Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

5 from 13 votes

This hearty slow cooker chicken stew is packed with lots of flavor, and the chicken is so tender and falls apart perfectly. It's a complete meal as is, but feel free to serve with bread or biscuits.

Prep Time30

Cook Time4

Total Time4 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Calories: 584kcal

Author: Tania

Equipment

6-quart slow cooker or 7-quart

Ingredients

3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs extra fat trimmed
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for searing
1 medium yellow onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 medium carrots peeled and sliced
1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or ¾ teaspoon dried
½ teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced or ¼ teaspoon dried
3 medium red potatoes, quartered or baby red potatoes
3 bay leaves dried or fresh
5 cups chicken broth, divided plus more as needed
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup frozen peas
¼ cup finely chopped Italian parsley

Instructions

Season chicken with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Sear chicken on both sides until golden brown. Then, transfer to a large slow cooker. Tip: Let chicken sear on each side undisturbed to get that golden brown color.
To the same skillet (don’t wipe it clean), add more olive oil. Sauté the onions and carrots for 5 minutes. As the onions release moisture, scrape the brown bits from the pan using a wooden spoon to deglaze. Tip: If any spots are burning, add a splash of broth to deglaze.
Next, add the minced garlic, thyme, and rosemary, and sauté until fragrant for another 1-2 minutes. Then, add the tomato paste and stir to coat the veggies. Add about ½ to ¾ cup of chicken broth and deglaze the brown bits. Transfer everything into the slow cooker, along with the chicken.
To the slow cooker, add the potatoes and bay leaves, and season with ½ teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Add in 4 cups of the chicken broth. Cover and set it for 4 hours on the HIGH setting.
3.5 hours into the cooking time, dilute flour with about ⅓ cup chicken broth (at room temperature, don’t use hot broth) to make a slurry. Add the slurry, along with the peas. Stir to combine. Cook for the remaining 30 minutes. It will thicken up as it cooks.
Remove the chicken and roughly shred it with a fork, discard the bones. Return the chicken and stir to combine, along with fresh chopped parsley. Season with more salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
Serve warm with bread of biscuits. Enjoy!

Notes

If your slow cooker or multi-cooker has a sauté or browning function, you can just use that instead and make everything in one pot.
I'd recommend cooking on the HIGH setting for 4 hours. I've found that longer cooking times made the chicken a bit stringy. However, if you don't mind that, feel free to cook on LOW for 6 hours.
Why use bone-in chicken thighs. The bones will infuse the stew with tons of flavor. Thighs are also moist and tender.
If you used skin-on chicken, be sure to remove the skin from the stew at the very end before serving.
Storing: Refrigerate leftovers in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
Make-ahead: You can make ahead and keep it warm for a few hours, or make it the day before and refrigerate. Reheat in the microwave oven.

Substitutions and variations:

Bone-in chicken thighs: Boneless chicken thighs or chicken breasts.
Herbs: Instead of 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, use 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme. Instead of ½ teaspoon fresh rosemary, use ¼ teaspoons dried. Adjust to taste.
Potatoes: Yukon gold is a great option. Use any kind of potatoes, except Russet potatoes because they disintegrate easily.

Disclaimer: Nutritional values (per serving) are approximates only.

Nutrition