless chicken breast, but chicken thighs would be an excellent choice, also.
I do not recommend already cooked chicken unless you add the chicken near the end of cooking when the vegetables are cooked.
🥔Vegetables
All stews have potatoes of some type. After all, that is what differentiates stews from soups. The other vegetables are usually other root vegetables, aromatic like onion, and other garden vegetables.
The Potatoes
You will need about 2 cups or a bit more. Any potatoes will do as long as the size is correct for cooking. But I like to classify thick skin (russets) vs. thin skin (most others).
Russets are a great choice for stew, they are high in starch and will hold their texture well, but they need to be peeled and cut into the correct size for cooking. A medium russet will yield about a cup or a bit more when peels and cubed.
Thinner skin potatoes like Red or Yukon Gold can just be cleaned and cut up. But it may be peeled if you prefer.
The Carrots
Almost a mandatory ingredient, they will add lots of flavor and color.
Many people will add "baby carrots," but try to avoid that. They are really pieces of woody overgrown carrots with poor bad texture and little taste. If you must, fine, but please try to use whole carrots that are medium-thick peeled and cut up.
The Onion
Too much onion can ruin a stew. The other vegetables have lots of leeway, but not onions.
You need ¾ to 1 cup of chopped onion. A medium onion will be about 1 cup (a small is ¾ cup and large about 1 ½ cups).
Other Vegetables
The celery, corn, green beans, and peas in my recipe are added for a variety of tastes and need to be added at the correct times to ensure correct cooking. But their amounts are more of a "to taste" thing. We love lots of celery and peas and usually double them.
👨🍳How to Cook Chicken Stew
The traditional spice is thyme and is included as the main option.
The optional tomatoes are a great addition. A half can of Rotel has been suggested by some. It should be good if you want a little southwest taste (I would skip the thyme then).
Other suggestions would be ½ teaspoon of curry, paprika, or poultry seasoning.
I suggest a tablespoon of tapioca near the end of cooking and add more if you want thicker.
Other options are to use less broth in the recipe or make a roux and add that late in cooking. Potato flakes can also be added.
I do not suggest corn starch since liquids thickened with corn starch tend to become jelly-like then leftover and do not reheat well.
3.5-4 quarts for this recipe or 6.5 quarts or larger for a double batch.
8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. Cook until chicken is tender and 165° minimum, along with the potatoes and carrots being tender.
Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen for 2-3 months.
📖Soup Recipes
Thick Crock Pot Cheeseburger Soup
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
NOTE: Images are for a double batch and are from several cookings, so they may not match.
Prepare veggies. Chop 1 medium onion, 2 peeled carrots, and 1 rib of celery. Next, 2 medium potatoes are peeled and cut into ¾ to 1-inch cubes. Optional - 4 oz. mushrooms cleaned and halved.
Clean, trim, and cube 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts—about 1 to 1 ½ pounds.
Add the chicken, prepared veggies, ½ cup frozen corn, 14 oz of chicken broth, ½ teaspoon celery seed, ¼ to ½ teaspoon thyme(optional), ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and optionally on ½ cup of diced tomatoes.
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Add peas 30 minutes before the end of cooking. Also, 1 tablespoon (or more) tapioca if you want thicker. If the vegetables are not fully tender at the end of cooking, go a bit longer.
📖Full Recipe
Smaller Crock Pot Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 ½ pounds Skinless boneless chicken breast - about 2– trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 onion - medium – diced
- 2 carrots - pealed and cut into 1 inch slices
- 1 stalks celery - diced
- 2-3 medium russet potatoes - peeled and cut into ¾ to 1 inch cubes
- 4 oz mushrooms - cleaned and halved-optional
- ½ cup frozen corn
- 14 oz chicken broth
- 1 cup diced tomatoes - drained if you want a tomato based stew
- ½ teaspoon celery seed - skip if you don't have
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon dry thyme - to taste. Optional
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Prepare veggies. Chop 1 medium onion, 2 peeled carrots, and 1 rib of celery. Next, 2 medium potatoes are peeled and cut into ¾ to 1-inch cubes. Optional - 4 oz. mushrooms cleaned and halved.
- Clean, trim, and cube 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts—about 1 to 1 ½ pounds.
- Add the chicken, prepared veggies, ½ cup frozen corn, 14 oz of chicken broth, ½ teaspoon celery seed, ¼ to ½ teaspoon thyme(optional), ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and optionally on ½ cup of diced tomatoes to a 3 ½ to 4 quarts crock pot.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Add peas 30 minutes before the end of cooking. Also, 1 tablespoon tapioca if you want thicker stew.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- This recipe is set for a smaller crock pot of 3 ½ to 4 quarts and 4 servings. It is a perfect recipe to double for a full-size crock pot and make 8 servings. You can also cook the smaller amount in the larger crock pot.
