Warm, hearty, and packed with tender chicken, potatoes, and vegetables, this old fashioned chicken stew is pure comfort food. A simple, satisfying dinner the whole family will love.
Let me paint a picture of how I got inspired to make this Chicken Stew! In the video game Red Dead Redemption, you’re in the year 1899 by the countryside. You need to hunt for animals and fresh herbs to bring back to the camp’s cooks for them to cook you meals in order to gain energy. One of the meal options that you can get the cooks to prepare for you is a hearty chicken soup with vegetables, and I knew I wanted to try my hand at this Red Dead Redemption 2 stew recipe! Who doesn’t love an incredible chickendinner for a weeknight?
While I mention in my free motivational guide to explore your potential, Make Cooking Fun!!, I do mention that going out to eat can inspire you to try new creations in the kitchen. However, you can even be inspired by not leaving your home in immersive media, such as television, movies, or video games, like I was!
I know that summer is officially here at the time of writing this recipe, but if you ask me what I think of when I think of an American classic, then this traditional Southern-styleChicken Stew comes straight to mind! If you’ve got the air conditioning on or if it’s a cooler day out, then who says you can’t have a fall-themed soup in the summer? One of my mottos is that there’s no specific time of year to enjoy your favorite foods, and this situation definitely applies!
If there is someone who loves some juicy and flavorful tender chicken, potatoes, and nutritious potatoes all put together in deliciousness, then I definitely encourage you to put your heart in a bowl and try out this healthy and wholesome chicken stew recipe as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge. You can get started on your cooking journey for free by signing up to my free email newsletter, plus you’ll receive all of my recipes right in your inbox!
To follow along with the steps in creating this incredible one-potstewwith potatoes and vegetables, be sure to watch the video! If you’re not already, I’d appreciate if you would please subscribe to my YouTube channel, and doin’t forget to press the bell button so you’re notified when all of my video recipes are live! Let’s get cooking!
Tools Needed to Make Chicken Stew with Potatoes and Veggies
Scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD or press the “Jump to Recipe” button to see all ingredients and their quantities, in addition to saving the recipe for later. You can also use the recipe card to scale the recipe so that you have the right amount of broth, chicken, and vegetables based on how many portions of stew you want to make. I encourage you to make more stew rather than less because you’ll love it so much!
Chicken breast: I’m using boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Bacon: 5 slices of bacon because bacon sure makes everything better! You can use whatever flavor of bacon you want, but this is maple-flavored bacon.
Vegetables: Yellow onions, carrots, leeks, and Yukon gold potatoes.
Broth: I wanted to try some new broths I found at the grocery store to switch things up! I’m using a combination of chicken broth with roasted garlic and mushroom broth to add lots of depth in flavors to the stew. If you don’t have these broths, you can just use regular chicken broth and vegetable broth instead of the mushroom broth.
All-purpose flour: We will use some of this to thicken up the gravy by coating flour over our chicken pieces and our vegetables. To make this recipe gluten-free, you can substitute with cornstarch. If using cornstarch, you will mix it with some water to make a slurry and add it at the final stage of the dish, once all the vegetables have been added, to thicken up the gravy.
Spices: We will be seasoning our stew with dried thyme, dried rosemary, bay leaves, and dried sage. Of course, salt and pepper are necessary basic seasonings here that you’ll also need!
Dill: Freshly chopped for garnish.
How to Make Harvest Chicken Stew
Dice the onion, slice the carrots, clean and slice the leeks (using both the white and light green parts), and halve the baby potatoes.
Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of the flour over the chicken and toss until the chicken is evenly coated.
In a large pot over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until it is crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pot. If there is not enough fat, add 1-2 Tbsp of butter or olive oil as needed.
Add the flour-coated chicken pieces to the pot with the bacon fat. Brown the chicken on all sides and then remove to a clean bowl with a slotted spoon.
Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and leeks to the pot. Sauté until the onions are soft and the leeks are tender, using the moisture released to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Add the remaining 2 Tbsp flour and sauté for another 2 minutes to cook off the raw flour taste.
Return the browned chicken and the crispy bacon to the pot.
Add the potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, sage, pepper, chicken broth, and mushroom broth. Stir to combine and dissolve any flour stuck to the bottom.
Place a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and the broth has thickened.
Taste the stew and add salt and pepper if needed. The amount of salt required will depend on the salt content of your broths and the bacon.
Garnish with fresh chopped dill if desired.
Serve hot and enjoy!
Tips for a Hearty Harvest Stew
Once you’ve sliced the leeks, make sure you rinse them at least two to three times with water. Agitate the leeks well to get any sand particles off the leeks, since that kind of environment is where the leeks grow, and that sand can be difficult to remove.
To render out the most amount of fat and to crispen the bacon evenly, start cooking it on a cold pot or pan. If you’re smart, you would reserve some bacon to garnish at the end!
Ensure to cut the chicken in even pieces to make sure that they all cook evenly and they are as tender as they can be.
Browning the chicken before adding it to the stew should be your top priority since that will help create browned bits or “fond” in the bottom of the pan, which will in turn add tons of flavour to the stew.
Make sure that your stew does not get ruined - keep a close eye on the browned bits at the bottom of the pot while you’re cooking the chicken. Immediately, take the pot off the heat or transfer the chicken out and add the veggies while the browned bits are still brown as opposed to burnt. Brown is flavour, but black is burnt!
