Baked Chicken Stew
Check Out: Beef Stew Recipe
This is an oven-baked recipe for chicken stew. I slow-cook the stew in the oven using a cast iron casserole instead of cooking it on the stove top. In that way, I let the oven do the work and I don’t have to watch the stove or the stew. I thought of making this one day, when I was at an Italian restaurant and I saw the diners at the table next to me ordering a chicken stew. The waiter served the stew by shredding the chicken on the spot – the meat was so tender that it fell right off the bones. That set me off on an instant craving and I knew that baking it will give me very tender chicken with minimal effort. This is a definitely great to eat well and relax over the weekend.
Adding cherry tomatoes and zucchini before baking for the last 30 minutes.
Chicken Stew Recipe
This is an oven-baked recipe for chicken stew where you need an oven safe casserole (such as a Dutch oven). You can also cook the stew over the stove, but you need to watch the stew and top up with stock whenever needed.
Ingredients:
- 5 (about 1kg) skinless chicken thighs
- 50g butter (may use 2 tbsp olive oil instead)
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 1 onion diced
- 2 carrots peeled and cut to small chunks
- 2.5 cups (625 ml) good quality chicken stock (instant tetra-pak ones or home-made)
- 1 glass white wine
- 1 garlic bulb, separated into cloves and peeled
- 3 berastagi potatoes (or any hard potatoes) peeled and cut to chunks
- 1/2 tbsp dried herbs (such as herbs de provence or Italian seasoning)
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 dried bay leaves
- sea salt and black pepper
- 1 zucchini cut to chunks
- 200g cherry tomatoes
- 300g macaroni
- a small bunch of parsley finely chopped
Tools
- Dutch oven or oven-safe casserole at least 3-litre capacity
- Kitchen tongs
- Silicon oven gloves (the take the hot casserole in and out of oven)
Directions:
Cooking the chicken stew
- Melt butter in heated casserole, then add diced celery and onions and ‘sweat’ them on medium low heat (about 3 -5 minutes).
- Pour a glass of white wine into the casserole and saute the celery and onions until the alcohol has evaporated, and you smell the nice aroma of the wine.
- Stir in flour and cook for one minute more to thicken the mixture.
- Add chicken stock, chicken, herbs, potatoes, carrots, garlic and bay leaves. Bring everything to a simmer.
- Cover the casserole with lid and transfer to an oven. Bake the casserole at 180°C (356°F) for 1 hour.
- Take out the casserole (This is a good time to check the consistency of the stew. If you need to thicken it further, add more flour. If it’s too dry, you can add more chicken broth or hot water. Add cherry tomatoes and zucchini to the stew. Return the casserole to the oven to bake for a further 30 minutes, or until the chicken is so tender that the meat drop off the bones. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serving
- Cook macaroni in salted water according to the timing indicated on the package until al dente. Drain pasta.
- Take the cooked chicken pieces out and place on a plate. Use a fork and spoon to shred the chicken. Discard the bones.
- Portion cooked macaroni in deep serving plate, top with shredded chicken and ladle the chicken stew over. Garnish with chopped parsley.