Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew

Our best chicken stew recipe will make you a deeply flavoured old fashioned chicken stew with melt-in-the-mouth chicken that falls off the bone. Subtle use of spices such as turmeric and paprika add earthiness and warmth, while using two types of potatoes – waxy and starchy – ensure some potato pieces remain firm while others break down, creating a thick comforting stew.

Who really needs another old fashioned chicken stew recipe? You do, fellow stew lover, you do. Yes, chicken stews may be the most ubiquitous dish in the world, made everywhere by everyone in some form of another since time began – or at least since neolithic woman began cooking by dropping hot stones into pots. It was the Stone Age, after all.

But my chicken stew recipe is going to make you a stew that is more deeply flavoured than most chicken stews – courtesy of a couple of spices (but when you use them is crucial) and with a lovely dense texture and luscious sauce due to the use of extra virgin olive oil and the break down of the vegetables. No flour or gluey gravy in my chicken stew!

If you’re a fellow stew lover, do browse our best stew recipes for recipes for the Russian beef stew called Solyanka, a Spanish rabo de toro oxtail stew, a French cassoulet, a tomato bredie, a classic Cape Town stew, a traditional Irish beef stew, an Irish beef and Guinness stew with dumplings, the Hungarian stew porkolt (often confused goulash), a Cambodian pork stew with star anise and ginger, and my chorizo, cabbage and three bean stew (a spicy take on kapusniak).

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Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew

Terence believes that chicken stew is one of the dishes that every cook should master to become a better cook, and that’s as good an excuse as any to make my best chicken stew recipe. I have my grandparents and parents to thank for this stew, as well as a couple of tricks – or techniques, more correctly – from two of my favourite cuisines, Indian and Italian.

Yet I’ve called my chicken stew recipe an “old-fashioned” stew recipe, right? Well, before anyone suggests my chicken stew might be a ‘fusion’ stew, it’s worth noting that most cuisines started out as fusion cuisines, and chicken stews, like beef stews, don’t differ a great deal from each other, no matter what country they’re from and how far apart those countries and their culinary cultures may seem.

I recently compared a dozen chicken stews from around the world (yep, that’s my idea of fun) and they all contained chicken, onions, potatoes, and carrots, so there’s that. What sets one chicken stew apart from another is the oil, lard, butter, or ghee the chicken is cooked in, and the spices and herbs that add flavour and aroma. Take those away and they’d all taste the same.

But of course I knew that, long before the magic of the Internet enabled me to undertake such research and make such comparisons – because of my grandmothers. My Australian grandmother (my ‘nanna’) and my Russian-Ukrainian grandmother (‘baba’, short for baboushka) both made chicken stews, which were essentially what we call “same same, but different” here in Southeast Asia.

The core ingredients were chicken, onions, potatoes, and carrots. Both nanna and baba seared the bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces first, both used homemade chicken stocks, and both used a simple seasoning of salt and pepper. So what set the chicken stews apart then?

Nanna would add dried European herbs such as rosemary and sage to her chicken stew, while baba would sprinkle on fresh fragrant dill, plucked from her backyard veggie garden, just before serving the stew. While a chicken stew was the main meal at my Aussie grandparents’ dining table, it was one of an array of dishes at my Russian-Ukrainian grandparents’ home.

My parents, who were both great cooks when they were young and in love with each other and food, when my sister and I were little kids, were products of their time. Their ‘anything goes’ chicken stews, mostly made in their groovy crock-pot, incorporated elements from both sides of their family dishes, along with whatever culinary influences were exciting them and found their way into their cooking.

And that’s to explain why I have no hesitation in creating a simple spice blend in which to fry my chicken, and use extra virgin olive oil to create a luscious gravy. While I’m happy to tuck into the finished stew with crusty sourdough, there’s no reason why you couldn’t serve it with pasta or rice.

Tips to Making our Chicken Stew Recipe

I only have a few tips to making my chicken stew recipe, as it’s really very straightforward.

Blend Your Spices

It’s important to combine the ground paprika, ground turmeric, onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, and salt n a small dish so that they’re well blended.

Fry the Chicken in Spiced Oil

Heat the blended spices in the oil and first fry the chicken in the spiced oil to add plenty of flavour to the chicken. The chicken will fry evenly and the skin won’t stick to the wok, or Dutch Oven or pan if that’s what you’re using. It’s a quintessentially Indian technique that I also love to use in this chicken stew recipe.

