Crockpot Chicken Stew
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The best Slow Cooker Chicken Stew Recipe! This crockpot chicken stew is a cozy, healthy dinner that is so easy to make!
This post was originally shared in 2019, but has since been modified.
Made with simple pantry and fridge staples that you likely already have on hand, this crockp pot chicken stew stands out because it’s easy to make AND delicious! Toss the ingredients together in your crockpot and let it make dinner for you!
This slow cooker chicken stew recipe has chicken, carrots, celery, onions… It’s packed with protein and vegetables and is hearty and easy to make – a dinner you’ll go back to over and over again! This is the kinda meal you want to eat while curled up in a blanket on the couch; total comfort food!
liz’s top tips for slow cooker chicken stew
- Pound your chicken to make it extra tender: Pounding your chicken with a meat mallet can make it extra tender!
- Brown your veggies before hand. Sautéing veggies might seem like a simple step that you can skip, but it really makes a difference in the stew’s taste! You can brown the chicken if you like, but it’s not necessary.
Ingredients
Substitutions
Olive Oil: You’ll only need olive oil if you’re making this on the stovetop. If you’re making it in the crockpot you don’t need it!
Chicken: You can substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the chicken breasts in this recipe. You can also substitute beef for chicken in this recipe or we also have a Healthy Beef Stew recipe and an Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe and Old Fashioned Ground Beef Stew.
Onion & Garlic: I don’t recommend skipping the onion; it adds flavor.
Potatoes: Yukon golds work the best for stew because they’re tender and don’t get mealy when cooked. You can sub in halved fingerling potatoes, baby potatoes, or red potatoes for this recipe. I have not tried sweet potatoes or russet potatoes in this recipe, but I think they would become too mushy!
Carrots & Celery: I don’t recommend skipping either carrots or celery. They both add flavor! If you love your veggies – try this Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe!
Broth: Chicken broth, stock and bone broth can all be used interchangeably. Vegetable broth or beef broth will also work. We like to use low sodium chicken broth or no salt added broth.
All Purpose Flour: You can substitute 1:1 Gluten Free Flour in this recipe in place of the all purpose flour. Almond flour and coconut flour will not work. Tapicoa starch may work, but I can’t be sure without trying it!
Peas: You can omit green peas from this recipe. If you prefer corn, try our Chicken Corn Chowder.
To make lower salt: Omit salt. Use low or no sodium chicken broth.
Can you make this chicken stew in the instant pot? You can make this in the instant pot but we don’t recommend it. Instead follow our Instant Pot Chicken Stew Recipe.
Tomatoes: This recipe used to have tomatoes in it, but we removed them. We think this recipe is much better as written! If you’d like the old recipe, feel free to email liz@thecleaneatingcouple.com
How To Make slow cooker Chicken Stew
- In slow cooker insert, stir all ingredients together except peas.
- Cook on low for 6 hours.
- When ready to serve, stir in peas until defrosted.
- Enjoy!
How to thicken Chicken Stew
This stew gets pretty thick naturally, but the addition of all purpose flour really helps.
If your stew is not thickening, you can also take the lid off the crockpot and turn it to high so that some liquid will evaporate.
What To Serve With This Recipe
Chicken stew is a complete meal in itself because it’s loaded with protein, veggies and healthy carbs. Here are some things we like to serve it with:
- Apple Walnut Salad or Blueberry Salad for extra veggies
- Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Parmesan
- fresh bread or crackers
Storage, Freezing & Reheating Instructions
How to store: You can store this chicken stew in the fridge or freezer in airtight containers.
Freezing: This stew freezes very well. Store in an airtight container and allow it to cool completely before freezing. We like these containers for freezing. If stored properly it should stay good for 4-6 months.
Reheating: You can reheat from the fridge in the microwave or on the stove. If frozen, defrost the night before in your refrigerator or just pop in a microwave/pan and heat!
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Other Recipes You Might Like
Love your crockpot? Check out these 40+ Healthy Crockpot Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy crockpot cookbook.
Slow Cooker Chicken Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in 1 inch cubes
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic about 4 large cloves
- 2 cups sliced carrots cut in 1/4 inch thick coins
- 2 cups cubed Yukon gold potatoes cut in ½ inch cubes
- 1 cups finely chopped celery
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour can sub gluten free 1:1
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup peas
Instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Chop all veggies and cut chicken into 1 inch cubes.
