This easy crock pot Chicken Stew recipe features tender chicken, potatoes, and lots of vegetables in a tasty broth. This versatile small-batch recipe can be made for two in a mini crock pot or scaled up for a crowd. I have also included stovetop instructions for faster results.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken—Skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs
Aromatics—garlic and onion
Vegetables—potatoes, carrots, celery, mushrooms (optional), frozen corn, and frozen peas
Chicken broth—low sodium
Salt and black pepper
Optional spices—poultry seasoning, celery seed, thyme, rosemary
Tomatoes—diced, optional
Corn starch—Optional for thickening
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐓Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Make Chicken Stew in a Crock Pot—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- 🥣Variation and ingredient options
- ♨️How to cook chicken stew on the stovetop
- 🥣How to thicken a stew in a crock pot?
- 📋Other recipes to warm you to the bone
- ↕️How to make this chicken stew for two or family-size
- 🍽️Serving
- ❄️Leftovers—storage and reheating
- ❓FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
Featured Comment by Kristen:
"I always feel guilty when something so easy to cook tastes good. You feel like you should have worked much harder for such a great result."
We make this classic old-fashioned stew for cold days. A small batch recipe that easily scales. It is one of my best recipes to warm you to the bone on a chilly night.
It is also naturally gluten-free and is relatively low in sodium. It will fit a healthy diets, like a low-calorie and low-fat diets.
👨🍳How to Make Chicken Stew in a Crock Pot—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Prepare carrots, celery, potatoes, and optional mushrooms.
2. Clean, trim, and cube chicken breasts.
3. Add the chicken, veggies, frozen corn, chicken broth, garlic, spices, and optionally diced tomatoes.
4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Add peas 30 minutes before the end of cooking. It is done when the chicken reaches 165° and the potatoes are tender.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
🥣Variation and ingredient options
Chicken: Use skinless boneless chicken thighs for more tender meat, but cook to 180°.
If you use pre-cooked or rotisserie chicken, add it near the end of cooking, when the vegetables are cooked. A pound of chicken will yield about 3 cups of shredded precooked chicken.
Potatoes: Use thin-skin potatoes, like red or Yukon gold potatoes, and skip the peeling. If using Russet potatoes, they should be peeled.
Making cream stew: Add ½ cup of milk or heavy cream to make a creamy chicken stew.
Spicing and other flavors: Vary your spicing for different flavors. Common are fresh rosemary, a bay leaf, and other fresh herbs to your taste.
I have included tomatoes as an option in my recipe. Two other I like are to add ½ cup of white wine. Or add 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce for more flavor.
♨️How to cook chicken stew on the stovetop
- Use a heavy pan like a Dutch oven with a few teaspoons of oil over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the chicken.
- When the chicken starts to brown (4-5 minutes), add the veggies and cook another 4-5 minutes.
- Add the other ingredients except the peas. Decrease to simmer, cover, and cook for 45-60 minutes until chicken is 165° and potatoes/carrots are tender.
- Add the peas for the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. If using frozen green beans, they can go in with the potatoes or near the end, like peas would.
🥣How to thicken a stew in a crock pot?
I suggest a cornstarch slurry of a tablespoon of cornstarch in a tablespoon of cold water for the last 30 minutes of cooking when you add the peas. Add more if you want thicker.
Other options are using less broth in the recipe or making a roux and adding that late in cooking. Potato flakes can also be added.
📋Other recipes to warm you to the bone
Small Crock Pot Beef Stew
Everybody will love this delicious Crock Pot Beef Stew with tender meat and vegetables. The ultimate comfort food that will warm you to the bone.
Check out a few other crock pot soup recipes, like Cheeseburger Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Vegetable Beef Soup, and Healthy Chicken Vegetable Soup. Or don't miss my popular Small Crock Pot Chili.
Or try some other comfort foods like Old Fashioned Meatloaf or Salisbury steak with onion gravy.
↕️How to make this chicken stew for two or family-size
This recipe is easy to cut in half or double to fit your needs. The full recipe makes about 4 servings of about 2 cups in a 3-4 quart crock pot. Perfect for our "for two" household with leftovers.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- The half recipe will fit in a 2-quart mini crock pot.
- A double recipe fits in a 6-quart or larger crock pot.
🍽️Serving
Serve with nice bread or biscuits, like Cornbread biscuits, Old Fashioned cornbread, or Low Calorie Biscuits.
❄️Leftovers—storage and reheating
Store leftover chicken stew in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days or freezer for 3 months.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator first if frozen. Then, reheat on the stovetop in a saucepan over medium heat, which is preferred, but the microwave will work but may affect the chicken texture.
❓FAQs
All stews have potatoes of some type and are generally thicker.
Yes but it needs to reach 165° for safety. It is not safe to cook still frozen chicken in a crock pot, so it must be thawed first.
