Chicken stew
Browned chicken thighs, potatoes and carrots in a thick, herby gravy, the chicken version of Sunday beef stew in about an hour.
- 70 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.60 a serving
- 500 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, cut into thick coins
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ lb Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp water
Each serving has about 500 calories, 41 g protein, 50 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $3.60 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No Yukon Gold potatoes? Russet potatoes or red potatoes work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cut the chicken into 1½-inch pieces and toss them in a bowl with 1 teaspoon of the salt, the pepper and paprika.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
the onion, cut the carrots into coins and the potatoes into chunks, the celery and the garlic.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat the oil in a or large pot over medium-high heat.
Dutch oven. A Dutch oven is a heavy pot, usually enameled cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid. It holds heat evenly, so it’s great for soups, stews and anything that simmers a long time.
How you’ll know: Any large, heavy pot with a lid does the same job if you don’t have one.
Medium-high heat
the chicken in two batches, 4 minutes per batch, and move it to a plate. It won’t be cooked through yet.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 8 min
Dolly’s tip: Let the chicken sit until it releases from the pot on its own. Tugging it early tears off the brown crust.Turn the heat to medium, add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the garlic and tomato paste for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Pour in the broth and from the bottom with a wooden spoon.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Medium heat
Add the chicken and its juices, the potatoes, thyme, bay leaves and the rest of the salt. .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low and for 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 25 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Stir the cornstarch into the water until smooth, stir it into the stew with the peas, and simmer for 2 minutes, until the gravy .
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Pull out the bay leaves, taste for salt, and serve with parsley.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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