Ultra tender flesh and super crispy skin smothered in a thick savoury sauce with vegetables. This Chicken Stew is slow cooked in the oven to develop deep, incredible flavours. The smell that fills the house when it’s in the oven is simply wonderful!
Made with skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks, this Chicken Stew recipe is a firm favourite during the colder months along with Beef Stew, Pot Roast and Beef Bourguignon. Mop your bowl clean with Irish Soda Bread, a quick and easy rustic no-yeast bread!
Chicken Stew – with crispy skin!
Anyone else here not a fan of slimy chicken skin??
I don’t care how long it’s been slow cooked. And whether it’s a stew, in soup or Hainanese chicken.
No chicken skin comes near my mouth unless it’s crispy or caramelised.
When my mother reads this, I know she’s going to roll her eyes and think”she’s so childish!!”
I don’t care. I love crispy skin. I want crispy skin. Give me all the crispy skin!!! 😂
Slow cooked in the oven for crispy skin!
Because I’m so anti-slimy chicken skin, I like to make my Chicken Stew in the oven rather than on the stove. And unless someone knows a magic trick, the only way to get crispy skin for a stew is in the oven.
Cook it covered for part of the time, then uncover it to let the sauce thicken, make the chicken flesh super tender, the surface of the veggies and edges of the stew caramelise, and – most importantly in my world – to get that chicken skin super crispy!
Don’t have the time to slow cook?
Try my speedier Chicken Stew – made with boneless chicken thighs, this is on the table in an hour but tastes like it’s been cooking all day!
OK, I think I’ve babbled on enough about the chicken skin. Let me move on.
Under the crispy skin -> tender flesh.
Smothering the crispy skin -> thick savoury gravy sauce.
Around the crispy skin -> tender soft vegetables.
😇😇😇
I’m lucky enough to have a big, shallow casserole pot / dutch oven which is absolutely perfect for these kind of stews that go from stove to oven. But if you don’t have one, don’t worry, just tip it all into a baking pan before popping it into the oven.
And – confession time. The reason I cropped out most of the bowl in the photo below is because I ate the chicken before I took this photo. The side you can’t see just has bones, picked completely clean.
I couldn’t resist! Don’t judge me! 😂 – Nagi x
More Stews
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Faster Chicken Stew – when you need a rich stew on the table in under an hour!
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Classic Beef Stew – fall apart beef in a deep rich sauce
-
Irish Beef and Guinness Stew – an incredible dark, rich sauce with incomparable flavour
-
Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff – fall apart beef in a creamy Stroganoff sauce!
-
Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce – truly exceptional, restaurant quality!
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Browse all Stew recipes
Classic dinners we’ll love forever
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Meatloaf – a family favourite forever and ever!
Chicken Stew
Watch how to make it
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Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 kg / 3lb bone in, skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks (6 to 8 pieces)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 onions , halved and cut into wedges
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 large carrots , cut thick end into 1.5cm / 3/5" pieces, thin end 2.5cm/1"
- 4 celery stalks , cut into 2cm / 4/5" chunks
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) white wine (or water)
- 3 tbsp (35g) flour
- 3 cups (750 ml) chicken broth , low low sodium
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp Worscestershire sauce
- 3 sprigs thyme , or 1 tsp dried thyme (or other herb)
- 2 bay leaves (dried or fresh)
- 600 g / 1.2lb baby potatoes , halved (quarter large ones)
Serving (optional):
- Fresh thyme or parsley (chopped)
- Warm crusty bread
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Heat oil in a large pot over high heat. Brown chicken on both sides until light golden, sprinkling with salt and pepper. Remove from pot. (Do in 2 batches if pot not big enough).
- If there's too much oil in the pot, discard some. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add carrots and celery, cook for 1 minute.
- Add wine. Stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to dissolve the brown bits into the liquid. Cook for 1 minute until liquid is mostly gone.
- Sprinkle flour across surface, stir.
- Add broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaves. Stir to dissolve tomato paste.
- Place chicken on top, keeping the skin above the liquid level as much as you can.
