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
yummy tyvm
Recipe is deadly. So thank you. Added more broth, cause it’s best part.
Husband loves this so it’s on my repeat list. Thanks for your beautiful recipes x
It’s so addictive with some nice crusty bread for dunking 🤤
Hi Nagi – how does this change if I want to use boneless/skinless chicken thighs? Don’t need a shorter cooking method just prefer those chicken pieces.
Hi Nagi!
I was trying to figure out a Sunday dinner yesterday in which I already had all or at least most of the ingredients found this gem. I have it in the oven for the 45 minutes as of now waiting for my timer to add my potatoes and I must say – this bad boy is sounding off the entire house! It hasn’t been feeling like the holidays to me until the warm and comforting smell of this dish. Can’t wait to try it out with the crusty bread I’m baking after!
Ok to use chicken breasts in the chicken stew? Just as good as thighs? Thank you
My go-to chicken stew. Beautifil every time.
That’s great to hear Lou, thanks os much ❤️
I have a instapot and a slow cooker. What are the instructions if I use these?
Hi Tara, you could definitely transfer this to a slow cooker if you wanted but it would be extra steps. You’d need to transfer back to the oven in the next to get that crispy skin – N x
Nagi, Seems like a great recipe! Planning on making it this holiday for family…large group of 10-12. Tried using your scale, but it seems to become inaccurate as you quadruple recipe. Any advice on how to more accurately scale recipe. Thanks.
Hi Robert, if you scale the recipe up to 12 servings, the ingredients will scale up for you – N x
Can I make this one day ahead.
Yippee… Made it @1st try!
Best it’s still tasty eventho go without salt. Add green peas and button mushrooms 😋
Thanks.. Thanks.. Nagi 🙌
Sounds great Adam!
Hello! Can this recipe be adapted for a slow cooker? If so, please advise how to do it. This is a wonderful recipe. I would love for my brother to be able to make it as he is can’t use an oven. Thank you,
Mary Spear
Hi Mary, I haven’t tried with this recipe sorry as you’d still need to pop it in the oven to get the crispy skin – N x
I cooked this on a cold rainy night and it was the perfect dinner. Dunking our bread into the sauce and then digging in to the rest, it was warming and delicious.
YES! Brand for dunking is a MUST!
Shut your damn mouth! I never thought to do this and it looks amazing!! Looks so good that I want to slap everybody! Where have you and your recipes been my whole life!? Glad I found you.
YESSSSS! I hope you give it a go Hilary!
Another winner from Nagi. Her website is my dinner menu planning “go to”! This was rich and comforting without being heavy. Perfect to have on the stove for a Fall day.
That’s great Marnie!
This chick stew was awesome!!! Best one I ever made. One thing though, it takes a lot longer to prep than what it says….like most recipes. Well worth it though!!
I prep this dish in the morning. Literally chop all the veg, mix the sauce, pour over the veg and then lay seasoned chicken on the top. Making sure the skin is out… then a true nagi tip, I put a little baking soda on the skin… pop in the fridge, then simply cook!!! Super simple, absolutely delicious!!!
I know it would taste nicer with the extra steps, but if you’re absolutely flat out, then this is a winner!!
Sorry it took longer to prep for you, but I hope it was worth it!! – N x
If I don’t have a dutch oven, can I brown the chicken/cook the onion in a frying pan and then transfer everything to a casserole dish prior to baking it? will it take longer singe the casserole dish will be cold?
This is a wonderful, rich stew. Made it this weekend, our first real cool weekend, and everyone ate it up – no leftovers!
Wahoo, winner winner chicken dinner!
Nagi, I made this last night and it was absolutely easy and incredibly delicious! My family gobbled it up. I will be making this when I want a hearty stew, but don’t have 4-5 hours to do beef bourguignon.
Yes! It’s the perfect quicker option – N x
I’m planning to make this for dinner tonight 🙂 if I cook it early this afternoon, could I just keep it in the oven on a low temp after it’s done? Or how would you suggest if it’s done a few hours before dinner? I’m a cooking newbie 🤣
Hi Norell, you can definitely keep it warm in a super low oven 🙂
This is a great recipe! I made this for the first time on Monday. It took me some time to chop everything, but it was SO worth it.
Personally, I think I will add more seasoning next time. I usually prefer more spices and bolder flavors. However, I think this is an extremely flexible recipe. I could probably add any of my favorite herb/spice combos, and it will be delicious!
Whoops! I forgot the stars lol