This Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew is a hearty dish packed with lots of fresh vegetables, herbs, and tender chicken. This dump and go recipe produces a cozy, gluten free dinner that is perfect for chilly nights!
As far as simple, weeknight meals go, slow cooker recipes are as easy as they come. Can you really beat coming home after a busy day to be greeted by the pleasant aroma of a home cooked meal?
This Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew recipe is one of our favourite dump and go meals. Super easy to prep. Then set it and it let the slow cooking take care of itself while you go about your business. All I need to do is make a quick cornstarch slurry to make it a thicker stew and throw in some frozen peas and voila! Before you know it, dinner is served.
A healthy chicken stew
This hearty stew is packed with healthy ingredients, making it something you can feel good about serving to your family. No heavy cream is used in this stew and pretty much all the ingredients contribute to a healthy, low calorie dish that is satisfying and filling.
This delicious slow cooker chicken stew is also naturally gluten free. If you are on a dairy free diet, this soup can easily be made dairy free too.
This creamy chicken stew is perfect for chilly nights, though to be honest, we make it year round. We love it served with some crusty bread, cheesy biscuits, or crackers for a meal the whole family will love! If you want to keep this meal gluten free, make sure to try my Keto Cheddar Biscuits!
Why you should make this Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
- This is a wonderful dump and go meal! Just set it and forget it while you go about your day. Then return to a delicious meal.
- The stew is made with healthy ingredients you can feel good about serving your family.
- Coming home to the aroma of a home cooked meal without having to put in a whole lot of effort, is truly wonderful.
- This stew will warm you up like a hug from the inside.
- This meal is hearty and sure to fill you up.
- This dish is gluten free, can be dairy free, and can easily be made paleo and Whole30 friendly.
- It’s delicious!
Ingredients in Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
- Chicken: I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this dish. I cut them into cubes and opt not to brown them first for a truly dump and go meal without having to fuss over the stove in the morning. If you don’t have chicken thighs on hand, you can also substitute boneless skinless chicken breasts.
- Potatoes: I use Yukon gold potatoes but you can easily substitute Russet potatoes or red potatoes. Baby potatoes are another great option. The potatoes should be peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes.
- Veggies: Carrots, onions, celery and peas make up the vegetables in this stew. You can easily add in your favourite vegetables too to adjust this to your personal preference. Broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans, for example, are a great option.
- Fresh herbs: For my stew, I use fresh rosemary, fresh thyme and tarragon. You can easily swap them for dried herbs. As a general rule, use about 1/3 of the amount of dried herbs when subbing them for fresh, since dried herbs are more potent.
- Seasoning: I add poultry seasoning to this stew for added flavour. Salt and black pepper are standard in savory dishes and I use these to taste. If you like, you can add other herbs and seasoning to enhance the flavor of this dish to your own liking. Adding bay leaves, paprika, and fresh parsley are other great options.
- Low-sodium chicken broth: You can also sub in regular chicken broth or even a bone broth.
- Cornstarch: Used to thicken the stew at the end. I mix this with milk to create a slurry and add it to the soup towards the end.
- Milk of choice: You can use any milk you like to add a creamy component to this stew. Alternatively, you can replace the milk with more broth.
Note: Ingredient quantities and full recipe instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to make Chicken Stew in the Slow Cooker
1. Start with the chopped veggies and chicken: Place the chopped potatoes, carrots, celery and onions into the bowl of the slow cooker. Add the chopped chicken over top of the vegetables.
2. Season: Season the chicken and vegetables with the fresh herbs, poultry seasoning and salt and pepper.
3. Add broth and cook: Pour chicken broth over everything and place the lid on the slow cooker. Cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 4 hours.
4. Thicken: In a small bowl, whisk the milk and cornstarch together to create a slurry. Add the slurry along with the frozen peas to the stew. Stir everything together to ensure it is mixed in well and then cook the stew on high for 40 minutes.
5. Adjust seasoning: Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper as needed. Serve.
Can you prep this meal in advance?
The beauty of this crockpot chicken stew is that you can prep it in advance. You can either prep the ingredients the night before so they are ready to go the next morning. Alternatively, you can have the ingredients prepped far in advance in the freezer. Then all you have to do is thaw it before you drop it in your slow cooker!
- To prep the night before: Chop up all of your vegetables and the raw chicken. You can also chop the potatoes and place them in a bowl with cold water. Then cover everything and refrigerate overnight. The next day, add all of the ingredients in the crock pot and cook according to the directions.
- To prep far in advance in the freezer: To prep this stew in advance, you can chop the celery, carrots, onions and boneless chicken thighs and place them in a freezer-safe container such as a freezer bag. I opt to chop my potatoes fresh as they don’t fair well in the freezer due to their high water quantity. If you do plan on pre-chopping and freezing your potatoes, be sure to par-boil them to help prevent them from getting overly mushy.
Can you make this stew on the stove top?
Similar to other cozy stew recipes, you can certainly make this one on the stove top. You can treat it similarly in that you can add the ingredients into a large dutch oven or large soup pot and allow them to boil together. You will need to add more liquid then stated in the recipe card when cooking on the stove top since much more will cook off during the cooking process. Be sure to keep an eye on the stew and add more liquid if needed. The cooking time will be closer to about 25 minutes for the initial cook, though be sure to use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken is cooked. You can use a fork to ensure the potatoes and other veggies are fork tender.
Similar to this crock pot recipe, you can add a cornstarch slurry with milk towards the end of the cooking process to thicken up the stew and make it nice and creamy.
How to store leftovers
Once cooled, leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. They will last a few days stored this way. When reheating leftover chicken stew, you may need to add a little more liquid – either water or milk- to make the stew creamy again as it may soak up some of the liquid.
What to serve with chicken stew
This crock pot chicken stew recipe is perfect served with crusty bread, biscuits or crackers. I especially love a good piece of bread or biscuits to soak up that creamy sauce! Among my favourite go-to recipes to serve alongside this stew are my Easy Dinner Rolls, Cheddar Chive Biscuits, Zucchini & Cheese Drop Biscuits, Herb Biscuits, or Keto Cheddar Biscuits.
I hope you enjoy this healthy dinner as much as we do! It’s the perfect way to warm up on a chilly evening and great so great to come home to on busy nights!
-Cathy
Looking for more Slow Cooker Meal ideas? Be sure to check out:
Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup
Slow Cooker Chicken and Potatoes
Stuffed Tomatoes (Greek Gemista) (Slow Cooker)
Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese
Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 5 chicken thighs boneless, skinless, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2-3 medium Yukon gold potatoes peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 carrots chopped
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 rib celery chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary chopped
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprigs fresh tarragon chopped (can replace with more rosemary or thyme)
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- salt and pepper
- 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup milk of choice (alternatively, you can replace the milk with more broth)
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Place the chopped potatoes, carrots, celery and onions into the bowl of the slow cooker. Add the chopped chicken over top of the vegetables.
- Season the chicken and vegetables with the fresh herbs, poultry seasoning and salt and pepper.
- Pour chicken broth over everything and place the lid on the slow cooker. Cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 4 hours.
- In a small bowl, whisk the milk and cornstarch together to create a slurry. Add the slurry along with the frozen peas to the stew. Stir everything together to ensure it is mixed in well and then cook the stew on high for 40 minutes. *(See notes for quicker option).
- Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper as needed. Serve.
Notes
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
