Ultra tender flesh and super crispy skin smothered in a thick savoury sauce with vegetables. This Chicken Stew is slow cooked in the oven to develop deep, incredible flavours. The smell that fills the house when it’s in the oven is simply wonderful!
More chicken stew recipe options: Faster Chicken Quick Stew (using bite size chicken pieces), Coq au Vin and Chicken Fricasée (creamy French Chicken Stew, reader favourite!).
Chicken Stew – with crispy skin!
Anyone else here not a fan of slimy chicken skin??
I don’t care how long it’s been slow cooked. And whether it’s a stew, in soup or Hainanese chicken.
No chicken skin comes near my mouth unless it’s crispy or caramelised.
When my mother reads this, I know she’s going to roll her eyes and think”she’s so childish!!”
I don’t care. I love crispy skin. I want crispy skin. Give me all the crispy skin!!! 😂
Slow cooked in the oven for crispy skin!
Because I’m so anti-slimy chicken skin, I like to make my Chicken Stew in the oven rather than on the stove. And unless someone knows a magic trick, the only way to get crispy skin for a stew is in the oven.
Cook it covered for part of the time, then uncover it to let the sauce thicken, make the chicken flesh super tender, the surface of the veggies and edges of the stew caramelise, and – most importantly in my world – to get that chicken skin super crispy!
Don’t have the time to slow cook?
Try my speedier Chicken Stew – made with boneless chicken thighs, this is on the table in an hour but tastes like it’s been cooking all day!
OK, I think I’ve babbled on enough about the chicken skin. Let me move on.
Under the crispy skin -> tender flesh.
Smothering the crispy skin -> thick savoury gravy sauce.
Around the crispy skin -> tender soft vegetables.
😇😇😇
I’m lucky enough to have a big, shallow casserole pot / dutch oven which is absolutely perfect for these kind of stews that go from stove to oven. But if you don’t have one, don’t worry, just tip it all into a baking pan before popping it into the oven.
And – confession time. The reason I cropped out most of the bowl in the photo below is because I ate the chicken before I took this photo. The side you can’t see just has bones, picked completely clean.
I couldn’t resist! Don’t judge me! 😂 – Nagi x
More Stews
Faster Chicken Stew – when you need a rich stew on the table in under an hour!
Classic Beef Stew – fall apart beef in a deep rich sauce
Irish Beef and Guinness Stew – an incredible dark, rich sauce with incomparable flavour
Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff – fall apart beef in a creamy Stroganoff sauce!
Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce – truly exceptional, restaurant quality!
Browse all Stew recipes
Classic dinners we’ll love forever
Meatloaf – a family favourite forever and ever!
Chicken Stew
Watch how to make it
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Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 kg / 3lb bone in, skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks (6 to 8 pieces)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 onions , halved and cut into wedges
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 large carrots , cut thick end into 1.5cm / 3/5″ pieces, thin end 2.5cm/1″
- 4 celery stalks , cut into 2cm / 4/5″ chunks
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) white wine (or water)
- 3 tbsp (35g) flour
- 3 cups (750 ml) chicken broth , low low sodium
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp Worscestershire sauce
- 3 sprigs thyme , or 1 tsp dried thyme (or other herb)
- 2 bay leaves (dried or fresh)
- 600 g / 1.2lb baby potatoes , halved (quarter large ones)
Serving (optional):
- Fresh thyme or parsley (chopped)
- Warm crusty bread
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Heat oil in a large pot over high heat. Brown chicken on both sides until light golden, sprinkling with salt and pepper. Remove from pot. (Do in 2 batches if pot not big enough).
- If there’s too much oil in the pot, discard some. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add carrots and celery, cook for 1 minute.
- Add wine. Stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to dissolve the brown bits into the liquid. Cook for 1 minute until liquid is mostly gone.
- Sprinkle flour across surface, stir.
- Add broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaves. Stir to dissolve tomato paste.
- Place chicken on top, keeping the skin above the liquid level as much as you can.
- Bring to simmer then cover. Bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven, remove lid. Add potatoes, pushing them into the liquid and rearranging chicken so they sit on top (for lovely crispy skin).