- The amount of chicken, like most ingredients in many soups and stews, can vary some. 1 to 1 ½ pounds range is fine. Use either breast or thighs.
- Other ingredients like celery, carrots, and potatoes can also vary some by the amount you have.
- Like most chicken stews, this is a bland recipe. Spice to your taste. Thyme is suggested by most but we usually leave it out. Other possible spicing options ½ teaspoon of curry, paprika, or poultry seasoning. The optional tomato is a nice addition.
- This is a thinner stew. In this recipe, I suggest tapioca to thicken.
- If the vegetables are not tender at the end of cooking, go a bit longer.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen for 2-3 months.
- The serving size is about 1 ½ cups or a little more if you add the tomatoes.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's note: Originally published January 12, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Deborah J. Lein
Easy to make. I added another carrot and celery. Kept the thyme, halved the bay leaf (to one (not my favorite flavor). I find that lemon juice adds the spark that chicken soup or stew needs. (A Williams Sonoma tip). I use fresh or organic but never use reconstituted lemon juice. It leaves a metallic aftertaste in my opinion. For a large crockpot I start with a TBSP. Small crockpot start with 1tsp. And you'll find you won't need more salt.
Sara
hey y'all, its crockin as we speak, one note, if you are like me and over chop veggies etc, add your chicken to the crock pot first, that way its on the bottom near the heat. i added mine last (i was chopping everything while my chicken thawed), and now my chicken is on top. i am anticipating it being tricky to get the top pieces up to temperature.
Sara Upstate NY
Sara
ps, and my crock pot is very full and tough to stir to get chicken towards the bottom.
Sandra Pare
Hi Sara. Late question, but do you remember if you had to cook it longer than normal? and did you cook on high? Thanks!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Sandra,
DrDan here. Welcome to the blog.
I don't know if you will get an answer. Peolpe seem to almost never reply around here and I missed her last winter.
I would say her issue is more related to how full a crock pot should be. Crock pots cook more redictabably when filled 1/3 to 2/3 full. If under, it heats and cooks a bit faster. If over 2/3 full and cooking is delayed. And over 75% full is always a problem.
With a stew, you do want to be sure the chicken reaches 165 degrees and the vegetables are tender.
Hope that helps some.
Dan
Justine
Hello, I add some summer savory and poultry seasoning powder to my chicken stew for extra flavor, also add rutabaga but leave out tomato, mushrooms and corn. I don't use anything to thicken it, love it just the way it is, so yummy!!
Love your recipes by the way!!
Peggy waskowiak
I used a can of cream of chicken soup. It helped to thicken it and added flavor. Add less salt
Stephanie
Is this more like a chunky soup? Would it be served over noodles, with dumplings, or just by itself? I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around what this is exactly. Thanks!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Stephanie,
Chunky soup is about right but the broth is relatively thin and not something I would put on noodles. It is for eating like a soup. If you thicken it a lot as I discussed in the post, you could use it on noodles but that is not the intent.
Dan
Kenneth
I have not made this yet but wanted to thank you for your soup for a week series. I especially like the crockpot options. I am starting to plan for this summers camping in Alaska and when we have electric hook ups I like to put a crockpot on in the morning and then explore for a day and come back to a hot and hearty meal. I add cornbread cooked over the fire and eat very well. I have at least 4 trips of options and counting from your site. I greatly appreciate your efforts.
DrDan
Hi Ken,
Please be sure to taste test this. It is bland and you might want more spice (a guy thing). See the discussion in the post.
Dan
Samantha Paul
Hello DrDan...!amazing its really nice and these dish looks sooo yummy; delicious, i will make this corck pot chicken in upcoming weekend. Thanks for sharing....!
Roxanne
Thank you for the wonderfully easy and tasty chicken stew! I found it to have a great flavour and found nothing lacking. I did add a few extra carrots and an extra stick of celery. I did use some flour and water to thicken near the end of cooking. Served with some warm biscuits and a comforting meal was enjoyed by all.
5 star ⭐️ rating definitely deserved!
DrDan
Hi Roxanne,
It is a little bland but that is what chicken stew is. I always think of this recipe as a starting point to modify.
I do love it with a good biscuit.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Therese
Well, I'm trying this recipe for the first time today. So far, after following the recipe exactly, and I put my crockpot on high, after the four hours, the chicken was done, but the veggies, potatoes and carrots especially, were still hard as a rock. So, I took the chicken out after four hours and set aside. I am continuing to cook the veggies on high. Looking like it will take an extra two hours at least. I think I will also add some flour/milk mixture to make it creamy in the end.
Sonia Lacy
Will this recipe fit in a 3 quart oval slow cooker?
DrDan
Not even close. Cut in half.
DrDan