Healthy Chicken Stew is delicious and easy to make. It has only 5 ingredients and is loaded with vegetables. Made on the stove top or in Instant Pot, it’s a perfect meal to serve over rice, quinoa, or noodles.
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Want to see how easy Healthy Chicken Stew recipe is to make in the Instant Pot? Then watch the video because this Chicken Stew is as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…
I originally posted this recipe in January 2013, almost exactly to the date five years ago. It’s still a recipe that I make often. Back then, the post started with a funny story about me trying to unsuccessfully use a food processor:
“Remember the story about my broken Food Processor? Well, I recently exchanged it for another one. After I got home I was ready to use it to make this stew, which calls for lots of chopped onion, sweet peppers and, one thing that I really dislike doing, grated carrots. So, I figured, I’ll use my new gadget to make this easy recipe even easier. And you know what? It still did not work!!
Now, I think that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t a food processor. Maybe it was me. Maybe I just couldn’t figure out how to turn it on. But then A. tried it and it still did not work. Perhaps it is not meant for me to have a Food Processor. I’ll return this one and wait a little before making another purchase attempt.”
In the end, it was something wrong with that particular model… I think… Or maybe it was me.
I ended up going to a different store and buying a different brand. I don’t use my food processor too often but this recipe is definitely the one that benefits from this nifty appliance.
This is my mom’s recipe and when she told me how to make it, she used the words like “a lot of peppers”, “loads of carrots”, etc.
I’ve been making this Healthy Chicken Stew for some time and never measured anything until actually deciding to post this recipe, but still, it is open to interpretation and if you have more of this and less of that it’ll work wonderfully.
The main idea behind this Healthy Chicken Stew recipe is that you use 2 pounds of vegetables and 2 pounds of chicken.
What if you don’t have a kitchen scale?
While testing the recipe to convert for the Instant Pot, I measured the ingredients again and again. And it seems that on average to make up 2 pounds of vegetables you’d need 2 large carrots, 2 medium onions, and 2 bell peppers.
I usually chop the peppers by hand since I prefer them to be in about 1 inch pieces. But I use my food processor to slice the onions and to grate the carrots, thus making the prep time quite fast.
If I have a bit extra time then I prefer my Healthy Chicken Stew to be made on the stove top. The chicken and vegetables cook in a little bit of water and their own juices for a long time until everything is melting and juicy.
What kind of chicken to use for Healthy Chicken Stew
I personally prefer chicken thighs as I find that the meat is more flavourful. However, I’ve made this recipe with chicken breasts as well and it turned out great.
The idea is that after a very long cooking time on the stove, the meat gets pull-appart tender. My Instant Pot instructions for the timing also take in account very long cooking time for the chicken to make sure that it’s soft and shreddable.
Adapting Healthy Chicken Stew recipe for Instant Pot
Instant Pot version of this recipe is faster and a bit easier since you don’t have to watch the pan and make sure that there’s enough water.
However, because the water doesn’t evaporate in the pressure cooker and the vegetables and the chicken also have a lot of liquid, the resulting stew comes out a bit soupy.
To counteract the soupiness (it’s a word, right?), I shred the chicken. The flavour of this Healthy Chicken Stew is the same whether it’s made on the stove top or Instant Pot but the texture is a little bit different.
Regardless of whether you use an Instant Pot (or another electric pressure cooker) or your stove, this recipe is easy and delicious. If you can find a gluten-free soy sauce then it’s also gluten-free.
It’s loaded with vegetables and tastes delicious with rice, quinoa, or even noodles. And if you like chicken stews then try my Chicken and Chickpea Stew that I make on either stove top or in a slow cooker.
UPDATE: Water for the Instant Pot Version of Healthy Chicken Stew
I originally adapted Healthy Chicken Stew to be cooked in Instant Pot only a couple of months after I started using an electric pressure cooker. At that point I was still a novice and didn’t know a lot of intricacies of the appliance.
After many months of using my Instant Pot, I can say that this particular recipe does not need any water if it’s cooked in Instant Pot. That’s right, no water needs to be added!
Wait, but how does it work? Don’t you always need liquid so that Instant Pot actually produces steam and comes to pressure?
Yes, you need liquid! But there are so many vegetables that as the Instant Pot heats up, the vegetables soften and release liquid. The liquid released by the vegetables is enough to produce steam and for Instant Pot to come to pressure.
NOTE: I use a 6-quart duo60 model of Instant Pot. That is the only model I’ve ever used. It does not give me burn notices. If you have a different model, then you might need to add water.
Important note about seasonings in Healthy Chicken Stew
In my family we don’t use a lot of seasonings. I find that the ingredients have a lot of complex flavour and adding too much spices or salt masks them instead of enhancing them. It is a personal preference!
Feel free to use your favourite seasonings and spices. See below for some ideas.
Note: I also do not find that Instant Pot requires more seasoning than if the food was cooked on the stove, although many people say it’s the case.
How to flavour Healthy Chicken Stew
I often make this stew just as it is, with no other flavourings besides soy sauce. I find that it’s really flavourful and hearty this way. But there are tons of different ways to flavour the stew:
- Add rosemary and thyme to have an extra savoury flavour
- Add your favourite taco seasoning for a taco-flavoured chicken stew
- Squeeze a lemon juice and add a little bit of lemon zest to the cooked stew for an extra bright and summery taste
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Healthy Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
- 3/4 cup water (you will only need 1/2 cup water for Instant Pot)
- 300 g carrots
- 300 g onions
- 300 g bell peppers
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (gluten-free)
- your favourite seasonings to taste if desired
Instructions
Stove Top Instructions
- Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces.
- Heat a big pan or a dutch oven over medium flame, add the cut chicken and water.
- While chicken is cooking, thinly slice the onions, chop peppers into 1-inch pieces and grate the carrots.
- Add all the vegetables to the pan and mix.
- Add any seasonings you'd like at this point, if desired. I don't add anything extra.
- Cover and cook over medium heat, mixing occasionally for about 45 minutes.
- If the water evaporates, then add more to keep the stew moist.
- When all the vegetables are soft and the chicken is cooked through and very tender, add the soy sauce. Mix and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Serve over rice, quinoa, or noodles.
Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Instructions
- Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces.
- Thinly slice the onions, chop peppers into 1-inch pieces and grate the carrots.
- Add all the vegetables to your Instant Pot.
- Add the chicken on top.
- Pour the soy sauce and water (only 1/2 cup for Instant Pot) over the vegetables and chicken.
- Add any seasonings you'd like at this point, if desired. I don't add anything extra.
- Close the lid of your Instant Pot and turn the valve to Sealing.
- Press Manual or Pressure Cooker button (depending on your model) and use the arrows to select 20 minutes.
- Once the 20 minutes of pressure cooking are up and your Instant Pot beeps that it's done do a manual quick release. I like putting a small kitchen towel on the pressure release valve to contain the steam a little bit. It took about 5 minutes to fully release the pressure.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken.
- Serve over rice, quinoa, or noodles.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Mention or tag @Imagelicious
And I just wanted to show this old picture from 2013 here. Haha.
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