Lauren Cobello » Meal Planning » Slow Cooker Recipes » Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Stew
Some recipes are just so easy, so satisfying and so cheap that I could make them every week. This crockpot chicken stew is one of those.
In fact, I just made this for the first time yesterday, and the whole family was so thrilled with it that I just had to write up this post immediately. The chicken, the veges, the potatoes – this is one complete meal as-is. But, you might want some rolls to “clean” your bowl with. The gravy-type sauce of this stew is AH-MAZE-ING.
Did I mention how easy it is? Or how this is the perfect freezer meal? If you don’t want to make it now, you could just throw it all in a freezer bag raw (except for the butter, milk and flour) and freeze for several months.
Here are the ingredients. Note that I used about 1 1/2 chicken breasts in this and cut them into chunks. Also, this shows 2 celery stalks, but I only used 1.
Chop up the vegetables and put them in the crockpot.
Top with the chicken, spices and the water. Put the lid on and cook it for several hours (low for 8 hours, medium for 6 hours, and high for 4 hours).
After it’s done cooking and you are almost ready to serve, it’s time to add our thickener to give it that smooth, creamy, gravy-type sauce that kicks this dish up several notches. There are 2 ways to do this:
I usually always prefer a roux. It’s smoother and has a deeper flavor. It only takes 5 minutes and is super easy. Start by melting 2 Tbsp of butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Once it melts, add 2 Tbsp of all purpose flour. We make our dishes gluten-free in this house, so we simply used a gluten-free baking flour.
[To us cornstarch, whisk 1/2 cup of milk in a bowl with 2 Tbsp is cornstarch. Once blended, add to the crockpot and mix. Cover and let it cook for another 20 minutes.]
Get your whisk out and stir it constantly for a few minutes over medium heat. After about 5 minutes, it will change to a brown color. You can cook it for longer if you want and it will get darker, but you don’t need to.
Then add the milk and whisk it for just another minute until it is blended well and is thick and bubbly.
Add it back to the stew and mix it in really well.
Serve it up in bowls with some rolls on the side! Enjoy!
And if you like this one, you might be interested in 40 other slow cooker dump recipes that are AMAZING!
Have you grabbed my freezer meal plans, yet? I might be biased but I think they are pretty amazing! They have saved our dinner hour for years now. Check them out!
COMMENTS
[…] Chicken Stew […]
[…] Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Stew – This recipe blew me away the first time I made it! It was also the first time I used a roux as a thickener once the recipe was completed. SOOO good. […]
Is it ok to double the recipe? Will it come out the same?
Yes it will come out the same. You may need to cook it a bit longer, but just check as you go along.
Can you use Russet potatoes instead? I don’t have any red on hand..
Yes you can 🙂 Those would be great too.
I made this last night and it was good but felt that I’d like to try and jazz it up a bit. I didn’t have parsley so I used rosemary instead and I’m wondering if maybe next time I could substitute white wine or beer for some of the water? I’m new to the slow-cooking world and don’t if cooking with alcohol works…thanks for your help!
You could use chicken broth instead of water.
Ok, I don’t think I’ve ever commented on a recipe, but I always read the comments before I try one out to make sure it came out ok for others. So to those of you who are doing exactly that…This came out perfectly for me. I also realized that I have been making roux incorrectly for years. Oops. So thank you for the clear instructions. The only thing I did different than the recipe was to substitute a chicken bullion cube instead of 1 tsp of the salt. Even my picky 6-year old liked this. Definitely a keeper!
Thanks for the kind words, Tabitha 🙂
This stew is fantastic ! Also, the ease of preparation and an ingredient list that doesn’t require a long shopping trip for 20 specialty items you’ll never use again makes this an easy one to give a try. Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks, Pat 🙂 It’s one of my favs too.
The most boring recipe I have ever made, bar none. Americans need cooking lessons.
Thanks jo!
And you need manners and to generalize less.
I using white wine. Moscatto to be specific. I have been cooking for a long time, and grew up in a family restaurant, so I learned young that so long as you balance the flavors with their opposite, wine adds a bit of depth to any dinner meal. For example, the moscatto I use is sweet, so I add a smidge extra of garlic, some sage, black pepper and kosher salt, to balance the sweet with some savory. I do this with almost everything. Red merlot or pinot niore when cooking with red meat, and moscatto or a dryer white when using white meat or fish. Sometimes I also use beer or bourbon depending on the flavor I am going for. Just make sure to substitute some of the water, not adding to the liquid or it will affect the consistency. If you dont want to use chicken broth, a good thing to keep on hand us better than bouillon in beef and in chicken, which is a paste. Of course use the chicken for this one 😉
I want to try this recipe today! Do you make the creamy sauce before serving or dump in the beginning?
We are making this today for tomorrow evening meal. Looking forward to our first taste!
Made this recipe today on the stove instead the crockpot. It tasted amazing! I am usually nervous trying out a new recipe because of picky eaters…My toddler ate 3 bowls…3 big bowls all by herself. My hubby texted me few times how amazing dinner was 🙂 I did use a little bit broth.
Thank you, I can’t wait to try out more recipes from here!
I loved this recipe. I made a homemade broth from a smoked chicken though. We made it as a gluten-free comfort food at the cidery I work at. It was well received.
Is there an ingredient missing, some stock or something like that? 1 cup of water does not seem like enough liquid for it to cook in. Ours has come out like a vegetable paste
It is a great recipe. So quick and easy. I always use stock instead of water, and usually a bit more than the recipe suggests. I have often doubled the recipe with good results. I have also used the “stew” as a filling for “pot pies”. I use an oven proof, individual bowl, fill with the cold stew and top with a puff pastry. It’s awesome.
Hi,
I wanted to know if there was anything specific I should do to make this more of a frozen dump meal? I don’t understand how the Roux would freeze.. Thank you!
Just wondering what the nutrition is per serving or where to find the info? ( calories,protein,carbs,) etc.
This stew is delicious!! I made it a couple weeks ago and everyone devoured it. My husband practically inhaled it. My sister-in-law left my home with the recipe and a few days later she made it for her family. I just made it again, it’s too good. I made it with the flour, butter and milk roux and switched out the water for chicken broth. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe with us
Would really like calorie counts on your recipes.
This stew is delicious! I used Vegetable Broth instead of water and Russet Potatoes and I am very impressed with this recipe! Definitely a keeper!
Can you cook dumplings on top of this stew or would they soak up too much liquid?
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and I absolutely love it. I use more celery and carrots than suggested, and it comes out delicious. Since I increase that, I add a bit more salt to pull in the flavours. For the celery stalk, I include the leaves as well. This makes it more flavourful when not including the leaves.
I just made this soup in my instapot. It worked perfectly and tasted delicious!! I wasn’t a chicken soup fan, but I am now!!!
So glad to hear!
On your instant pot what settings and timing did you use?
DON’T MAKE!! DRYYYY! Wow gotta say the idea was good but the food was not . I’m trying to use what I have to save money but no good!!
Can this be mixed all together (other than roux) and put in the freezer to use at a later time. My parents are elderly and I’m trying to come up with some meals to prep and this would be a good one.