Full of tender, juicy, and flavorful protein and veggies, this Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew with potatoes is a cozy, easy dinner recipe for chilly nights! With just a few minutes of prep, this low-calorie, high-protein Crock Pot meal will be waiting for you at the end of the day!
Hey, friends! With Christmas behind us and the New Year just on the horizon, I thought that you might appreciate a lighter dinner option for the coming days.
If you've enjoyed a few too many glasses of eggnog, more than your fair share of cinnamon buns, or just a boatload of holiday cookies, then have no fear! You can still feed your family a delicious, hearty, and satisfying dinner...while giving your body a bit of a "detox," too!
This chicken stew slow cooker recipe is very similar to a classic chicken noodle soup -- minus the pasta. I also think that a stew should have a thicker broth and an abundance of filling add-ins, so you'll find plenty of chunky carrots, potatoes, onions, and celery in this dish.
How do you make a Chicken Stew?
This simple chicken stew recipe requires just a handful of basic, easy-to-find ingredients. First, let's start with the vegetables. You'll need potatoes, onions, celery and carrots.
What herbs and spices to put in a Chicken Stew?
Place the chopped vegetables in the bottom of a slow cooker and add the herbs and spices. For a hearty chicken stew recipe, I use salt, paprika, a bay leaf, thyme and poultry seasoning. The poultry seasoning is a combination of thyme, sage, rosemary, marjoram and nutmeg -- so it gives you a lot of flavor with minimal effort!
Remove the skin from bone-in chicken breasts, and then place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the slow cooker. I think it's easiest to just cut off the skin using a pair of sharp kitchen shears, but a knife (or your hands) will also work.
Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, pour broth or stock over top, and place the lid on the Crock Pot.
The easy chicken stew with potatoes will cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 2-3 hours. At the end of the cooking time, remove the chicken from the pot, discard the bones, and chop or shred the meat. Return the chicken meat to the slow cooker, remove the bay leaf, and take the lid off of the pot.
How to Thicken Chicken Stew?
If you'd like to thicken the chicken stew, I suggest adding 1 tablespoon of corn starch that has been mixed with 1 tablespoon of water. Cook the chicken stew with the corn starch slurry for 30 more minutes on HIGH heat without a lid.
The end result will be the best chicken stew that you've ever tasted!
Can Chicken Stew be frozen?
Yes! This hearty chicken stew recipe is a wonderful freezer meal! Simply prepare the stew according to the recipe below, allow to cool to room temperature, package in airtight containers or plastic freezer bags, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Can Chicken Stew be reheated?
Absolutely! Reheat the chicken stew on the stovetop over low heat, just until warm. You can also reheat individual bowls in the microwave.
COOK'S TIPS:
- Want to Prep Ahead? Chop all of the vegetables the night before, and then place them in a large zip-top bag with all of the seasonings. In the morning, just dump the whole bag into the slow cooker, top with the chicken, and proceed with the rest of the instructions.
- Use a pair of kitchen shears to quickly and easily remove the skin from the chicken breasts.
- I use bone-in chicken breasts for my chicken stew for a couple of reasons. The bone-in meat has a longer cooking time than a boneless, skinless chicken breast, so the meat stays juicy and tender while the carrots and potatoes finish cooking. The bones also give the broth tons of added flavor. However, if you can't find them or if you don't want to bother with them, then boneless thighs or breasts will also work.
- If you don't mind a thinner, more soup-like broth, you can skip the final step with the corn starch. It will still taste delicious!
What goes with Chicken Stew?
With potatoes, protein and vegetables, this dish is a one pot meal that doesn't really require anything else on the side. That said, if your family is like mine and always appreciates a bread or roll with a hot bowl of soup, then here are a few easy options:
- Aunt Bee's 3-Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits
- No-Knead 3-Ingredient Beer Bread
- 3-Ingredient Breadsticks
- Two-Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins
- Orange Cranberry Corn Muffins
If you need a simple, healthy, family-friendly dinner option that's also incredibly affordable, then my Slow Cooker Chicken Stew is the answer to your prayers!
