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
Incredible recipe. Will be making again and again. Next time I will dry brine the chicken the night before to make that skin even crispier and tastier!
This sounds really good. Is there a way to make it with dumplings with this stew? Maybe a separate gravy pot with dumplings in it? Thanks.
Hi Carol, it would be a different recipe sorry as you’d need more liquid if adding dumplings – N x
This was phenomenal. I was meal planning for a snow storm and wanted something warm and comforting. I wasn’t sure about this dish, never having eaten a whole chicken thigh in a stew, but OMG. I would almost say restaurant quality. I did add extra salt and pepper to the broth along with the potatoes, but other than that, really no modifications. Ladled the stew into a low bowl and placed the crispy chicken on top. Will totally make this again!
I wanted to try something different with my chicken ( not a simple Dutch recipe) and found this recipe. This definitely is a recipe I will make more. Very delicious.
Can I use ketchup in replacement of tomato paste?
Made this tonight, absolutely the best chicken stew i have ever had wouldnt change an ingredient in it at all it was so delicious
Thanks for this recipe.
Made this fantastic stew last weekend and was so pleased with the unique flavors – the Worscestershire sauce was a really nice touch, and baking it made the chicken so tender and flavorful. I’m so impressed with your recipes, Nagi, and all the education I’ve gleaned from the notes you always provide! You have a unique way of doing things and I appreciate you and the opportunity to broaden my skills.
Tried this! It was… I have no words! My boyfriend loved it so much he finished the entire pot! It was so flavour filled. I used Red wine since I didn’t have white… And added a few other spices like coriander, cumin, paprika as well as hot African chilli to make it a little spicy.
We had this with some pap ( a type of corn similar to fufu from Ghana)… I’m making this again for our group of friends once the lockdown in Deutschland is over!
Thank you for sharing!
Hi Nagi.
Can I use chicken stock cubes in place of broth?
Hi Salma, yes 100%! Just reconstitute them in water to make up the stock for the recipe. N x
Hi Nagi! I was wondering if using an instant pot will work for this recipe? I was thinking using the roast and grill settings.
Hi Nagi, hope you´re well.. I made this recepi a while ago and I have just been given a whole pheasant from a farm in Wales, I have never cooked or tried pheasant and don´t know what to do with it. Do you think if I defrost it and cut it in pieces (don´t even know how to do that haha) and then cook it exactly like you do with this chicken stew would work? Hope you have an asnwer because I´m really stuck with this one, thanks for all your recepis and your replies, Rakel x
Everyone loved this recipe and it is so easy to make. I actually didn’t have any white wine so I substituted it with apple juice :). Everyone commented on how delicious the hint of sweetness was. I guess it worked.
The chicken stew recipe is amazing !! I made it tonight , and it is spectacular!!
I put 5 stars but somehow it only put 4- I would have put more stars ! So delicious
Hello! I am just wondering what size your braising pot is? I am looking to buy one when I remake this recipe!
It was delicious.
Another amazing recipe Nagi. The taste of the chicken and the way the juices flavoured the potatoes and carrots was delicious. Had it last night, left overs for lunch today and still have enough for another meal and that was for two of us ! Going to try your med chicken dinner tonight and can’t wait x
Easy, breezy and oh so yummy! Thank you!
That recipe is in my tin.
It’s so easy to do…love it!
This is such a really nice recipe. Chicken cooked to perfection, even the fussy eaters loved it
I just made this and it turned out really well. Great flavour and the chicken fell off the bone it was so tender. It wasn’t crispy because I didn’t have the pan hot enough when frying it, but it was still delicious. I also added some rosemary and made dumplings. Yummy!
Hi Nagi, I do a lot of cooking for my elderly dad and am wondering if this would freeze ok once fully cooked?