What to Serve with Fall Harvest Stew?
Because this Harvest Stew is a very well-rounded dish because it has plenty of vegetables, starch from the potatoes, and protein from the chicken, you could honestly eat it on its own! However, I think some good crusty bread, such as baguette or Ciabatta will be the best side for your stew to soak up all that nice leftover gravy! However, if you want some other side dish ideas, here are my suggestions - simple and tasty!
You simply need to add cream, as there is none added here! If you want to keep your stew light and add more body the gravy, you can use half and half (or 10%) cream. However, if you want the stew to be rich and you like the consistency of the gravy, then I would go or heavy cream (30-35%)!
Can I Use Chicken Thighs for THis Stew recipe?▼
Yes, you can. Actually, some bone-in, skinless chicken thighs would be the best choice for this Country Harvest Stew recipe! However, I used chicken breast because I already had so much on hand, and I didn’t want to go out of my way to get chicken thighs! As I mention in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!!, if you have a suitable substitute that will save you a trip to the grocery store, then by all means use it! If you cook chicken breast correctly, then you can get it to be really tasty and juicy, so fear not if you’re also using chicken breast here! If you have chicken thighs, then that’s perfect!
Can I Make This Chicken Stew In the Instant Pot?▼
Yes, you sure can! The method would be the same, other than you would use the “Saute” setting on your Instant Pot. Nothing to pressure cook here!
Can I Make This Hearty CHicken Stew in Advance?▼
Indeed you can, and I would encourage you to do so! You can make a huge batch of this Hearty Chicken Stew recipe in order to have lots of healthy meals for the week on hand! I always make multiple portions when I’m making this stew to be able to enjoy it over and over again! It’s my all-time favourite stew, so I just can’t get enough of it, and I’m sure you’ll agree when you try out this chicken stew recipe!
To Store
Transfer all of the contents of your prepared Hearty Chicken Stew into airtight containers. Allow the stew to completely cool down first, then place the containers in the refrigerator. This stew will stay good in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days because of the cooked chicken in here.
To Freeze
Technically you could freeze your Chicken Stew, but personally I would not do it. The main reason for that is in every case I have frozen anything that contains potatoes, once thawed, they just crumble, turn to mush. The texture just isn’t the same anymore. However, I do see the appeal of freezing a batch of stew to enjoy it when you’re out camping without proper refrigeration equipment.
To Reheat
The quickest way to reheat your Harvest Chicken Stew would be of course in the microwave. However, if you want the best results, then I would recommend you take the time to reheat the stew over the stove.
To reheat your Country Chicken Stew over the stove, transfer your desired portion into a pot and bring it to a simmer over medium-low heat. If you are reheating your chicken stew in the microwave, ensure the stew is in a microwave-safe container or microwave-safe bowl. Heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring at 30 second intervals to make sure it is evenly warmed through.
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!
Recipe by Anadi Misra
Warm and Hearty Country Harvest Chicken Stew
Warm, hearty, and packed with tender chicken, potatoes, and vegetables, this old fashioned chicken stew is pure comfort food. A simple, satisfying dinner the whole family will love.
Dice the onion, slice the carrots, clean and slice the leeks (using both the white and light green parts), and halve the baby potatoes.
Dice the onion, slice the carrots, clean and slice the leeks (using both the white and light green parts), and halve the baby potatoes.
2
Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of the flour over the chicken and toss until the chicken is evenly coated.
Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of the flour over the chicken and toss until the chicken is evenly coated.
3
In a large pot over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until it is crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pot. If there is not enough fat, add 1–2 tbsp of butter or olive oil as needed.
In a large pot over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until it is crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pot. If there is not enough fat, add 1–2 tbsp of butter or olive oil as needed.
4
Add the flour-coated chicken pieces to the pot with the bacon fat. Brown the chicken on all sides and then remove to a clean bowl with a slotted spoon.
Add the flour-coated chicken pieces to the pot with the bacon fat. Brown the chicken on all sides and then remove to a clean bowl with a slotted spoon.
5
Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and leeks to the pot. Sauté until the onions are soft and the leeks are tender, using the moisture released to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and leeks to the pot. Sauté until the onions are soft and the leeks are tender, using the moisture released to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
6
Add the remaining 2 tbsp flour and sauté for another 2 minutes to cook off the raw flour taste.
Add the remaining 2 tbsp flour and sauté for another 2 minutes to cook off the raw flour taste.
7
Return the browned chicken and the crispy bacon to the pot.
Return the browned chicken and the crispy bacon to the pot.
8
Add the potatoes, thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper, chicken broth, and vegetable broth. Stir to combine and dissolve any flour stuck to the bottom.
Add the potatoes, thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper, chicken broth, and vegetable broth. Stir to combine and dissolve any flour stuck to the bottom.
9
Place a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and the broth has thickened.
Place a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and the broth has thickened.
10
Taste the stew and add salt if needed. The amount of salt required will depend on the salt content of your broths and the bacon.
Taste the stew and add salt if needed. The amount of salt required will depend on the salt content of your broths and the bacon.
11
Garnish with fresh chopped dill if desired and serve hot.
Garnish with fresh chopped dill if desired and serve hot.
Nutrition per serving
143
Calories
8g
Protein
13g
Carbs
7g
Fat
1g
Fiber
3g
Sugar
589mg
Sodium
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