- Optional: You can brown the chicken and vegetables in 1 tablespoon of olive oil if you'd like, but it's not necessary. See StoveTop Instructions if you'd like to brown the meat/veggies!
- In slow cooker insert, stir together chicken, onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, celery, flour, dried spices and chicken broth.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. Cooking on low is recommended.
- When ready to serve, stir in thawed peas. Discard bay leaf and enjoy!
StoveTop Instructions:
- Note: You'll need 1 tablespoon of olive oil to make this on the stovetop. This is not in the recipe because the slow cooker instructions don't call for it.
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pot and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is lightly browned on all sides.
- Add the onion and garlic. Sauté for an additional 3 minutes or until the onion and garlic start to soften.
- Add the carrots, potatoes, celery, flour, parsley, pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme, salt, and bay leaf. Stir to combine.
- Important: For the stovetop, you'll want to use 2 cups of chicken broth, not 1/2 cup. You need more liquid when cooking on the stove. Add the chicken broth. Cover the pot and bring the stew to a simmer. The mixture should start to bubble and will start to thicken after about 5 minutes.
- Cook the stew, covered, over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once the stew has cooked, stir in peas. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
Video
Notes
- Chicken: You can substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the chicken breasts in this recipe.
- Potatoes: You can sub in halved fingerling potatoes for this recipe. I have not tried sweet potatoes in this recipe, but I think they would become too mushy!
- Broth: Chicken broth, stock and bone broth can all be used interchangeably.
- Peas: You can omit peas from this recipe.
Hi! The calories posted is for how many cups?
It’s listed in the nutrition facts – 1.5 cups! Enjoy!
This is really delicious and so easy to put
together, simply place everything in the slow
cooker, stir and forget about it! Easy!
Thickens nicely and it’s a stick to your ribs
yummy, hearty meal. Loved it and will make
often.
Thanks, Sharon! So glad you like it!
My husband doesn’t like rosemary. What else would you recommend?
Skip it or sub whatever herbs you do like (thyme, basil, parsley)
I used thyme instead of rosemary and it worked well.
I’m planning to not put any salt for those who can only eat No-Sodium, No-carbs and No-sugar diets. But I wonder if the 400 mg sodium in your nutrition facts merely from the 1 teaspoon salt or from other ingredients too? Also wonder what the 12 g sugar is from?
Hi Natalie – Nutrition facts will vary based on your ingredients. There is sodium and sugar in everything (chicken breasts, canned tomatoes, broth, etc) so that exact number will vary depending on the brands you use. There are carbohydrates in potatoes so this isn’t a low carb dish. If you’re watching sodium look for no/low salt broth and tomatoes. You can also skip the teaspoon of salt and add salt to taste.
Yummy stew. I was out of rosemary so used Italian Seasoning which worked well. I also cooked on high in crockpot for 4 hours due to timing. Depending on size of chicken and potato cubes, 3 hours might be enough as my chicken was cooked at 3 hours but my potato was not.
Thank you, Robyn! Glad you liked it!
The tomato purée in your pic looks a lot like a can of chopped tomatoes? Tomato purée to me is what you put on pizzas? Would a can of chopped tomatoes work? The tomato paste looks like tomato purée to me. New to this. – sorry if it’s a stupid question.
Tomato paste is not the same as tomato puree. Crushed tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, and tomato paste are different ingredients. Tomato paste is super concentrated sold usually in small cans/tubes. I wouldn’t recommend canned chopped toatoes.
I’m guessing you’re from the UK? If so, it’s passata in the supermarkets. Sold in boxes or glass jars usually. Find them near the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree in the tinned veg section in Sainsbury’s.
This was easy to prepare and incredibly delish! even without the tomato paste (didn’t have any). Adding the peas at the end really brightened it up and added some crisp sweetness. I only had 1.2 lbs of chix tenderloin and still had plenty of meat to veggie ratio. : ) The fresh rosemary gave it a unique fresh flavor, similar to sauteeing chix with fresh ginger medallions.
Thanks, Shannon! I’m so happy you liked it!