📖 Recipe
Small Crock Pot Chicken Stew
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Ingredients
- 1 to 1 ½ pounds Skinless boneless chicken breast - trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 onion - medium – diced
- 1-2 cloves garlic - crushed or minced
- 2-3 carrots - peeled and cut into 1 inch slices
- 1-2 stalks celery - diced
- 2 cup potatoes - peeled and cut into ¾ to 1 inch cubes
- 4 oz mushrooms - cleaned and halved-optional
- ½ cup frozen corn
- 14 oz chicken broth - low sodium
- 1 cup drained diced tomatoes - Optional, add if you want a tomato-based stew
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon celery seed - skip if you don't have
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon dry thyme - to taste. Optional
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch - optional for thickening-in cold water
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables—chop 1 medium onion, 2-3 peeled carrots, and 1-2 ribs of celery. Next, prep the potatoes by peeling and cut into ¾ to 1-inch cubes—about 2 medium potatoes for about 2 cups. Optional - 4 oz. mushrooms cleaned and halved.
- Clean, trim, and cube 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts—about 1 to 1 ½ pounds.
- Add the chicken, prepared veggies, ½ cup frozen corn, 14 oz of chicken broth, 1-2 crushed or minced cloves of garlic, ½ teaspoon celery seed, ¼ to ½ teaspoon thyme(optional), ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and optionally on ½ cup of diced tomatoes.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Add peas 30 minutes before the end of cooking. It is done when the chicken reaches 165° and the potatoes are tender.Add peas 30 minutes before the end of cooking. If you want a thicker stew, stir in a slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of cold water. If the vegetables are not fully tender at the end of cooking, cook a bit longer.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- This recipe is set for a smaller crock pot of 3 to 4 quarts and 4 servings of about 2 cups each. It is a perfect recipe to double for a full-size crock pot and make 8 servings. Or a half recipe in a mini 2-quart crock pot. Specific instructions are in the recipe post.
- Like most ingredients in soups and stews, the amount of chicken can vary. A range of 1 to 1 ½ pounds is fine. Use either breasts or thighs.
- Other ingredients like celery, carrots, and potatoes can also vary by the amount you have.
- Like most chicken stews, this is a somewhat bland recipe. Spice to your taste. Thyme is suggested by most, but we usually leave it out. The optional tomato is a nice addition, but it needs adjustments of salt and pepper.
- This is a thinner stew. In this recipe, a slurry of cornstarch is added to cold water.
- If the vegetables are not tender at the end of cooking, go a bit longer.
- Good refrigerated for 4 days and frozen for 3 months.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's note: Originally published January 12, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Gail says
Hi, you wonderful cook you! I' like to make this on top of the stove or oven. Any suggestions? Also how to thicken.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Gail,
For stovetop, use a heavy pan like a Dutch oven with a few teaspoons of oil over medium high heat. When hot, add the chicken, when starting to brown (4-5 minutes) then add the veggies and cook another 4-5 minutes. Add the other things except the peas. Decrease to simmer, cover and cook for 45-60 minutes until chicken is 165° and potatoes/carrots are tender. Add the peas the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. If using green beans, they can go in with the potatoes or near the end like peas would.
To thicken, the tapioca is used but you can make a slurry of flour or cornstarch to thicken instead.
Dan
Deborah J. Lein says
Easy to make. I added another carrot and celery. Kept the thyme, halved the bay leaf (to one (not my favorite flavor). I find that lemon juice adds the spark that chicken soup or stew needs. (A Williams Sonoma tip). I use fresh or organic but never use reconstituted lemon juice. It leaves a metallic aftertaste in my opinion. For a large crockpot I start with a TBSP. Small crockpot start with 1tsp. And you'll find you won't need more salt.
Sara says
hey y'all, its crockin as we speak, one note, if you are like me and over chop veggies etc, add your chicken to the crock pot first, that way its on the bottom near the heat. i added mine last (i was chopping everything while my chicken thawed), and now my chicken is on top. i am anticipating it being tricky to get the top pieces up to temperature.
Sara Upstate NY
Sara says
ps, and my crock pot is very full and tough to stir to get chicken towards the bottom.
Sandra Pare says
Hi Sara. Late question, but do you remember if you had to cook it longer than normal? and did you cook on high? Thanks!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Sandra,
DrDan here. Welcome to the blog.
I don't know if you will get an answer. Peolpe seem to almost never reply around here and I missed her last winter.
I would say her issue is more related to how full a crock pot should be. Crock pots cook more redictabably when filled 1/3 to 2/3 full. If under, it heats and cooks a bit faster. If over 2/3 full and cooking is delayed. And over 75% full is always a problem.
With a stew, you do want to be sure the chicken reaches 165 degrees and the vegetables are tender.
Hope that helps some.
Dan
Justine says
Hello, I add some summer savory and poultry seasoning powder to my chicken stew for extra flavor, also add rutabaga but leave out tomato, mushrooms and corn. I don't use anything to thicken it, love it just the way it is, so yummy!!
Love your recipes by the way!!
