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!
Want more slow cooker recipes? Get our 40 best crock pot recipes in a printable ebook for less than $11!
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.
This recipe perfectly hits the spot! Simple and delicious. I love a crock pot meal, especially in the cooler months. I will most certainly be making this over and over.
So glad you enjoyed!
easy and delicious! I will make it again!!
So happy you liked it, Ann!
Hey you changed this recipe since two weeks ago. Why? The previous one was awesome. Can you put it back? Put this one somewhere else but the slow cooker chicken stew that included tomatoes is what I want. Made if for friends two weeks ago and need to repeat but you changed it yesterday. Please send me the other one!
I just emailed it to you – this recipe is so much better, I encourage you to try it! Here’s the original recipe:
1.5 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut in cubes
1 cup onion chopped finely
1 cup russet potatoes cut in ½ inch cubes
1 1/2 cups carrots cut in 1/4 inch thick coins
1 1/2 cups celery chopped finely
15 oz can tomato puree
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups chicken broth low or no salt
1 cup frozen peas Reserve until ready to eat
instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions:
Chop all veggies + cut raw chicken into cubes.
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.
When ready to serve, stir in peas until defrosted. Discard bay leaf and enjoy!
Hi, I made this according to descriptions with crock pot with 7hrs low cooking the liquid didn’t evaporate but taste good! Maybe has to do with slow cook liners?
I never cook with slow cooker liners so I’m not sure how that could affect the recipe. There should be some liquid in the bottom of the crockpot, but not a ton!
What can you use instead of Rosemary.. I’m allergic
Skip it and use more of the other spices!
This was delicious, thanks for sharing! I cooked it on low for 8 hours, so it would be hot when I got home from work and put in a whole chicken breast and shredded it with forks before adding the peas.
Absolutely DELICIOUS !!
Loved the flavors of this recipe. Perfect for fall. Followed the crock pot instructions exactly. Vegetables came out perfectly but, sadly, my chicken was overcooked.
This was a delicious stew. I used the stovetop recipe and scaled it for 6 servings. I used one large white onion. It took about 3 carrots. I did not have celery, so I used frozen green and yellow beans (same amount). I cut them to about an inch each. I used two medium potatoes. I did not have crushed tomatoes and it asked for 22.5 oz. I used a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, which I pureed myself. So I adjusted the tomato paste to 3 tablespoons, 1 teaspoon each salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried thyme (I don’t keep rosemary on hand). I used 3 1/2 cups of broth because of the additional tomatoes. I happened to have about 1/2 a shredded zucchini in the freezer, so I threw this in. I also had about 6 leftover white mushrooms. I quartered them and added them and they were a nice addition. When boiling for the 2 sessions of 30 minutes each, it will need to be uncovered if you want a thick stew. This is not specifically mentioned in the recipe. If you cover, there will be quite a lot of liquid remaining and it won’t get thick.
My husband isn’t very fond of trying new, healthy meals but he really liked this one. Now it’s going into our rotation.
Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
I followed the instructions to a tee – and the stew came out super liquidy, not thick at all. Am i doing something wrong?
This is not a super thick stew. Did you cook on low or high? It might have gotten over cooked! You could make a cornstarch slurry and stir it in while the stew is hot if you want it to make a thicker texture.
Did you cook it for the two 30 minute sessions with a lid? It should be UNCOVERED to thicken to a stew consistency.
Can this recipe be doubled? I always like to make extra for leftovers or to freeze. Also how small should the carrots be diced? Recipe says small chop but picture shows thicker cuts. Thanks!
I don’t know if you double it if it will fit in the crockpot. They should be cut into 1/4 inch coins – just fixed that so it was more specific!
Can I double this recipe ???
I have six adults and two children coming for dinner
Hi! I’m sorry but I don’t know if that will fit in the crockpot and how it would affect the cook time.
There is a sliding scale at the top so that you can adjust the servings.
Looks great but boiling on high was a non no, was sticking even though I was getting up and stirrrping it. Next time I will put it in my instant pot not on my stove top
Looks and smells good
No where in the post does it say to boil this, so yes, it will stick to your pan. You’re supposed to cook it on low heat per the directions.
Delicious. Easy to prepare and a well rounded recipe.
How about replacing the potato with butternut squash?
I’ve never tried it, but it might work! If you try it let me know!
Ohhhh, I made this today and didn’t like the curdled appearance of the broth.
Next time I’ll leave out any whisper of TOMATO.
Hi Judy – theres no milk in this and tomatoes can’t curdle broth, so I’m not really sure what you’re referring to. If you plan to make this without tomatoes, add more seasoning and broth because it will not have as much flavor.
This recipe is a keeper. My husband loved it, so did I. I used baby potatoes instead of russet, tomato sauce instead of tomato puree that is what I had on hand. I used my crock pot, cooked for 4 1/2 hours on high. Followed the recipe according to the cooking instructions otherwise. Turned out great!!
Thank you
I have made this both in the crockpot and on the stove top. Both came out great. My 2 year old niece loves it. Very easy recipe to follow. I always double it. Thanks
Can one substitute some ingredients without changing the “spirit” and flavours of this delicious looking stew?
My wife suggests using a Dutch oven in the stove oven but is unsure how long one should let it cook. I imagine the ideal temperature would be around 350oC, for a couple of hours?
I’m not sure what you’re looking to substitute. You can read the substitutions section in the green box in the blog post above. There are stove top, instant pot and crockpot instructions in the recipe. Please read those for directions!
This stew looks amazing and I’m excited to try it. QUESTION: Is there a recommendation for replacing the 15 oz can tomato puree? We have tomato allergies in our house, and wondering if there is an easy swap?
Hi April – I would just skip the tomatoes. You can add a little bit more broth. Hope that helps!
Quick to throw together and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I forgot the bay leaf, though… next time! I’m thinking a spicy riff on this would be pretty awesome, too.
So happy you liked it!
Delicious!!!!
So glad you liked it, Tina! Thank you!
This couldn’t have been easier or more delicious. They were fighting over the leftovers the next day!
So happy to hear this, Effie! Thanks!
Is 1.5 boneless chicken enough for 5 people,? If I use more do I need to use more broth?
This recipe calls for 1.5 lbs of chicken and the serving size is about 2 cups of stew for 4 people. I’m not sure what this question is referring to – are you talking about chicken breasts vs pounds of chicken? 1.5 lbs of chicken is roughly 3 chicken breasts