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!
More chicken stew recipe options: Faster Chicken Quick Stew (using bite size chicken pieces), Coq au Vin and Chicken Fricasée (creamy French Chicken Stew, reader favourite!).
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
-
Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff – fall apart beef in a creamy Stroganoff sauce!
-
Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce – truly exceptional, restaurant quality!
-
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
Really nice recipe tasty
Delicious. Would it also work without potatoes?
Hi Nagi! I made this chicken stew and it was delicious!!! I am planning to make it again however 2 of my guests will only eat chicken breast so I would like to make this time with both thighs and breasts. Do you suggest I submerge the breasts in the stew to keep them from drying out and/or add them towards the end and cook for a shorter time? with or without skin? please let me know what you think would work best. Many thanks! Paula 😀
Hi Nagi! Thank you for this delicious chicken stew recipe!! It was quick, easy and cozy for a fall gathering. I served it with warm baguette and it was loved by all. I made a few modifications … used a whole head of garlic, added a pint of quartered mushrooms and added the halved baby potatoes along with the other vegetables (happily, they were not overcooked) I am planning to make it again and 2 of my guests will only eat chicken breast (with skin is ok) so I would like to make it with both thighs and breasts. Do you suggest I submerge the breasts in the stew to keep them from drying out and/or add them towards the end and cook for a shorter time? please let me know what you think would work best. Many thanks! Paula 😀
I love this recipe, it has became a family favorite dish! I make it at least once a month. Thank you for sharing
How long do you put potatoes in for?
If you reread step 10 and 11 you will see that it’s about 40 minutes.
Another great recipe. I live south of the equator and it’s been a cold and chilly Sunday. This warmed the whole house and it was wonderful. I added some peas at the end because I had a handful left in my freezer. Love it.
This was really yum. I added some mushrooms and bacon and also some rosemary. I left out the potatoes so I could serve it with mash. Fairly quick to prepare and a good dish to do ahead or freeze.
Will I get crispy chicken skin if I cook this stew skin up in a wok, on a stove?
Nice
Hi Nagi, question .. I have scaled this recipe for 7-8 serves that I will need to transfer to a baking dish. Plan to prepare in the late morning. Can it go in the oven on very low, say 110 deg covered with foil during the day and then once home early evening remove foil and continue with recipe (reducing and browning)?
My family loved this, and for me it reminded me of the chicken stew my granny used to make – simple, hearty, full of flavour. Made a big batch – took the bones out of the leftover portion and it became chicken pie
Absolutely delicious! Always my go to chicken stew recipe! I love that the chicken is bone in and love the added tomato paste. This is one of my few recipes that we have on repeat! I ea
Can you use chicken breast cut up in this recipe?
Hi Nagi, I want to make this but can I please ask is there a substitute for the Tomato paste as our supermarket only sells Tomato purée
Hot tip! If you have any leftover gravy and carrot and potato, you can add chicken broth and blitz to make soup for the next day. We do this a lot.
Great tip Grace!! N x
Nagi this recipe is so good! I have made it multiple times now and it always works. Tonight I used red wine instead of white as it was already open and it gave it a real depth of flavour. This recipe is the perfect Sunday afternoon one pot dish cooking away while watching a movie.
I LOVE this recipe, my little brother even loved this recipe and he is extremely picky 😅 we ate this on a rainy day, what’s better than eating a good stew on a rainy day?
I want to make this ahead. Does this freeze well?
Yes it does, it is delicious and it’s a freezer staple in our house now! We cut the veg smaller and shred the chicken to make it easier to re heat.
Second time I´ve made this but they had sold out of celery so I halved some sprouts and threw them in with the spuds for the last 45min and it was delicous even though it sounds random, just the two of us eating and I thought yay, we can have this for dinner tonight too, but I think there is only enough for one because the other half could not stop eating, said it was the best thing he has had for ages, greedy get will have to go on the treadmill when he comes home from work. Thanks Nagi for your fantastic work x