Peggy waskowiak says
I used a can of cream of chicken soup. It helped to thicken it and added flavor. Add less salt
Stephanie says
Is this more like a chunky soup? Would it be served over noodles, with dumplings, or just by itself? I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around what this is exactly. Thanks!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Stephanie,
Chunky soup is about right but the broth is relatively thin and not something I would put on noodles. It is for eating like a soup. If you thicken it a lot as I discussed in the post, you could use it on noodles but that is not the intent.
Dan
Kenneth says
I have not made this yet but wanted to thank you for your soup for a week series. I especially like the crockpot options. I am starting to plan for this summers camping in Alaska and when we have electric hook ups I like to put a crockpot on in the morning and then explore for a day and come back to a hot and hearty meal. I add cornbread cooked over the fire and eat very well. I have at least 4 trips of options and counting from your site. I greatly appreciate your efforts.
DrDan says
Hi Ken,
Please be sure to taste test this. It is bland and you might want more spice (a guy thing). See the discussion in the post.
Dan
Samantha Paul says
Hello DrDan...!amazing its really nice and these dish looks sooo yummy; delicious, i will make this corck pot chicken in upcoming weekend. Thanks for sharing....!
Roxanne says
Thank you for the wonderfully easy and tasty chicken stew! I found it to have a great flavour and found nothing lacking. I did add a few extra carrots and an extra stick of celery. I did use some flour and water to thicken near the end of cooking. Served with some warm biscuits and a comforting meal was enjoyed by all.
5 star ⭐️ rating definitely deserved!
DrDan says
Hi Roxanne,
It is a little bland but that is what chicken stew is. I always think of this recipe as a starting point to modify.
I do love it with a good biscuit.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Therese says
Well, I'm trying this recipe for the first time today. So far, after following the recipe exactly, and I put my crockpot on high, after the four hours, the chicken was done, but the veggies, potatoes and carrots especially, were still hard as a rock. So, I took the chicken out after four hours and set aside. I am continuing to cook the veggies on high. Looking like it will take an extra two hours at least. I think I will also add some flour/milk mixture to make it creamy in the end.
DrDan says
Not even close. Cut in half.
DrDan
Shannon says
I am going to try this tomorrow. I am new to the cock pot recipes but game to try anything this easy!
Zia says
I have not used a slow cooker before, so this was the inaugural recipe for my new crock pot. I have a smaller pot than the recipe calls for, so I reduced quantities a bit. I like things with a lot of herb flavor, so in addition to the thyme I added savory and sage. Also about a teaspoon of sea salt at the beginning of cooking. Then a bit of black pepper at the end of 4 hours. It is not bland! I might even add a little cumin next time, and will also definitely try the curry version another reviewer suggested. But it turned out very tasty, and would be good with even fewer herbs.
Cooking time: after 4 hours on the high setting on my 4.5 qt cooker, the potatoes and carrots were still not quite done. Edible but way too firm (some of the carrot bits even had a slight crunch). Fortunately, since this was a maiden voyage I built in some extra time to my desired dinner hour. I turned the pot back on at the high setting about an hour ago and it's close to done. I think 6 hours on high will work best in my pot (Crock Pot brand).
All in all, a great recipe that I will make again, and also share with friends. Thank you!
PaulaD says
For those who call “Bland”, I recommend a 1/2 tsp to1 tsp Curry Powder, will zing it up deliciously, without tomato(too much acidity) or corn. I also add a dash of Tumeric for medicinal purposes. Doesn’t affect taste & is good for you. Go light on the salt, heavy on the fresh black pepper. Canned mushrooms work fine & little red potatoes (uncut) are a treat my son likes to mash separately & add butter, then lick the fork! Have not got him completely trained yet (he is 47). He comes over regularly for”Mom’s” cooking & my slow cooker recipes are his favorite. Try cooking a pot roast, slow cooker style, same ingredients just take a cup or so of liquid, thicken with flour in sauce pan & serve as accompaning gravy.
DrDan says
Thanks for the note and ratings. Excellent comments. I love variations.
DrDan
Priscilla says
i made this yesterday and it was delicious but I was unhappy with the many tiny fatty chicken bits floating throughout my stew that were impossible to remove. I used organic chicken breast pieces cut into cubes. Does anyone know why this happened or how to avoid it? This really makes the soup visually unappealing. I want a nice clear broth.
DrDan says
About the only place they could come from is the chicken.... Be sure to trim any visible fat, there is very little in the chicken breasts otherwise. Many have suggested chicken thighs for tenderness but that is a lot fat. There is nothing else with fat other than the broth. Most can broth is low fat but homemade is higher in fat.
DrDan
Matt says
The other option is to stew the chicken in the broth first for a couple hours. Turn off the crock pot and let it cool (if you're really concerned you can pop it into the fridge overnight). After its cooled all the fat will be on the top for you to scoop out leaving the clear broth. Then just put it back on the heat and throw all the other stuff in as in the recipe.