Slow Cooker Chicken Stew and Cheddar Biscuits

Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

The photo above doesn’t do justice to how good this chicken stew was.

I like making chicken stew in the slow cooker. The preparation is easy and, like all things made in the slow cooker, you can do other things while your dinner cooks. The only problem I’ve had with making chicken stew in the slow cooker is getting the stew to really thicken up. This takes a little time. The batch in the photo was almost as thick as I wanted it to be, but I was a little impatient and didn’t let it cook long enough to get to my desired level of stewiness. Nevertheless, it was delicious.

You can vary the vegetables in your stew. Cut up large potatoes instead of using the mini-potatoes. Add small whole boiler-type onions instead of cutting up large onions. Whole fresh mushrooms are also an excellent addition to this stew.

I use Old Bay seasoning in my chicken stew. If you don’t have it on hand, you can use poultry seasoning or experiment with your own spice combinations, such as thyme, sage and pepper.

On the day this batch of slow cooker chicken stew was served, my daughter Darcy was visiting and made some baking powder biscuits with cheddar cheese to go along with the stew. That recipe is included here for you, too. 

MA's Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

Chopped and ready for slow cooking

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3 lbs), cut into 1 ½” chunks

4 medium onions, cut into 8ths

2 tsp garlic, minced

5 ribs celery, thickly sliced

4 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced or diced

1.5 lbs mini-potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, halved if desired

1 cup frozen peas

2 tsp Old Bay seasoning or poultry seasoning

8 cups chicken broth or 3 chicken bouillon cubes with 8 cups boiling water

¼ cup flour

½ cup water or chicken broth

Now cover and cook s-l-o-w-l-y

Place onions, garlic, celery, carrots, potatoes and chicken into slow cooker.

Pour chicken broth over chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and fork tender.

Add frozen peas and cook for 15 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together flour and water/broth to make a smooth paste. Stir the paste into the stew. Cover the slow cooker and cook until thickened, about 15 or 20 minutes.

Serve with biscuits or bread.

Makes 8 servings.

Printable Recipe for MA's Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

MA’s Cheddar Biscuits

Chicken Stew with Cheddar Biscuit

Preheat oven to 450º F.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

4 tbsp butter or margarine, chilled

2/3 to ¾ cup milk

½ cup grated cheddar cheese

In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and grated cheddar.

Cut the butter or margarine into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender or two knives.

Add the milk slowly, stirring only until the soft dough forms a ball.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly for a few seconds.

Pat or roll out the dough to ½ to ¾ inch thickness.

Cut with floured biscuit cutter.

Place the biscuits on the prepared pan.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until biscuits are a golden brown.

Makes 10 - 12 biscuits.

Printable Recipe for MA's Cheddar Biscuits