This delicious hearty crock pot chicken stew is a healthy easy dinner recipe for the entire family. With tender chicken, potatoes, and veggies all in a seasoned chicken broth, it will become one of your family's favorite cold-weather meals.
Introduction
Like most of the soup/chili/stew recipes, I'm "cooking for two with leftovers." While this recipe is set for a full-size crock pot and 8 servings, it is a perfect recipe to downsize to a small crock pot (3.5 or 4-quart) and make only 4 servings.
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.
This is a simplified version of a slow cooker recipe that appears identically on multiple recipe sites. It is not only delicious but extremely 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
The amount of chicken, like most ingredients in may soups and stews can vary some. 1 ½ to 2 ½ pound range is fine.
I tend to always use skinless boneless chicken breast, but chicken thighs would be an excellent choice, also.
🧂Spicing Stew
The first thing to realize is that all chicken stews are a bit bland. Yep, chicken stew does not "pop" a lot of flavors, but that is just what a chicken stew is all about.
The original recipes called for one teaspoon of thyme. If you are a big thyme fan, great, but it is a bit much for us. I changed it to an optional ½ to 1 teaspoon.
I think the optional tomatoes are a great addition. A can of Rotel has been suggested by some comments on this and other sites. 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.
🥄How to Thicken in a Crock Pot
The last issue is the thickness of this stew. This is a little thinner than most stews. Here are some options to thicken this stew if you want.
1) Don't add as much broth at the beginning. Just cut it in half. But you will want to replace the chicken taste with a bouillon cube.
2) Make a roux with flour and butter. For this option, with about 1 hour left in cooking, remove 1 cup of liquid from the stew. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When bubbling, whisk in 4 tablespoons of flour. Stir continuously and cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the liquid from the stew and whisk until smooth, add back to the stew and increase the crock pot to high for the last hour.
3) Thicken with potato. You can add ¼ to ½ cup of potato flakes near the end. OR dice one of the potatoes at the beginning of cooking very small. They will fall apart and thicken.
4) Tapioca: For this recipe, I would suggest 3-4 tablespoons of tapioca would be the best if you want thicker. You can add it about 30 minutes before done when adding the peas.
Not Recommended - My Opinion
1) Cornstarch: You could use cornstarch, but reheating can be a problem since it may have a gel-like texture when reheated. Also, there are texture issues when frozen.
2) "Cooking down" the stew. Some will recommend cooking longer or partly opening the lid of the cooker. I don't feel you will get enough effect to do much.
Storage
Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen for 2-3 months.
📖Soup Recipes
Thick Crock Pot Cheeseburger Soup
🖼️Instructions
Prepare veggies. Chop one large onion, 4 peeled carrots, and 2 ribs of celery. Next 4-5 medium potatoes peeled and cut into ¾ to 1-inch cubes. Optional- 8 oz. mushrooms cleaned and halved.
Clean, trim, and cube about 2 pounds (about 3-4) skinless boneless chicken breasts.
Add the chicken, prepared veggies, 1 cup frozen corn, 28 oz of chicken broth, 1 teaspoon celery seed, ½ to 1 teaspoon thyme, ½ teaspoon pepper, and optionally on 14 oz can of diced tomatoes.
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Add peas 30 minutes before the end of cooking. Also, 3 tablespoons tapioca if you want thicker chili. Please see the recipe posts for other options.
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📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Chicken Stew
Tap to leave a Rating
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Skinless boneless chicken breast - about 3– trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 onion - large – diced
- 4 carrots - pealed and cut into 1 inch slices
- 2 stalks celery - diced
- 4-5 potatoes - peeled and cut into ¾ to 1 inch cubes
- 8 oz mushrooms - cleaned and halved-optional
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 28 oz chicken broth
- 14 oz diced tomatoes - drained if you want a tomato based stew
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- ½ to 1 teaspoon dry thyme - to taste... this is a little much for some
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- While this recipe is set for a full-size crock pot and 8 servings, it is a perfect recipe to cut in half for a 3.5 or 4-quart crock pot and make only 4 servings.
- Prepare veggies. Chop one large onion, 4 peeled carrots, and 2 ribs of celery. Next 4-5 medium potatoes peeled and cut into ¾ to 1-inch cubes. Optional - 8 oz. mushrooms cleaned and halved.
- Clean, trim, and cube about 2 pounds (about 3-4) skinless boneless chicken breasts.
- Add the chicken, prepped veggies, 1 cup frozen corn, 28 oz chicken broth, 1 teaspoon celery seed, ½ to 1 teaspoon thyme, ½ teaspoon pepper, and optionally one 14 oz can diced tomatoes diced.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
- Add peas 30 minutes before the end of cooking. Also, 3 tablespoons tapioca if you want thicker chili.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- While this recipe is set for a full-size crock pot and 8 servings, it is a perfect recipe to downsize to a 3.5 or 4-quart crock pot and make only 4 servings.
- The amount of chicken, like most ingredients in may soups and stews can vary some. 1 ½ to 2 ½ pound range is fine. Use either breast or thighs.
- Like most chicken stews, this is a bland recipe. Spice to your taste. Thyme is suggest by most but we usually leave it out. Other possible spicing options ½ teaspoon of curry, paprika, or poultry seasoning.