BEST COZY FALL MEAL EVER!! Make it every Sunday!
So glad you like it!!
THIS RECIPE IS AMAZING!!! So delicious
Thank you so much, Emily!!
SO YUMMY and EASY to make! As a night shift nurse it can be hard to make healthy meals between shifts but this took no time to throw in the crockpot after a shift and it was ready to eat when I woke up for my next shift.
Thank you Lindsay!! This makes me so happy to hear!!
I love this recipe. I find the potatoes and carrots needs a little more time to soften. Is that common or am I making a mistake somewhere:)
Hi Debbie – Glad you like it. You might be cutting them too big. They should be soft by the time they’re done cooking, but not mushy!
Made this yesterday. It was amazing! Better yet, even the picky-eating 12 and 14-year olds loved it!
Yay! Love hearing that! Thanks, Paul!
What about the peas??
Per the instructions in the recipe, the peas are added in at the end before you serve.
Hi there! This looks yummy!
Is it possible to cook it on high in the Crock-Pot for a shorter time, or should I do low for 6 hrs?
Thanks!
Hi Mary – I haven’t tried this. It might work if you cook 4 hours on high, but I can’t be sure because I’ve never tried it!
Hi. What do you mean by prepared chicken in this recipe. Do I have to cook it before going into the crockpot?
Thanks
Hi Russ – I’ve updated the instructions to make this clearer. By ‘prepare chicken’ I meant cutting the raw chicken into cubes. You do not have to cook the chicken before adding it to the crockpot. Sorry for the confusion!
This may be a stupid question but do you pre cook the chicken prior to putting it in the Crock-Pot?
No you do not cook the chicken, it goes in raw – check out the process shots above under ‘How to Make Chicken Stew’ to see what it should look like 🙂
This was DELICIOUS! My husband has ulcerative colitis so a good stew is hard to find. This stew was super easy to make, plain enough for his colitis and yet flavorful enough to where we didn’t need to add anything extra! This is a recipe that we will “write in the book” and absolutely use again!
I’m so glad you and your husband like this recipe! That makes me so happy to hear!
This was delicious and easy. Lots of flavors. I adjusted the liquids but everyone liked it. This will definitely on repeat
So glad you liked it, Sabine!
When to you add the peas?
At the end per the very last step! When ready to serve, stir in peas until defrosted (omit if strict paleo or Whole30™)
what is paleo or Whole30?
You can google either word for a full description! there are tons of blog posts about them. They’re different diets!
Such a delicious and flavorful yet super-easy stew! Best new recipe I’ve tried in a while, and I’m always trying new recipes.
Thank you so much, Sarah! I really appreciate that! Glad you liked it!
I made this overnight and now I can’t wait for dinner! The vegetables turned out perfect and not mushy. The seasoning is delicious! This will be in my regular rotation for sure!!
So glad you liked it, Melissa!
Made this chicken stew today, it is excellent! Very tasty and hearty!!
So glad you liked it, Teresa!
The recipe is as advertised: ridiculously easy, delicious and healthy. It served as a real life-saver over the mid-way slump of my whole30 journey. Even my fiancé, who is not participating in the diet, agreed the recipe was delicious and filling. I’m already looking forward to some leftovers!
Thank you SO much Sara! I’m so glad you liked it!!
Just tried this on the stovetop. Is 30 minutes on high stirring occasionally correct? Splattered everywhere when I wasn’t constantly stirring. Tried covering and everything burnt on the bottom.
Hi Dan – The instructions say: cook on high heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat so stew comes to a simmer + cook for additional 30 minutes. Every stove is different, but sounds like your stove was turned on too high. No dish should spatter everywhere. I would try turning down your stove a bit – maybe medium is better for you!
Y’all! This recipe is easy, versatile, and so dang flavorful. I made it yesterday and it reminds me of a soup my grandma made when I was a kid. I followed the recipe exactly, but did end up using dried rosemary. 10/10 suggest that everyone add this to their rotation especially for fall/winter.
I’m SO glad you liked it, Lauren! This recipe is based off of my gram’s stew recipe! Totally cozy and delicious 🙂
Do you have instructions to prepare in an electric pressure cooker?
No I don’t. We prefer to use our crockpot. If you try it in your pressure cooker – let me know!