Chicken and Root Vegetable Stew

What’s the difference between soup and stew? Nothing in the flavor, only the amount of liquid, soups have more, stews are thicker and heartier. I love them both, but, sometimes I don’t have the time to create that rich flavor that comes from cooking for hours. However, there is a secret, use broth not water, it gives that all day cooking taste in a half hour or so. And that is the trick that will give this chicken and root vegetable stew some amazing depth of flavors.

I buy bone in cuts of meat, they’re cheaper, I filet them to cook, then throw the bones in the freezer. When I have enough, I load up the slow cooker in the morning, and, come home to some delicious homemade chicken broth when I get home. It’s good for so many things, and, here, for a stew. Now, this process isn’t for everyone, the fileting and slow cooking is time consuming. Box soup is available in most stores, in many flavors, and low, or, no sodium too. As always, there are always options, just, don’t use the cubes.

Because the post is called chicken and root vegetable stew, obviously chicken is part of the ingredients list. And, that leads to the next question; dark or light meat? For this recipe I’ll use breast, it’s classic, but, thigh meat will be just as tasty, and the prep will be the same. Cube the meat, throw in a bowl, sprinkle with kosher salt and coarse ground pepper, mix well. Let it sit while the rest of the ingredients get prepped.

All good soups and stews start with a good savory flavor base. It’s called a mirepoix, I wrote a whole post about it. In this case, onions and garlic. Dicing the garlic is important, it will give that sweet, toasted garlic taste, read my post on garlic to learn more. Also, the mirepoix for this recipe has to be browned just a little, but not burnt. The reason for this is the Maillard Reaction. It’s what give the dish it’s flavor and colors

And now for the vegetables. Most chicken soups or stews will have potatoes, rice or pasta as well as the regular vegetables like carrots and celery. With this recipe, I’m trying to lower my carb intake but not lose the taste. So I will replace those high carb items with an assortment of root vegetables; parsnips, turnips, rutabaga. These are delicious and healthy, yet lower in carbs.

To compare. One cup of cooked potatoes will supply you with about 31g carbs. A cup of cooked brown rice is good for 52 grams, and a cup of pasta is good for 78 grams. That’s a lot, however, turnips have about 4g per cup, rutabaga about 12g, carrots about 11g and parsnips are pretty close to potatoes with about 24g. Thing is, I love parsnips, they’re sweet and delicious. So they get included. Clean them, peel them and cut as you would normally for a stew or soup, kind of chunky.

Now to cook. Everything will be cooked in one pot, that way you keep all the flavors you make. Preheat a big enough pot to cook the soup over a medium heat, add the onions and garlic. Try to keep them in a single layer on the bottom of the pot so they cook evenly. When the onions are soft, add the chicken to brown, mix everything well in the pot. You’ll notice I said to add the chicken when the onions are soft, not brown, and, just before I had said the onions need to brown. Well, there’s a reason for this. The onions will stay in the pot while the chicken gets to brown, so they’ll all brown together.

Now for the herbs and vegetables. I keep the herbs simple and classic. Oregano, parsley, rosemary, basil, and garlic powder. Now mix everything really well, the idea is to coat the vegetables and chicken cubes with the juices and herbs. Now add the chicken broth to cover, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for half hour.

That is it. Chicken and root vegetable stew. Hearty, healthy and ready in 45 mins, including prep time. And, during most of that time you can be doing something else. As always, allow to cool for a bit, soup is always hot from the pot. Top as you like, green bits, cheese, croutons are good too. Thank you for reading and enjoy the meal.