- This is a thinner stew. In the recipe I used tapioca but I provided 4 options in the post if you want thicker stew.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen for 2-3 months.
- 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
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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
Shannon
I am going to try this tomorrow. I am new to the cock pot recipes but game to try anything this easy!
Zia
I have not used a slow cooker before, so this was the inaugural recipe for my new crock pot. I have a smaller pot than the recipe calls for, so I reduced quantities a bit. I like things with a lot of herb flavor, so in addition to the thyme I added savory and sage. Also about a teaspoon of sea salt at the beginning of cooking. Then a bit of black pepper at the end of 4 hours. It is not bland! I might even add a little cumin next time, and will also definitely try the curry version another reviewer suggested. But it turned out very tasty, and would be good with even fewer herbs.
Cooking time: after 4 hours on the high setting on my 4.5 qt cooker, the potatoes and carrots were still not quite done. Edible but way too firm (some of the carrot bits even had a slight crunch). Fortunately, since this was a maiden voyage I built in some extra time to my desired dinner hour. I turned the pot back on at the high setting about an hour ago and it's close to done. I think 6 hours on high will work best in my pot (Crock Pot brand).
All in all, a great recipe that I will make again, and also share with friends. Thank you!
PaulaD
For those who call “Bland”, I recommend a 1/2 tsp to1 tsp Curry Powder, will zing it up deliciously, without tomato(too much acidity) or corn. I also add a dash of Tumeric for medicinal purposes. Doesn’t affect taste & is good for you. Go light on the salt, heavy on the fresh black pepper. Canned mushrooms work fine & little red potatoes (uncut) are a treat my son likes to mash separately & add butter, then lick the fork! Have not got him completely trained yet (he is 47). He comes over regularly for”Mom’s” cooking & my slow cooker recipes are his favorite. Try cooking a pot roast, slow cooker style, same ingredients just take a cup or so of liquid, thicken with flour in sauce pan & serve as accompaning gravy.
DrDan
Thanks for the note and ratings. Excellent comments. I love variations.
DrDan
Priscilla
i made this yesterday and it was delicious but I was unhappy with the many tiny fatty chicken bits floating throughout my stew that were impossible to remove. I used organic chicken breast pieces cut into cubes. Does anyone know why this happened or how to avoid it? This really makes the soup visually unappealing. I want a nice clear broth.
DrDan
About the only place they could come from is the chicken.... Be sure to trim any visible fat, there is very little in the chicken breasts otherwise. Many have suggested chicken thighs for tenderness but that is a lot fat. There is nothing else with fat other than the broth. Most can broth is low fat but homemade is higher in fat.
DrDan
Matt
The other option is to stew the chicken in the broth first for a couple hours. Turn off the crock pot and let it cool (if you're really concerned you can pop it into the fridge overnight). After its cooled all the fat will be on the top for you to scoop out leaving the clear broth. Then just put it back on the heat and throw all the other stuff in as in the recipe.
Millie T
Thanks for the recipe! I found your site two weeks ago, and have already made this stew twice. I have to admit, I did some variations based upon what I had on hand (we use thighs since it's more forgiving on cooking time), but I feel that your proportions are right on the nose. All the adults had a couple of big bowls apiece. I took Lisa's excellent suggestion to use an immersion mixer at the end to thicken the soup up.
For those who think that this is bland, make sure to add salt & pepper to taste towards the end of cooking. Also, if you have a newer crockpot that runs hot (mine will actually bubble on low setting at around the 4 hour mark) you'll need to shorten the cooking time. I set my timer for about 5.5 hours total, but I think that it might be even better at 5 hours. Will definitely keep this in the rotation, thanks!
Matt S
Made this yesterday. Kill the thyme completely. Family hated it. I could deal with it if it was a fourth or less thyme than what the recipe called for. After eight hours in the crock on low, the potatoes were not falling apart. 1" cubes may be too large. I'll go smaller next time. I agree with the Worcestershire or something else for spark.
DrDan
Thanks for the note and rating.
I put a note in the recipe about the thyme. The potatoes are fall apart in both my larger crock pots so yours may run a little cooler then mine. But 1 inch is the biggest I would want in stew so I put in 3/4 to 1 inch.
DrDan
Marjorie Roy
Don't really need the thyme! But a little Worcestershire Sauce gives it a nice taste. I use white pepper on just about everything (well, not ice cream - haha) and a few shakes just adds to the flavor. Also love it with added tomatoes. Great recipe, DrDan! And oh so easy...
Chef
All of you saying it is bland...... Season to taste!!!! Never follow a recipe exactly unless you are baking. even then you can make small changes. It is your fault it is bland.
Mrs.Earl
I made your chicken stew tonight with some garlic bread and it was a hit.
DrDan
I'm glad it worked for you.
Thanks for the note
DrDdan
Jack S. Barr
If you keep posting recipes like this and people realize how easy it is to create a great meal while they are at work, slow cooker sales should rise and people will be healthier.
Thanks for posting.
DrDan
Thanks for the note and enjoy the recipes.
DrDan
DrDan
Some people want thicker and those are great suggestions that definitely would work. I see lots of suggestions to thicken things in a crock pot with flour and other things and it just does not work for me.
Thanks for the note.
DrDan