Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew. Most popular recipes of January 2023. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

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

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Our best chicken stew recipe will make you a deeply flavoured 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 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 – 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!

But before I tell you more about this chicken stew recipe, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is supported by its readers. If you’ve cooked our recipes and enjoyed them, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon, which you can do for as little as the price of a coffee.

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Now let me tell you all about my best chicken stew recipe.

Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew

While this is very much my best chicken stew recipe (we do have other stew recipes, but this really is the best), 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.

Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

 

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.

 

Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

 

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. 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, heat the spices in the oil and fry the chicken in that spiced oil.

Firstly, that will add plenty of flavour to the chicken, while ensuring that the chicken fries evenly, and that the skin doesn’t stick to the wok, Dutch Oven or pan. It’s a quintessentially Indian technique that I love to use in my chicken stew recipe.

Secondly, don’t jam-pack the wok, Dutch Oven or pan with chicken, and fry the pieces in batches if you need them, so there’s some space between the pieces. Fry them carefully, using tongs to turn the pieces, taking care so the skin doesn’t stick.

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

Another trick of mine is 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 recipes recommend waxy potatoes and then call for a roux to create a gravy, but if you use two types of potatoes a roux isn’t necessary and the result is so much more delicious.

I’ve recommend a cooking time of one hour, but if you can leave the chicken stew to simmer for longer, you’ll have a richer, more deeply flavoured chicken stew with an even more luscious sauce.

Just before serving, stir in half the chopped fresh dill, ladle the stew into big warmed bowls, sprinkle on the remaining fresh dill and serve with slices of crusty bread such as sourdough.

Chicken Stew Recipe

Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew. Most popular recipes of January 2023. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

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

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.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main Course, Stew
Cuisine Australian, European, Russian, Ukrainian
Servings made with recipe4
Calories 564 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 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 - 1 peeled and diced, 1 thickly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves - peeled and 2 minced and 2 lightly pounded
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 400 ml chicken stock
  • 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 a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil, stir in the spices, then add the chicken pieces, skin side down. Fry carefully, taking care so the skin doesn’t stick, turning the pieces when golden (you may have to do them in batches) then use tongs to remove when browned and set aside.
  • To the same wok 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 Dutch oven, add the lightly pounded garlic cloves and bay leaves, pour in the stock, add the carrot slices and potato pieces, stir so everything is combined, then increase the heat to high until the stock comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, stir, pop the lid on, and leave to simmer.
  • Check the stew at 15 minutes, stir, then return the lid. After another 15 minutes, check the consistency and if 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 beginning to break down to thicken the stew.
  • For an even thicker stew, leave to simmer for 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.

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A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

2 thoughts on “Best Chicken Stew Recipe for a Deeply Flavoured Old Fashioned Chicken Stew”

  1. This turned out really rich – and amazing. The kids lapped it up and ate heaps of bread with it.
    And they never liked dill until I made this. I guess the flavors of the stew overwhelmed the dill a bit.
    With winter coming up, I’ll be making big batches of this!5 stars

  2. Hi Karen, that’s what we love to hear! This is a perfect winter warmer and it tastes even better the next day. Thanks for taking the time to drop by and leave a comment :)

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