Tuscan Chicken Stew

5 from 2 votes

Recipe video above. This is a 30 minute creamy white stew filled with seared Italian-seasoned chicken, sun dried tomatoes, burst-in-your-mouth cherry tomatoes, meaty white beans and swirls of spinach in a garlicky parmesan sauce. It's not authentic Italian but I think it channels Tuscan vibes with the bright colours of Italy, in a bowl!

Prep Time13

Cook Time22

Total Time35

Course: Main

Cuisine: Italian-esque, Western

Keyword: Chicken Stew, tuscan chicken stew, white chicken stew, white stew

Servings: - 5 people

Calories: 581cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

600g / 1.2 lb chicken thighs , boneless skinless (or breast), cut into large bite size pieces 3 - 4 cm / 1.2 - 1.4" (Note 1)

Chicken seasoning:

1 1/2 tsp Italian herb mix (store bought mix, or see Note 2)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
1/4 tsp black pepper

Stew:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion , halved and sliced into 1cm / 0.4" wedges
3 garlic cloves , finely minced
1/2 cup (100 g) sun dried tomatoes , cut into 0.5cm / 0.2" slices (Note 3)
200g (1 1/4 cups) cherry or grape tomatoes (1 punnet)
2 x 400g/14oz cans butter beans (large lima beans), drained - or cannellini, Great Northern or other white beans (Note 4)
1/3 cup Chardonnay or other dry white wine , substitute chicken stock/broth (Note 5)
1/3 cup plain flour / all-purpose flour (Note 6 for gluten-free)
3 cups chicken stock / broth , low sodium
3/4 cup thickened cream / heavy cream , or any full fat cream ~35% fat
1/2 cup parmesan , finely grated or store bought sandy-type - substitute with cheddar, tasty or other sharp cheese
100g / 3.5oz baby spinach , or a few big handfuls torn kale

Cups - Metric

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE

Season chicken, sear. Sauté onion and garlic. Deglaze with wine, stir in flour, then stock. Add beans and sun dried tomato, simmer 7 minutes. Add cream, parmesan and cherry tomatoes, simmer 8 minutes. Stir in spinach, serve!

FULL RECIPE

Season and sear chicken - Sprinkle chicken with the seasoning and toss to coat. Heat the oil on high in a 30 cm / 12" non stick pan until very hot. (Note 7 re: cooking vessel) Add the chicken, spread it out, then leave it for 30 seconds or so until golden. Then start stirring, leaving it for 20 seconds every now and then to get colour on the pieces, until most of the pieces are light golden.
Sauté onion - Lower heat to medium high. Add onion and garlic then cook for around 2 minutes until the onion is wilted.
Deglaze and add flour - Turn the heat back up to high. Add the wine and let it simmer for 1 - 2 minutes until reduced by half. Add flour and stir until it is mixed in.
Make sauce - Slow pour in a third of the stock, mixing as you go. The flour will make the liquid turn into a thick sauce quite quickly. Then add the rest of the stock, beans and sun dried tomato, and stir well.
First simmer 7 minutes - Bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium or medium high so it's simmering, not too rapidly. Simmer 7 minutes, stirring every now and then.
Second simmer 8 minutes - Add cherry tomatoes, cream and parmesan. Mix and simmer for 8 minutes. The sauce should be reduced and thicken into a gravy consistency.
Wilt spinach - Stir spinach in to make it wile (~ 30 seconds). Ladle into bowls, garnish with extra parmesan and chilli flakes if desired. Serve with warm crusty bread for dunking!

Notes

1. Chicken - Thighs work best as they will stay lovely and juicy in this stew. Breast will work too, but I would shorten the simmer time to avoid overcooking. Take it out of the pan after searing the outside (ie inside still raw), add the onion and garlic and keep making the recipe. Then put the breast pieces back in with the cream.

2. Italian herb mix - Common store bought mix. If you can't find it, make your own (if you don't have everything, scale up what you have to make ~1 1/2 tsp in total): 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp each oregano, marjoram, thyme, parsley, red chilli flakes.

3. Sun dried tomatoes - I use the vac-packed type here (ie no oil) which are redder as I like how they hydrate and plump up in the sauce. However, the type in oil works just fine too (use the oil for sautéing!)

4. Beans - You can really use any beans here, I like the meatiness of the big butter beans for this stew! To use dried beans, use 1 cup of dried beans (2 x 400g/14oz cans = 3 cups beans after draining. Dried beans triple in volume once soaked and booked so use 1 cup).

5. Wine - Use any white wine that is not too woody and not too sweet. It will add an extra layer of flavour into the sauce. For non alcoholic, use zero alcohol white wine or more chicken stock/broth.

6. Gluten-free option - Skip the flour. Mix 2 1/2 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch with 1/3 cup of the cream until lump free and set it aside. Make recipe as written (minus the flour step), using the remaining cream. Then pour the cornflour-cream slurry in the last 2 minutes of the simmer time, just before adding the baby spinach, to make the sauce thicken.

7. Large pan is needed to brown the chicken pieces, if the pan is too small they will go watery instead. If you don't have a pan this big, use a large heavy based pot and sear the chicken in batches, remove, sauté onion and garlic, return chicken into pot then proceed with recipe.

Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, or 3 months in the freezer.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings.

Nutrition