YIELDS:
8-10 servings
PREP TIME:
0 hours 20 mins
COOK TIME:
1 hours 30 mins
TOTAL TIME:
1 hours 50 mins
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ingredients
2 Lbs. Boneless Skinless Chicken thighs or 4 Whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Carrots, peeled and diced
3 Celery Stalks, diced
1 Large onion, yelllow or red chopped into a small dice
2 Garlic cloves, minced finely
12 small red potatoes, halved or quartered based on size
16 Oz. White button or Cremini mushrooms cleaned and halved
1 Cup of frozen peas
1 Cup of frozen corn
1 Cup frozen carrot slices
2 Tsp. Dried thyme
2 Tsp. Dried rosemary
2 Dried bay leaves
½ Tsp. Calabrian chili flakes
Kosher Salt & Fresh Black Pepper
1 Can condensed cream of chicken soup (regular, low fat or healthy choice)
64 Oz. Homemade chicken stock (or 2-16 ounce boxes of good quality chick broth or stock)
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
Cooking spray
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
DIRECTIONS
1. Spray a large dutch oven with cooking spray. Add olive oil and heat. Add the diced carrots, celery and onion and sauté for about five minutes until soft. Add chopped garlic and cook for one minute.
2. Salt and pepper your chicken thighs or breasts (note: you can use a combination of both) and add them to the pot. Nestle the chicken down into the vegetables moving the cooked veggies to the side so the check is touching the bottom of the pot. Cook on both sides until they are par cooked (about 8-10 minutes). They won’t be browned but they will have started the cooking process. Turn several times until all sides have begun cooking. Add the stock and stir. Add the thyme, rosemary, chili flakes and bay leaves. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and about 20 grinds of black pepper to start. You’ll taste the stew several times and will adjust the seasoning again.
3. Add the can of soup and stir into broth so it is evenly distributed in the pot. Bring to a simmer and add potatoes and carrots.
4. Cook until the broth comes to a new simmer. Add the corn and peas. (There is no need to thaw the frozen vegetables before adding.) Bring back to a low simmer and let cook for about one hour. Stir ocassionally.
5. At the one hour mark, taste the broth. Adjust seasoning if needed. Add more salt, pepper or chili flakes if needed. Let cook until the chicken is falling apart and/or easily tears apart with a fork. Add the mushrooms and cook 10 more minutes.
6. Combine a ¼ cup of the hot stock from the pot with the 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch in a small bowl and stir to eliminate any lumps. Add to the stew and stir into the mix. Let it come to a boil to fully incorporate the cornstarch and let the stew thicken.
NOTE: My Chicken Diane is named after yours truly. Over the years, I’ve played with this recipe over and over and have made it one of my go-to meals during the winter. It is packed flavor, protein and veggies, has minimal fat and quite honestly, tastes much better on days 2, 3 and 4!!! This is my idea of comfort food so dig in! Feel free to tweak it to make it yours by adding as much heat as you like. Just adjust the amount of Calabrian chili flakes you use. You can also use whatever vegetables you like or have on hand. Green beans, zucchini, summer squash and spinach go great in the stew too. This is a chicken stew you are going to love.
I’ve made this chicken stew in a dutch oven on the stove but you could also use an instant pot. See the instructions for cooking in an Instant Pot down below.
To get started cooking your dish in a dutch oven, pull all your veggies together and get them chopped or cut. Slice your mushrooms and potatoes in half. Dice your carrots, onion and celery into small dice. These will be flavoring the whole stew. Note: I used a red onion when making the stew, but it works just fine with a yellow onion too. I finely minced two medium cloves of garlic too.
Spray your dutch oven with cooking spray. I do that so I don’t have to use a lot of oil in this dish. Add the tablespoon of olive oil and once hot, add the diced onion, celery and carrot. Let cook until the veggies are starting to soften. About five minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
Move the veggies to the side of the pot. Liberally season your chicken with salt and pepper. You can use either chicken thighs or chicken breast or both. I find the thighs add a lot more flavor to the stew, but if I want to keep it really lean, I’ll use chicken breast. You can decide. In this step, I want the chicken touching the bottom of the pot to start the cooking process. I’ll let the chicken start cooking and turn the pieces many times so that there are no raw parts of thicken left. The chicken won’t be browned.
Add the stock and stir to combine. Add the thyme, rosemary, chili flakes, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 20 grinds of fresh black pepper to the mix. Stir. You’ll taste the stew again later to adjust the seasoning.
Add the cream of chicken soup and mix into the stock. Add the potatoes and carrot slices. Bring to a simmer and then add the peas and corn. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a gently simmer and cook for one hour.
At the one hour mark, taste the broth. Adjust seasoning if needed. Add more salt or pepper or chili flakes if needed. The chicken meat should be falling apart or easily shredded with a fork. The potatoes should be easily pierced with the tip of a knife.
Add the mushrooms and let cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small dish, mix 1/4 cup of the hot broth with two tablespoons of cornstarch until the cornstarch is dissolved. Add to the stew and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil for 2 minutes stirring to combine and let the chicken Diane thicken. You are ready to serve.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Stew
You will use the same recipe ingredients as I’ve laid out for the recipe. However, you will use your instant pot to cook the dish, thereby speeding up the whole process and getting this dinner to the table in 30 minutes. To cook in the instant pot, start by cutting the chicken meat into large cubes. Then, brown them on HOT in the olive oil using the saute function on the machine. Brown on all sides and then remove from the pot.
Next, spray the pot with a little cooking spray if needed. If you used chicken thighs, there is bound to be enough fat in the pot to saute the veggies. Add the diced celery, carrot and onion. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute.
Add the chicken back to the pot, Add the stock, potatoes, carrots, corn and peas. Add all the seasonings and the can of soup. Stir everything together. Be sure you don’t go over the MAX line on the pot for liquids. Just go to the line. Turn off the saute function and close the lid, seal and pressure cook for 10 minutes. This should be followed by another 10 minutes of natural pressure release after which you will manually release the rest of the pressure.
You can now open the lid and put it back to the saute setting. Add the mushrooms and let them cook in the hot stew for about 10 minutes.
At this point, mix the hot stock with the cornstarch and mix well. Add to the stew and let it cook for a couple of minutes until the stew is thickened. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowl.
Whether you use the dutch oven or make the chicken stew instant pot style, you and your family are going to love this!
Are you a fan of stews? Be sure to try some of my favs:
Rosemary and Pomegranate Beef Stew
