This is the faster way I make Chicken Stew – using boneless chicken thigh fillets cut into large pieces, simmered with vegetables until tender in a rich, dark stew sauce. It’s a Chicken Casserole made in an hour, but tastes like it’s been simmering all day!
More chicken stew options: Slow Cooked Chicken Stew, Coq au Vin and Chicken Fricasée (creamy French Chicken Stew, reader favourite!).
Chicken Stew – faster!
I feel like the word “stew” conjures up visions of slow cooked goodness that’s been simmering on the stove all day. And our patience is always rewarded with the deep flavours you can only achieve through slow cooking. Beef Stew, Guinness Stew, slow cooked Chicken Stew and Pot Roasts.
This speedier Chicken Stew is for all the days when you want the slow cooked flavour – fast! It takes under an hour to make, and it’s loaded with plenty of veggies and potatoes swimming in a rich stew sauce!
This speedier Chicken Casserole tastes like it’s been simmering all day… look at that rich sauce!!
Flavour Tricks
Here are the things in this recipe that ups the flavour quota even without slow cooking for hours:
boneless chicken thigh fillets which are juicy enough to withstand the simmering time needed for the sauce to develop beautiful flavours, but cook quicker than using bone-in chicken pieces;
beef broth (stock) instead of chicken broth – beef broth has deeper flavours than chicken stock AND it gives the sauce a deeper brown colour without having to slow cook for ages;
red wine – a good slug adds depth of flavour and again, adds to the rich brown colour of the sauce; and
BACON. Need I explain this point? 😂
There’s a decent amount of veggies in this, so you can serve it as a meal without extra veg sides
How to make Chicken Stew
The total simmering time here is 40 minutes, compared to 1.5 hours for classic Chicken Stew made using bone-in chicken pieces.
Nothing tricky or unusual with this speedier Chicken Stew – we start off browning the bacon and chicken to get all those tasty brown bits on the bottom of the pan which will form part of the flavour base for the sauce.
Then cook off the veggies, add all the stew sauce ingredients, simmer for just 30 minutes until the chicken is tender, then lastly add the mushrooms and greens which don’t take long to cook.
And this is what comes off the stove:
juicy pieces of chicken;
soft vegetables that have sucked up the flavour of the sauce;
little pops of bacon (the BEST bite!);
loads of thick, rich, dark, savoury, herb infused stew sauce.
Seriously. Just tell everyone you’ve been slaving away all day. They’ll totally believe you! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Chicken Stew (Casserole)
Ingredients
- 0.5 tbsp olive oil
- 150g/5oz bacon , chopped
- 750g/ 1.5lb boneless skinless chicken thighs , cut into 3cm / 1.25″ pieces (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp salt and pepper , each
- 3 garlic cloves , minced (1 tbsp)
- 1 onion , sliced
- 3 carrots , peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced 1cm / 1/3″ thick
- 2 celery stalks , sliced 1cm / 1/3″ thick
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) red wine (Note 2)
- 4 tbsp flour
- 3 cups (750ml) beef stock/broth , low sodium (or chicken, Note 3)
- 400g/ 14oz crushed tomato , canned
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt and pepper , each
- 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 350g/ 12 oz baby potatoes , halved
- 200g/ 6oz mushrooms , halved (large quartered)
- 150g/ 5 oz green beans , trimmed and halved
Instructions
- Place oil and bacon in a large heavy based casserole pot over high heat.
- When the oil is heated and bacon releases some fat, add chicken.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, until chicken and bacon is browned.
- Add garlic and onion, cook 1 minute.
- Add celery and carrot, cook 2 minutes.
- Add red wine, allow to simmer rapidly 2 minutes until the winey alcohol smell is gone.
- Add flour, mix until incorporated.
- Slowly pour in half the beef broth while stirring, then pour the rest in.
- Add tomato, Worcestershire, thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper.
- Stir, add potato.
- Cover, simmer 30 minutes.
- Remove lid, add mushrooms and green beans. Simmer without lid* for a further 10 minutes.
