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 Keller says
Tried this recipe yesterday and I think it would be much better without the thyme. The 1t was way too overpowering (taste and smell) for us. Will try again without the thyme.
Dan Mikesell says
There is definitely a thyme taste and smell that I'm fine with but thanks for the comment that may be useful to others with the same taste. Cut it back or out and post a comment about how it went if you would.
Donna Diamond says
Ok thanks! I'm preparing it right now, we can't wait to try it!!
Dan Mikesell says
I'm going on memory but I believe the 8 severing are 12 -16 oz (1.5 to 2 cups). I don't do small servings... There is a lot.
Donna Diamond says
I'm going to try this recipe today! Does anyone know how big a serving size is?
Dan Mikesell says
This is one of my favorites. The 5 yr old actually eating second is good stuff.
Carey says
Made this tonight... my 5 year old asked for seconds! Which is HUGE!!! Really good stuff! :)
Dr Dan says
It came, I thank, from one of the recipe sites. But I found the same identical recipe on many sites. My contribution was to simplify things and I changed from cups of the veggies to the 4 carrots or 2stalks of celery etc. The worcestershire sounds good and I think I will try the flour when I do this again.
Julie says
Also, I add a little flour and cold water at the end of cooking, and stir over the heat until thickened to form the gravy.
Julie says
I've been using this recipe for a few years and it's one of our favorites. I sear the chicken on both sides and don't cut it into pieces until the stew is finished cooking. Also, we prefer it without the tomatoes, so I'll add a little worcestershire sauce sometimes, as a little acidity really complements it. Thanks for postiing the recipe. The place where I originally saw (what looks identical) is no longer online. :)
Dr Dan says
Not as written. This is a 6.5 qt. It is about 2/3 full. Generally a crock pot should be 1/2 to 2/3 full if possible. Cut it in half for the small crock pot.
Diana Rodriguez says
Can I use a 4qt crock pot for this?
Carey says
I did, and it came out perfect! 4 hours on high.
Dan Mikesell says
I assume you mean a 4 qt. I tried to add it up and thought it was just about 4 qts. How full was it?
Dr Dan says
This is a 6 1/2 qt. All Clad. I don't think it would fit in anything under 5 qt. The liquid is not much but you have the potatoes, meat and and veggies. I adds up.
I'm just starting a small crock pot series today with a 3 1/2 qt cooker and chicken noodle soup.
Emily says
What size crick pot do you use? It doesn't seem like much liquid is called for.
Martha (MM) says
And this one too!!
Kelly Anne says
I really enjoy all your post and recipes! Keep them coming!
Jeffrey and Juli says
Looks yummy!