Tuscan Chicken Stew

Tuscan Chicken Stew is a quick, creamy white stew filled with succulent pieces of Italian-seasoned chicken, sun dried tomatoes, burst-in-your-mouth cherry tomatoes, plump butter beans and swirls of spinach in a garlicky parmesan sauce. The colours of Italy, in a bowl!

Tuscan Chicken Stew

Have you had a white stew before? I know most people think dark, slow-cooked sauces with rich brown gravies, like classic Beef Stew and Beef Bourguignon (Beef Burgundy). But in my world, white stew is just as much of a thing because I grew up eating Japanese Cream Stew, a chicken and vegetable stew with a creamy white béchamel sauce.

I couldn’t do a Japanese one because Mum has already claimed that territory (!) – here’s her Japanese Cream Stew recipe on her website, RecipeTin Japan. So I took it in an Italian direction instead, using a garlic parmesan cream sauce. Same cosy white stew idea, totally different flavour! It kind of tastes like a stewy version of the reader favourite Creamy Chicken Pasta.

And you’ll love how quick this is to make. No hours of slow cooking. Just a quick 15 minute simmer!

Ingredients in Tuscan Chicken Stew

Here’s what you need to make this quick cosy stew. The key is using a good amount of flavour boosters in the sauce so you don’t need hours of slow cooking time to develop flavour. And because we’re using chicken rather than chuck beef, we don’t need hours to make the meat fall-apart tender.

1. Italian seasoned chicken

Don’t worry if you don’t have an Italian herb mix at home, you can make one up using staple dried herbs.

• Chicken thighs – I prefer thighs because they stay juicy even after the 15 minute simmer, so you can brown them at the start and leave them in the pot for the whole cook time. You can use breast if you prefer, but because it’s leaner, I recommend adding it partway through the simmer so it doesn’t overcook. I’ve popped these directions in the recipe card.

• Italian herb mix – This is a standard dried herb blend sold at regular grocery stores. You can also make your own using dried basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, parsley and red chilli flakes. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of them – use what you’ve got. At least you’ve got some Italian flavour on your chook! 🙂

• Garlic powder – Little extra flavour boost, it also helps the chicken brown a little better.

• Salt and pepper – For seasoning.

2. TUSCAN STEW ADD-INS

These are all the bits and bobs that go in the stew. I used big beans (butter beans / giant lima beans) because the just-open-a-can convenience appealed to me, and I feel like the meatiness of these large beans has a stew-appropriate-heartiness! But potato works a treat here too.

• Beans – As mentioned above, I use big, meaty butter beans (also called giant lima beans). You can use any type of beans you want. Cannellini or great northern beans are good alternatives because they’re a similar colour, though they’ll have a softer texture. Though any other beans, any colour (!!) will work just fine too. To use dried beans, you’ll need 1 cup (ie dried, then soak and cook).

  Potato alternative – Whether using large or small cocktail potatoes, cut them into ~ 1.75 cm /0.7″ cubes so they cook in the simmer time. I’d opt for starchy potatoes though waxy will work just fine too.

• Sun dried tomatoes – Element of interest! 🙂 These add little pops of tart-sweet-tomato flavour throughout the stew. I’ve used the vac-packed type (ie. no oil) because I like how they plump up as they simmer. The type in oil will add the same flavour, but they don’t plump up in quite the same way.

• Cherry or grape tomatoes – I added these to dial up the vegetables in the stew so a big bowl of this is a complete meal, for looks (love the red against the white sauce!), and also because there’s something so satisfying about biting into a warm, soft cherry tomato as it bursts in your mouth.

• Baby spinach – More vegetable hit, and to add a splash of green into the mix! Handfuls of torn up or sliced kale would be a good substitute, or even little broccoli florets.

• Garlic and onion – Sautéed at the beginning, to help form the flavour base for the stew sauce.

3. creamy tuscan stew sauce

Here’s what you need for the sauce. Winning combination that guarantees good flavour!

• Thickened cream / heavy cream- This makes the sauce white and adds a creamy mouthfeel to the sauce. To reduce the calories, you can substitute with low fat cream or even milk, though the sauce won’t have the richness that cream brings to it.