- Serve with crusty bread, sprinkled with parsley if desired!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
I’m so grateful that food doesn’t move…..😂😂😂
Made this dish for dinner tonight for the family,
WOW!!! Incredibly delicious @ much flavour, such a lovely hearty meal,had it with thick bread .Thankyou so much for sharing this recipe, will be a regular dish.
Wonderful for a cold winter night. Put the leftovers into a pie. Amazing!!
Perfect Caroline!
Oh man, this sounds like a winner. It’s summer and 90 + degrees here, but I’m still going to make this delicious sounding stew. Love all the vegetables!
I hope you love it Barbara!!
Took a while to cut and wash all veggies, but it was well worth it. Love it.
It’s so worth it Rose!
Update: This stew was fantastic! I can’t believe how easy it was and so delicious! Plenty left over for tonight’s dinner, this time served over rice. Thanks, Nagi!
Beautiful Carol!
I have it simmering in the pot right now! Smells wonderful! Can’t wait to taste it!
Just curious, why you use beef broth and not chicken, if it’s a chicken stew? Thanks.
Hi Suzanna, I find beef has a richer flavour ☺️
Hi do you have instructions and times to cook in the instant pot ? Thanks
Ps love all your recipes and have cooked lots of them with fab results x
Hi Jules, I don’t sorry – because you are frying then bringing the wine to a boil you’d be transferring from the stove to instant pot then back to the stove to reduce, it’s not really suitable. N x
Another winner, thank you Nagi. Tho there are only 2 of us I made the full recipe. Yum! And what my ever-hungry step son doesn’t get of the leftovers becomes pies for the freezer.
Perfect Sue!!
Nagi, do you have any subs for the bacon? I’ve recently stopped eating pig products but don’t want to miss out on this stew!!
Turkey bacon?
Hi Grace, just leave it out, the stew will still be amazing!
Family ABSOLUTELY LOVED this. Thank you Nagi. I’ve used a few of your recipes which have become family favourites but this one (so far) is the stand out! Thank you so much for the notes before and after and all so the video which for me was a double check! Thanks again for all your recipes but again, this far absolute family fav xx
This was so delicious! We had heaps left over and had a surprise guest the next night so added a can of kidney beans and extra water to stretch it out, and served it over rice. First nugh4 we had i5 with sourdough… mmmm
Sounds great Elly!!
I made this. It was the best chicken stew I ever tasted.
Thanks so much Frank!
This stew is delicious! We loved that it was a richer color than normal chicken stews. Very flavorful! I found that it was thick enough for us without the use of flour…maybe because I had to cook it 20 longer to get the raw taste out of the green beans. I followed the recipe exactly, but I would add the beans with the potatoes next time (Note to self!!!).
I’m so glad you loved it Shari!!
We cooked the faster chicken stew and it was delicious – a fantastic easy healthy one pan dinner on a very cold night
Yes! Perfect for a cool night ❤️
We had this for dinner tonight with crusty buttered bread! Very YUMMY! Looking forward to finishing what’s left tomorrow night! Thank you for this recipe Nagi 😋
You’re so welcome Ev, I’m so glad you loved it!
Nagi ,thankyou so much for giving uk weights ,so many us recipes to try but it’s the cups measurements that us uk people can’t understand ,scales weighing is so much easier ,recipe is fabulous thankyou
You’re so welcome Jan!!
Just made the chicken stew for the second time, everyone loves it. I am teaching my 15 yr old grandson to cook, he is so keen to learn, and I have told him he can’t go past Nagi for introducing him to easy tasty recipes.
That’s so great to hear Janet, I love hearing kids getting into the kitchen to help! – N x
So yum! My sister-in-law asked for a spoon to get the last of the sauce. 😂 Will be making this one again for sure. Thanks Nagi
That’s the best compliment ever Cheryl! ❤️
Amazing as per usual Nagi! Super easy to make and sooo tasty. Will become a regular in our house for sure. I especially loved the addition of bacon 🙂
Bacon makes everything great doesn’t it Bec 😂
Can I substitute the flour ? I’m sure I can use cornstarch but how much would you recommend ?
Hi Felicia, you can substitute cornflour – just use half as much – N x