An easy, flavorful southern chicken stew recipe to warm you on cold winter nights.
This dish is perfect for one-pot dining; all ingredients can be combined and cooked simultaneously in one pot. Brown the chicken before steaming with vegetables before stewing everything altogether in your favorite pot!
Start by heating the oil in a large pot, and sauteing your chicken (this may require two batches). Remove and set aside.
1. Cajun Chicken Stew
This Cajun chicken stew is rich, flavorful, and satisfying – an excellent place to begin exploring Cajun cuisine! This recipe utilizes onion, bell pepper, and celery – the Holy Trinity of Cajun flavors! Boneless chicken thighs soak up all those wonderful South Louisiana spices until tenderized to delicious tenderness – although breast meat may give more texture in this dish than boneless thighs do.
Prepare this easy weeknight dinner with just a bit of planning ahead. Slice vegetables and season boneless chicken thighs the night before to ensure everything will be ready to go when dinner time rolls around!
Starting with a quick roux (recipe here), add vegetables and spices, before braise chicken until tender and falling apart. It’s lighter than gumbo while still boasting big Cajun flavors – perfect to enjoy over rice for dinner with family! This dish also makes an excellent freezer meal!
2. Southern Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes
This hearty stew’s delicious flavors are amplified by using chicken bone broth. Incorporating starchy russet potatoes, sweet potatoes and red bell pepper for sweetness and nutrition.
Add an extra punch of flavor with a teaspoon of paprika or Cajun seasoning, or even better add frozen peas for more veggies and some herbs like parsley and thyme for some herbaceous accents and earthiness.
After your stew has been completed, take care to remove the chicken and allow it to cool before using a fork to break up and mash potatoes in a coffee mug to create a thickener that will thicken your stew.
Stir the slurry with the remaining ingredients until combined. Taste for salt and pepper before serving warm with cornbread on the side. This stew can also be prepared ahead of time and stored in either your refrigerator or freezer; simply reheat on your stove top or in your microwave to make dinner quick and simple!
3. Chicken and Corn Stew
This hearty stew encapsulates all the delicious fall and winter flavors into one bowl. Chicken, corn and hearty vegetables and herbs come together in an aromatic beer-braised broth to produce big flavor and tender vegetables as it slowly simmers in an oven.
Chicken thighs are ideal for this recipe due to their higher fat content and moisture-retaining ability. Leaner cuts such as chicken breasts may become dryer over time.
Vegetarians may prefer this stew without chicken for an alternative option. To thicken it up, stir a mixture of flour and milk together as the simmering liquid heats. If using an Instant Pot instead, saute onion with splash of water for 4 minutes prior to adding remaining ingredients; pressure cook on manual high pressure for 10 minutes with natural release for 10 more.
4. Chicken and Corn Casserole
This delicious casserole requires only minimal ingredients for maximum comfort! A perfect way to use up leftover chicken from previous meals as well as fresh corn from the garden or farmers market!
Mix together a smooth creamy white sauce using butter, flour, celery salt and milk – known as a “roux”. Cooking until the color turns dark can help eliminate any remnants of flour taste while adding an nutty note to the final product.
Stir together rice, cream-style corn and chicken in a mixing bowl until evenly mixed. Season to your desired flavor using salt and pepper before transferring mixture to an unbuttered baking dish for baking.
Baking time should take approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the top comes out clean. Serve hot while still hot.
Make this delicious casserole ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze. It should stay good for three days in the refrigerator, or up to three months if frozen. When ready to reheat it simply place in the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes until everything has warmed through.