Don’t Jam the Pan

Secondly, don’t jam-pack the wok, or Dutch Oven or pan, with chicken. Fry the pieces in batches if you need to, so that there’s some space between the pieces.

Use Tongs

Use tongs to turn the chicken pieces, frying them carefully, so the skin doesn’t stick.

Don’t Discard the Spiced Chicken Oil

After you remove the pieces, keep the chicken flavoured oily juices in the wok/pan/Dutch Oven,  scraping any chicken skin from the bottom and sides, as this will add so much flavour to your diced onion, celery and carrot.

Use Waxy and Starchy Potatoes

I like to use two different potatoes, a waxy potato and starchy potato, so that the waxy potato pieces hold their shape but the starchy potatoes break down to create a thick, comforting gravy. Most stew recipes recommend waxy potatoes, then call for a roux to create a gravy. I prefer to use potato to thicken the stew. The result is so much more delicious.

Simmer Longer for Deeper Flavour

While you could get this stew on the table in one hour, if you have more time leave the chicken stew to simmer for longer. Thanks to the spice base, like a good curry, you’ll have a richer andmore deeply-flavoured chicken stew with an even more luscious sauce, the longer you leave it.

Stir in Half with Dill to Finish

Just before serving, stir in half the chopped fresh dill, and ladle the stew into big warmed bowls.

Serve with More Dill and Crusty Bread

Sprinkle on the remaining fresh dill and serve with more dill in a dish on the table, and slices of crusty bread such as homemade sourdough to mop up the rich sauce.

Chicken Stew Recipe

Best Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew

AuthorLara Dunston

My best chicken stew recipe will make you a deeply flavoured chicken stew with melt-in-the-mouth chicken that falls from the bone. Subtle use of spices such as turmeric and paprika add earthiness and warmth, while using two types of potatoes – waxy and starchy – ensure some potato pieces remain firm while others break down, creating a thick comforting stew.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Main Course, Stew

Cuisine Australian, European, Russian, Ukrainian

Servings made with recipeServings 4

Calories 564 kcal

Equipment

Carbon Steel Wok

Dutch Oven

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 1 tsp ground paprika
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 chicken thighs
• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 1 large onion - peeled and diced
• 1 celery stick - diced
• 2 carrots - peeled, 1 diced, 1 thickly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves - peeled, 2 minced and 2 lightly pounded
• 4 bay leaves
• 400 ml chicken stock - or more stock if you like, and water as needed depending on consistency you like
• 2 large potatoes - one waxy, one starchy, peeled and cut into chunky cubes
• 2 tbsp fresh dill - roughly chopped

Instructions

 

• In a small dish, combine the ground paprika, ground turmeric, onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, and salt so that they’re well blended.
• To a large round flat-bottomed wok with lid, or lidded pan or Dutch oven, over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil, stir in the spices, then add the chicken pieces, skin side down.
• Fry the chicken carefully, using tongs to turn the pieces when golden, taking care so the skin doesn’t stick. Use tongs to remove the chicken when browned and set aside. Depending on the size of your wok/pan/Dutch oven, you may have to fry the chicken in batches.
• To the same wok (or pan or Dutch oven), scrape any chicken pieces from the bottom and sides, then add the diced onion, celery and diced carrot to the chicken-flavoured oil; reduce the heat and fry, stirring frequently, until soft, then add the minced garlic, and fry for another minute.
• Return the chicken pieces to the wok (or pan or Dutch oven), add the lightly pounded garlic cloves, bay leaves, carrot slices, potato pieces, and stock, stir so everything is combined, increase the heat to high, and cook until the stock comes to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to low, stir, if needed add a little water (or stock), pop the lid on, and leave to simmer for 15 minutes. Check the stew: if starting to thicken nicely return the lid; but for a lighter brothier stew, add more water if you like, stir, then return the lid.
• After another 15 minutes, check the consistency again and check the vegetables are done to your liking; the carrot and potatoes should be starting to soften, the waxy potato pieces still holding their shape, but the starchy potatoes breaking down to thicken the stew. This is when I like to serve.
• For an even thicker stew and soft vegetables, leave to simmer for a little longer; otherwise, stir in half the chopped fresh dill, ladle into big warmed bowls, sprinkle on the remaining fresh dill and serve with slices of crusty bread such as sourdough.

Nutrition

Calories: 564kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 35gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 183mgSodium: 925mgPotassium: 687mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 5498IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 2mg

Please do let us know in the Comments below if you make my best chicken stew recipe as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.