The perfect old-fashioned Small Crock Pot Chicken Stew recipe packed with tender chicken, potatoes, and lots of vegetables in a tasty broth. Quick and easy to make.
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Make your life easier with this classic old-fashioned comfort food that will warm you to the bone on a cool night. Loaded with chicken and veggies, it is delicious and easy to make.
Let the crock pot do the work so you can come home to a great dinner. This chicken stew recipe only needs 10 minutes of prep time with these simple step-by-step photo instructions.
Mades only 4 large servings in a 3 ½ quart or larger crock pot. Easy to increase or decrease to fit your needs. Easy to increase the flavor with the optional diced tomatoes and your choice of spices.
Fits low-fat and low-calorie diets. And is relatively low in sodium. These fajitas can fit a healthy diet, like a low-calorie and low-fat diet.
Don't miss the Smaller Crock Pot Beef Stew recipe. And check out a few other crock pot soup recipes, like Cheeseburger Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup—Stovetop or Crock Pot, and Healthy Chicken Vegetable Soup.
This recipe is a smaller, simplified version and modification of a slow cooker recipe that appears almost identically on multiple recipe sites.
🐓Ingredients
- Chicken—Skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- Potatoes, garlic, and onion
- Carrots, celery, mushrooms—optional
- Frozen corn and peas
- Tomatoes—diced, optional
- Chicken broth
- Salt and black pepper
- Optional spices—poultry seasoning, celery seed, thyme
- Corn starch—Optional for thickening
👨🍳How to Make Chicken Stew
- Prepare onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes.
- Clean, trim, and cube chicken breasts
- Add all the ingredients except peas to the crock pot.
- Cook on low for 8 hours.
- Add the peas to the crock pot the 30 minutes of cooking.
- Cook until chicken is at least 165° and vegetables are tender.
✔️Tips
- Skinless boneless chicken breast works great in a chicken stew, but chicken thighs would also be an excellent choice.
- The amount of chicken can vary. 1 to 1 ½ pound range is acceptable. This will be about 2 chicken breasts.
- This recipe is for a 3.5-4 quarts crock pot, or use 6.5 quarts or larger for a double batch. You can use a large crock pot for a small recipe, but it may cook a bit faster.
- You will need about 2 cups or a bit more potatoes. 1 medium Russet potato will be about a cup. Any potatoes will do as long as the size is correct for cooking.
- Too much onion can ruin a stew. The other vegetables have lots of leeways, 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 a large is about 1 ½ cups).
- Cook until the chicken is tender and 165° and the potatoes and carrots are tender.
⬇️How to make this a "for two" recipe
This is a very easy recipe to cut in half.
- The full recipe makes about 8 to 10 cups of 4-5 servings.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- The half recipe will fit in a 2-quart crock pot.
- Cook for the same amount of time.
❓FAQs
All stews have potatoes of some type. After all, that is what differentiates stews from soups.
Yes, you add the chicken near the end of cooking when the vegetables are cooked. A pound of chicken will be about 3 cups of shredded pre-cooked chicken.
I suggest a cornstarch slurry of a tablespoon of cornstarch in a tablespoon of cold water for the last 30 minutes of cooking when you add the peas. Add more if you want thicker.
Other options are using less broth in the recipe or making a roux and adding that late in cooking. Potato flakes can also be added.
Leftovers—storage and reheating
Store leftover chicken stew in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days or freezer for 3 months.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator first if frozen. Then reheat on the stovetop in a saucepan over medium heat is preferred, but the microwave will work but may affect the chicken texture.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
NOTE: Images are for a double batch and are from several cookings, so they may not match.
Prepare vegetables—chop 1 medium onion, 2-3 peeled carrots, and 1-2 ribs of celery. Next, about 2 cups of potatoes are peeled and cut into ¾ to 1-inch cubes—about 2 medium potatoes. 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, 1-2 crushed or minced cloves of garlic, ½ teaspoon celery seed, ¼ to ½ teaspoon thyme(optional), ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning, 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, stir in a slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of cold water if you want a thicker stew. If the vegetables are not fully tender at the end of cooking, go a bit longer.
📖 Recipe
Small 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
- 1-2 cloves garlic - crushed or minced
- 2-3 carrots - pealed and cut into 1 inch slices
- 1-2 stalks celery - diced
- 2 cup 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 - low sodium
- 1 cup drained diced tomatoes - Optional, add if you want a tomato-based stew
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon celery seed - skip if you don't have
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon dry thyme - to taste. Optional
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch - optional for thickening-in cold water
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables—chop 1 medium onion, 2-3 peeled carrots, and 1-2 ribs of celery. Next, about 2 cups of potatoes are peeled and cut into ¾ to 1-inch cubes—about 2 medium potatoes. 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, 1-2 crushed or minced cloves of garlic, ½ teaspoon celery seed, ¼ to ½ teaspoon thyme(optional), ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning, 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, stir in a slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of cold water if you want a thicker stew. If the vegetables are not fully tender at the end of cooking, go a bit longer.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- This recipe is set for a smaller crock pot of 3 ½ to 4 quarts and 4 servings of about 2 cups each. 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.
- Instructions are in the post for a half-size recipe.
- 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 breasts or thighs.
- Other ingredients like celery, carrots, and potatoes can also vary 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. The optional tomato is a nice addition.
- This is a thinner stew. In this recipe, a slurry of cornstarch in cold water.
- If the vegetables are not tender at the end of cooking, go a bit longer.
- Good refrigerated for 4 days and frozen for 3 months.
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.
This recipe is featured in Our Best Soups.
Gail
Hi, you wonderful cook you! I' like to make this on top of the stove or oven. Any suggestions? Also how to thicken.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Gail,
For stovetop, use a heavy pan like a Dutch oven with a few teaspoons of oil over medium high heat. When hot, add the chicken, when starting to brown (4-5 minutes) then add the veggies and cook another 4-5 minutes. Add the other things except the peas. Decrease to simmer, cover and cook for 45-60 minutes until chicken is 165° and potatoes/carrots are tender. Add the peas the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. If using green beans, they can go in with the potatoes or near the end like peas would.
To thicken, the tapioca is used but you can make a slurry of flour or cornstarch to thicken instead.
Dan
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