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.
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
Lisa
An easy way to thicken a soup is to take a few scoops out of the pot (meat, veggies and all)
and give it a quick spin in the blender, then add that back to the pot. Even easier-use an
immersion style blender and thicken it right in the pot.
Simple!
Jon
I am curious as to why a crockpot should only be 1/2-2/3 full. I often times fill mine to the brim.
DrDan
For more even cooking and that is how they are designed (I'm told). Have said that, I too have "crowded" the pot almost to the top with little if any detectable ill effect but I think it is a good rule of thumb to determine the size of pot to use.
DrDan
Kim
I have made this multiple times. It always turns out great! I served it to my Mom when she was visiting, to some friends, they all loved it. My teen daughter really loves it. We do not eat red meat, so this is a good alternative to beef stew, particularly when it's cool outside. I can't imagine why anyone would think it was bland, but I just want to say that we love it. Thanks for the easy, great, healthy recipe! BTW, I followed it almost to the T - I just used vegetable broth today because I was out of chicken broth (yes, its cooking now)... : ) on the two days I work at home, I put something in the crock pot before I begin work..
DrDan
Thanks. It is what it is. This is just right for me most of the time but I do have some really spiced up recipes also.
Kristen
I always feel guilty when something so easy to cook tastes good. You feel like you should have worked much harder for such a great result. I pretty much stuck to the recipe and it turned out great. Added a little cornstarch mixed in water to thicken it up with about 30 minutes left in cooking.
DrDan
I feel guilty but not much...
Niyair
Pretty bland i had to add a lot of other seasoning to it to give it some taste. I would cut the broth down also in the future. Smells good though
Dan Mikesell
Yep... a bit bland for some but just right for a lot of people. To spice up some, I would add 1-2 t of chili powder and 1 tsp of cumin. Then if doing tomato add a can of RoTel or 1-2 cups of salsa.
BobRob
Bland, bland, bland. A waste of time. We had one serving and trashed the rest.
Ash
I found the flavor to be good; I didn't have any thyme, but I did have a poultry seasoning blend that listed thyme as the first ingredient so I used it instead. The consistency was very watery though..like a soup instead of a stew. What would you recommend to thicken it up? I tried adding a flour slurry at the same time as the peas but it didn't make a difference. Maybe add the flour from the beginning?
And just a side note, I used both breasts and very well trimmed boneless, skinless thighs because that's what got defrosted. The thighs were much better than the breasts, which I found to be a little dry despite the watery consistency.
Ok one more sidenote, because it sounds like I'm bashing the recipe and I don't mean to. It was good, just needs some tweaking
Dan Mikesell
I have never had much luck thickening in a crock pot. With the usual flour or corn starch, it don't work for me without boiling. I understand arrowroot works at lower temps and may try that some time. You can thicken by reduction, try the top off for the last hour and turn them temp up... Maybe a cup of instant potatoes. Or just cut out a can of broth.
Regarding the breast/thighs, I'm kind of your low fat, doctor type person and has never been a big thigh guy. With the extra fat in the thigh, I would think they might hold up better.
Thanks for the comments