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This “New American Heartland” fall chicken stew recipe is bulked up with quinoa and butternut squash. The dish is hearty and filling, and a perfect fall or winter dinner recipe.
When the cold weather sets in, I always want to make cozy, warm comfort food, but those are often not the most healthy recipes (i.e. beef stew, I love you forever, but you’re not healthy haha!). This seasonal dish is healthy, full of vegetables, protein and nutritious grains and it will warm you up from the inside out.
I’m making a loaf of easy herbed focaccia bread to dip in this scrumptious fall chicken stew!
Table of Contents
- What Do I Need to Make Fall Chicken Stew?
- Substitutions and Variations
- How to Make This Chicken Stew Recipe
- How to Make Chicken Stew Thicker?
- Can I Make This Soup in a Slow Cooker? Instant Pot?
- What to Eat with Fall Chicken Stew
- Storage Tips
- More Chicken Soups and Stew Recipes:
- Fall Chicken Stew with Quinoa and Butternut Squash Recipe
What Do I Need to Make Fall Chicken Stew?
You’ve heard of kitchen sink cookies, and I seriously thought about naming this kitchen sink stew because you seriously add almost everything but the kitchen sink! Ha! But kitchen sink stew doesn’t sound appetizing at all. Here are the ingredients you will need:
- Chicken Broth
- Rotisserie Chicken: I like to use rotisserie chicken just to keep things quick and simple, but you can definitely cook your own chicken if you want. Grilled chicken breasts or left over roasted chicken would work great. I prefer to include for chicken breast and chicken thigh meat if I can for the most flavor.
- Vegetables and Herbs: Butternut Squash, Yellow Onion, Diced Tomatoes, Kale, and Flat-Leaf Parsley
- Flavor, Seasonings & Spices: Garlic, Kosher Salt, Dried Oregano, Ground Cumin, Nutmeg, Orange Zest and Black Pepper
- Grains: Quinoa (Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains Blend)
- Olive Oil
The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card down below. Keep scrolling for all the details!
Substitutions and Variations
One of the things I love about stew recipes is how customizable they are! This recipe is perfect for adding to or swapping out. Here are a few ideas:
- You can add cubed potatoes (red potatoes or yukon gold) or sweet potatoes or swap them for the butternut squash.
- Use couscous or orzo instead of the quinoa.
- If you aren’t a kale fan, try spinach instead!
- