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 and Pot Roast. 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
- Faster Chicken Stew – when you need a rich stew on the table in under an hour!
- Classic Beef Stew – fall apart beef in a deep rich sauce
- Irish Beef and Guinness Stew – an incredible dark, rich sauce with incomparable flavour
- Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce – truly exceptional, restaurant quality!
- Browse all Stew recipes
Classic dinners we’ll love forever
- Meatloaf – a family favourite forever and ever!
- Spaghetti Bolognese
- Beef Pot Roast
- Beef Stroganoff
- Ultra Tender Roast Pork with Crispy Crackling
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
Hello! Can this recipe be adapted for a slow cooker? If so, please advise how to do it. This is a wonderful recipe. I would love for my brother to be able to make it as he is can’t use an oven. Thank you,
Mary Spear
Hi Mary, I haven’t tried with this recipe sorry as you’d still need to pop it in the oven to get the crispy skin – N x
I cooked this on a cold rainy night and it was the perfect dinner. Dunking our bread into the sauce and then digging in to the rest, it was warming and delicious.
YES! Brand for dunking is a MUST!
Shut your damn mouth! I never thought to do this and it looks amazing!! Looks so good that I want to slap everybody! Where have you and your recipes been my whole life!? Glad I found you.
YESSSSS! I hope you give it a go Hilary!
Another winner from Nagi. Her website is my dinner menu planning “go to”! This was rich and comforting without being heavy. Perfect to have on the stove for a Fall day.
That’s great Marnie!
This chick stew was awesome!!! Best one I ever made. One thing though, it takes a lot longer to prep than what it says….like most recipes. Well worth it though!!
Sorry it took longer to prep for you, but I hope it was worth it!! – N x
I prep this dish in the morning. Literally chop all the veg, mix the sauce, pour over the veg and then lay seasoned chicken on the top. Making sure the skin is out… then a true nagi tip, I put a little baking soda on the skin… pop in the fridge, then simply cook!!! Super simple, absolutely delicious!!!
I know it would taste nicer with the extra steps, but if you’re absolutely flat out, then this is a winner!!
If I don’t have a dutch oven, can I brown the chicken/cook the onion in a frying pan and then transfer everything to a casserole dish prior to baking it? will it take longer singe the casserole dish will be cold?
This is a wonderful, rich stew. Made it this weekend, our first real cool weekend, and everyone ate it up – no leftovers!
Wahoo, winner winner chicken dinner!
Nagi, I made this last night and it was absolutely easy and incredibly delicious! My family gobbled it up. I will be making this when I want a hearty stew, but don’t have 4-5 hours to do beef bourguignon.
Yes! It’s the perfect quicker option – N x
I’m planning to make this for dinner tonight 🙂 if I cook it early this afternoon, could I just keep it in the oven on a low temp after it’s done? Or how would you suggest if it’s done a few hours before dinner? I’m a cooking newbie 🤣
Hi Norell, you can definitely keep it warm in a super low oven 🙂
This is a great recipe! I made this for the first time on Monday. It took me some time to chop everything, but it was SO worth it.
Personally, I think I will add more seasoning next time. I usually prefer more spices and bolder flavors. However, I think this is an extremely flexible recipe. I could probably add any of my favorite herb/spice combos, and it will be delicious!
Whoops! I forgot the stars lol
The best chicken stew i’ve ever made for my family..
That’s fantastic to know Nina, thanks so much!
I’ve been looking for a chicken thigh recipe and I think this is the one. I will comment again as soon as I make it!
Oops forgot to rate. All are 5 star.
Thanks Kate!
I love all your recipes! I have this in the oven just now, and it smells wonderful. I cook a lovely hearty home cooked for my 83 year okd neighbour and his son every Saturday and you at my go to for inspiration! Last week was lamb shanks in red wine sauce, and this one tonight. You are a legend! They think I am a gourmet chef! Hahahaha. Thanks so much for lovely food ideas.
You nailed it Kate!!
I made this recipe today. Thank you. It was very delicious. Everyone in family loved it,
Wahoo, great stuff Daniela!
I’m a beginner when it comes to cooking but this recipe was easy to follow and turned out really great.
Thank you for sharing this (:
I cooked this recipe for my husband and he thought I got the recipe from a local fancy French restaurant. It was so delicious!
Super delicious recipe! I also really liked being able to scale the ingredients to number of servings I wanted to make. The only things I changed was using skinless chicken, adding basil and oregano (suggested by another reviewer) and I cooked it in a slow cooker since I don’t have ovenproof pot. The chicken came out so tender!
Perfect Rose!