• Chicken stock/broth – I use low sodium so I can control the salt levels in dishes. I don’t recommend substituting with water because the sauce will lack body.

• Parmesan – This adds a savoury boost into the sauce. The convenience of store-bought pre grated works fine in this sauce – I don’t usually say that, so take it when you can! 🙂 Use the sandy grated type of parmesan – from the fridge, not aisle (that’s not real cheese 🙂 ) – though even the finely shredded strands melts fine here. If you don’t have parmesan, use any shredded sharp cheese like cheddar or tasty cheese.

• Wine – This adds another layer of flavour in the sauce, but you can’t taste wine in the finished dish as the alcohol is cooked out. I use Chardonnay or any dry white wine that’s not too oaky and not too sweet. Non alcoholic options – substitute with chicken stock or non alcoholic white wine.

• Flour – This is what thickens the sauce to make it creamy. For gluten-free, use cornflour/cornstarch instead. I’ve included directions in the recipe card notes with quantities and method.

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How to make Tuscan Chicken Stew

This stew gets all cooked in one pan in just over 30 minutes. The chicken gets seared followed by a short 15 minute simmer time. As mentioned earlier, using sauce flavour boosters (stock, cream, parmesan, wine!) means we don’t need slow-cooking time for flavour to develop!

1. Cut and season chicken – Cut the chicken into large bite size pieces, about 3 – 4 cm squares (1.2 – 1.4″). Not too small else they will overcook during the simmering stage and not be as juicy as they could be. Then spread the pieces out on the cutting board, sprinkle with the seasoning (Italian herbs, garlic, salt and pepper) and toss to coat.

2. Sear chicken – Using a large 30cm / 12″ pan, heat the oil on high until very hot (this is key to avoid the chicken becoming watery instead of searing). Add the chicken, spread them out and leave for a minute until the underside is golden brown. Then stir every now and then until most of the pieces are light golden on the surface – about 3 to 4 minutes in total. The chicken will still be raw inside.

3. Onion and garlic – Then add the onion and garlic and keep stirring until the onion becomes floppy, about 2 minutes.

4. Deglaze with wine – Add the wine and let it simmer rapidly for a minute or two until it is reduces by half.

5. Flour – Add the flour and stir it in until you can no longer see it.

6. Slowly add stock – Add about one cup of the stock, stirring as you pour. The liquid will thicken quite quickly into a paste-like mixture as the flour dissolves and thickens the stock. Then pour in the rest of the liquid and stir to dissolve the paste into the rest of the stock.

7. Simmer 15 minutes – Add the beans and sun dried tomatoes. Simmer for 8 minutes on medium (you want gentle but constant bubbles). Add cream and parmesan, stir, then add the cherry tomatoes. Simmer for 7 minutes or until the sauce thickens into a gravy-texture, like you can see in the picture below.

8. Wilt spinach – Stir in the baby spinach until wilted (it literally takes 30 seconds), then ladle into bowls and serve!

How to serve Tuscan Chicken Stew

Unlike most of my other stews, there’s no need to make mash or another starchy vehicle to serve this because it’s filled out with beans. It’s almost like a chunky soup – hearty, satisfying and a complete meal in one bowl.

Though warm crusty bread for dunking is so great here, the way that creamy sauce clings to the bread!!

Hope you get a chance to try it. Love to know what you think if you do! – Nagi x

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Watch how to make it

Life of Jaffle

Puppy School….the RecipeTin way! 

My first burger:

My first Vegemite toast, one of mankind’s greatest food inventions! (To the rest of the world – we Australians feel very sorry for the 99% of you who just don’t get it 😂)

My first pasta! (Slow-cooked lamb rags, at that)

Introduction to The Wall of Spices:

Introduction to The Fridge:

And introduction to chocolate, which he will sadly never taste!

Overall, we are very pleased with Jaffle’s progress, though his report card reads “Excellent student, but easily distracted by the presence of cheese.”

Dozer approves. Cheese was always his favourite treat! 🥰