- Return to oven without the lid for a further 40 minutes until the chicken skin is deep golden and super crispy, the potatoes are soft and the sauce is thickened.
- Taste sauce and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with warm crusty bread on the side to dunk in the sauce – or go all the way with Garlic Bread! Optional: garnish with extra fresh thyme leaves or parsley.
Recipe Notes:
Originally published May 2018. Updated for housekeeping matters – no change to recipe.
Life of Dozer
Flashback to May 2018 when this recipe was first published when he tore his ACL and had to have a knee operation. Shaved rump, permanent “help me up” harness, and trapped in a play pen for weeks.
Adding a Cone of Shame was just rubbing salt into the wound, isn’t it?
I told him not to scratch the stitches. I warned him about the cone. He did not obey!!😂
Happy to report he is back to normal, chasing birds, leaping off jetties and generally living the high life!❤️ N x
The best chicken stew i’ve ever made for my family..
That’s fantastic to know Nina, thanks so much!
I’ve been looking for a chicken thigh recipe and I think this is the one. I will comment again as soon as I make it!
Oops forgot to rate. All are 5 star.
Thanks Kate!
I love all your recipes! I have this in the oven just now, and it smells wonderful. I cook a lovely hearty home cooked for my 83 year okd neighbour and his son every Saturday and you at my go to for inspiration! Last week was lamb shanks in red wine sauce, and this one tonight. You are a legend! They think I am a gourmet chef! Hahahaha. Thanks so much for lovely food ideas.
You nailed it Kate!!
I made this recipe today. Thank you. It was very delicious. Everyone in family loved it,
Wahoo, great stuff Daniela!
I’m a beginner when it comes to cooking but this recipe was easy to follow and turned out really great.
Thank you for sharing this (:
I cooked this recipe for my husband and he thought I got the recipe from a local fancy French restaurant. It was so delicious!
Super delicious recipe! I also really liked being able to scale the ingredients to number of servings I wanted to make. The only things I changed was using skinless chicken, adding basil and oregano (suggested by another reviewer) and I cooked it in a slow cooker since I don’t have ovenproof pot. The chicken came out so tender!
Perfect Rose!
This is just insanely delicious for a big family over rice yummmmmm. OMG I actually use real wine lots of canned tomatoes (because I like mines tomatoey) then place the chicken separately in the over with good amount of seasonings and brown sugar just perfect!!
Sounds like you nailed it Janine – N x
Delicious!
Thanks so much Jackie!
Super easy and delicious!
Wahoo, thanks so much Kristina!
I cooked this delicious recipe last night, substituting red wine for white. The skin was crispy, what a triumph!
Made this last night, delicious! I don’t have a dutch oven, so I just simmered it on the stove until the vegetables and the chicken were tender. I also had fresh basil and oregano in my garden so I used those instead of the thyme. Wonderful! I will be making this some more!
That sounds amazing Leona, I’m so happy you loved it 🙌
Sounds amazing! Can i do this without skin? Just scared the fat in the skin may activate my gallbladder pain! Thank you!!!
Hi Monica, you sure can!
Perfect! Left out the potatoes and served them mashed on the side to soak up the fab juices. There’s a small amount of leftovers which I’m going to turn into a sauce for pasta or a pot pie. Thanks as always, Nagi.
Sounds amazing Katharine!
Made this to christen my brand new Le creuset pot – it was amazing amazing amazing!!
Exactly what I wanted on this cold melbourne night ❤️❤️
Thanks nagi!!
One word. Yummm..
Perfect Adi!
Even in warm weather, I made this recipe today after some difficult family news. It warmed our cold and broken hearts. Thank You.
I’m so happy you loved this dish – sending my love! – N x
Oh my gosh! Epic yum!
Woot!!
Made this yesterday and it was delicious! Perfect for the melbourne weather
Wahoo!
Hi Nagi and Dozer,
Made this for supper yesterday. It was delish. Like you, I can’t stand slippery, flabby, chicken skin. This delivered as promised. I will definitely be keeping this in my rotation. Thanks Nagi!!!
Woot! So glad it was a hit Becky!