- Bring to simmer then cover. Bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven, remove lid. Add potatoes, pushing them into the liquid and rearranging chicken so they sit on top (for lovely crispy skin).
- Return to oven without the lid for a further 40 minutes until the chicken skin is deep golden and super crispy, the potatoes are soft and the sauce is thickened.
- Taste sauce and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with warm crusty bread on the side to dunk in the sauce - or go all the way with Garlic Bread! Optional: garnish with extra fresh thyme leaves or parsley.
Recipe Notes:
Originally published May 2018. Updated for housekeeping matters – no change to recipe.
Life of Dozer
Flashback to May 2018 when this recipe was first published when he tore his ACL and had to have a knee operation. Shaved rump, permanent “help me up” harness, and trapped in a play pen for weeks.
Adding a Cone of Shame was just rubbing salt into the wound, isn’t it?
I told him not to scratch the stitches. I warned him about the cone. He did not obey!!😂
Happy to report he is back to normal, chasing birds, leaping off jetties and generally living the high life!❤️ N x
I literallyove this recipe! I make it regularly and my husband loves it too. If you don’t have a dutch oven, it’s worth the investment just to make this stew!
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Lisa!!! N x
Sorry I’ve commented on this recipe before but I had to again. It’s A-MAZING. It’s the only recipe I ever feel really confident about. I know it will always turn out good and be delicious and always requested. I am grateful for it! Been making it for years. So thank you!!! (and bonus – it can be easily made gluten free, but STILL perfectly tasty).
Hi Nagi, can I make this in a slow cooker? I’m cooking for a family of 8 and I’m thinking… there is no pot big enough to get into the oven so I’m gonna have to forgo the crispy skin regardless.
Or any other readers who have made this in a slow cooker?!
Thanks
This one isn’t suitable for the slow cooker sorry as you need to reduce the stock whilst simmering – N x
Made this on a cold rainy day and it was delicious and comforting. I added a sprig of rosemary and button mushrooms because I already had them in the fridge and it came out wonderfully. Thanks Nagi!
Thanks Nagi! This is one of your best recipes yet. Absolutely loved it, so flavoursome. I added some sweet potato as well which gave it an extra sweetness. This is going on the winter rotation
Can I leave out/substitute the flour for a gluten free version? What do you recommend?
Hi Pat, you sure can – just sub with 2 tbsp of cornflour in its place. N x
This is a fabulous recipe, thank you! If you’re reading the comments wondering whether to try it, do, you won’t regret it. I don’t love bone in chicken usually but this was tender and the crispy skin was delicious. Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi Nagi!
This was absolutely delicious and completely on point. The chicken was tender with the crispiest skin, the vegetables were perfectly cooked and the gravy was so savory and flavourful. I unfortunately didn’t have any white white on hand and had to sub dried thyme for fresh, I look forward to making this again with those additions. Also made your artisan bread to pair and dunk! So good!
Thank-you!
Holly x
Can I do this in the slow cooker ? Thanks x
Have made this recipe a number of times now. It’s quite addictive. No far out there ingredients, but as you follow Nagi’s recipe you are building amazing flavor.
As a personal preference I add more carrots and sometimes add other herbs like rosemary or sage or both for variety.
This also freezes very well.
Adding some crusty bread to mop up the flavorful delicious sauce brings it over the top. SO GOOD!!
Can I use breast instead ?
I prefer bone in thighs and breast so they don’t dry out here Errin 🙂 N x
Hi, what if I want to do this recipe in the slow cooker, for how long should I keep it?
Hi Yousra, this one as written isn’t suitable for the slow cooker sorry! N x
Hi! I have actually made this in the slow cooker with drumsticks and just bonless thighs. I put the drumsticks and some of the the thighs under the grill at the end to crisp them up …and it works a charm! Sorry to say otherwise about ur amazing recipe Nagi but in my experience it definitely works! My fav chicken stew recipe too…thank you once again chef goddess!
Woohoo. Thanks a tonne
This was AMAZING! I had to cut down the recipe in half as I only had 4 pcs of chicken but for my partner who hates stew, he certainly like this one!
I’ll be keeping this page on my bookmark for future reference!