You might also like these easy slow cooker recipes:
- Healthy Slow Cooker Gumbo
- Turkey and Pesto Slow Cooker Lasagna
- Slow Cooker Turkey Sloppy Joes
- Farmhouse Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet onions, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 4 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
- 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced into small bite-sized pieces
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 3-4 lbs. bone-in chicken breasts, skin removed
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth or chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon corn starch + 1 tablespoon cold water
- For garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Place onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, bay leaf, salt, paprika, thyme, and poultry seasoning in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Place chicken on top of vegetables. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper.
- Pour chicken broth over everything, cover, and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
- When there are about 30 minutes left in the cooking time, remove chicken from the slow cooker and chop or shred the meat. Return chicken meat to the slow cooker and discard bones. Discard bay leaf.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 1 tablespoon of cold water until smooth. Stir into the stew and cook on HIGH without the lid for 30 minutes (or until broth thickens a little bit).
- Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, just before serving.
Notes
- Want to Prep Ahead? Chop all of the vegetables the night before, and then place them in a large zip-top bag with all of the seasonings. In the morning, just dump the whole bag into the slow cooker, top with the chicken, and proceed with the rest of the instructions.
- Use a pair of kitchen shears to quickly and easily remove the skin from the chicken breasts.
- I use bone-in chicken breasts for my chicken stew for a couple of reasons. The bone-in meat has a longer cooking time than a boneless, skinless chicken breast, so the meat stays juicy and tender while the carrots and potatoes finish cooking. The bones also give the broth tons of added flavor. However, if you can't find them or if you don't want to bother with them, then boneless thighs or breasts will also work.
- If you don't mind a thinner, more soup-like broth, you can skip the final step with the corn starch. It will still taste delicious!
Nutrition
This post was originally published in December, 2017. It was updated in December, 2018.
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Hi! I tried this it was very easy, healthy and very good! Thanks for sharing. The only reason I gave it a 4 out of 5 is that my potatoes did not cook after 4 hours on high with my slow cooker. Other notes: I also added more thyme to the recipe as I love this flavor, and added garlic powder to my chicken breasts. Must try!
This was delicious, and so easy to make! I especially loved it because it lasted two nights for just the two of us, a bonus. I did use skinless thighs as we prefer dark meat, and used more cornstarch for a thicker gravy. However there is some flavor in the poultry spice that my husband doesn’t care for, this I am looking for ideas on how to flavor it with individual spices and herbs and would welcome any suggestions. Thank you Blair for a delicious recipe!
Hi, Merrilee! No problem -- you can just add more of the thyme, salt and pepper, plus maybe a bit of dried or fresh parsley (in addition to what you put on top). So glad that you enjoyed it!
Just made this and was very happy! I know this is supposed to be a healthy recipe, but I love seasoning so and found this was far too little. I added about a tablespoon of each and added some cayenne pepper for a kick and some garlic. I like my stews hardy so added more cornstarch to my liking as well. Fun recipe to work with!
That's great, Cami! I truly believe that recipes should serve as a basis for inspiration. There are so many different ways you can season or finish off this stew, so I'm glad that you made it your own! 🙂
Have been looking for a good Chicken Stew recipe for a long time so cannot wait to try this tomorrow. It looks and sounds delicious ... I have two fussy eaters so before I add the thickener if I removed the chicken, potatoes & carrots & blended the stock, onion & celery do you reckon it would keep its hearty taste? Then put the chicken etc back in to serve?
Absolutely! You'll still have all of that great flavor -- even if you decide to puree the onion and celery with the broth. Sounds like a great way to keep the kiddos happy. 🙂
Perfect thank you. Always hide their veg what they dont know wont hurt them right?? 🙂 Cannot wait to try this tomorrow. I'm in Ireland so it is getting chilly now, time to bust out the slow cooker again. Thanks Blair
I hope the little ones approve! Enjoy that cool weather -- it's still hot and muggy here in the southeastern US! 🙂
Hello Blair. This is my first attempt at making your chicken stew.
When you add the bone in chicken breasts do you put them in bone side down on top of the veggies or bone side up with the meaty part of the breast on top of the veggies?
thank you.
Hi, Jane! I usually put the chicken in the slow cooker with the meaty breast-side up. Enjoy!
This soup is soooo good as is!!! I wouldn't change a thing!!!
This soup is soooo good as is!!! I wouldn't change a thing!!!
Thank you, Renee!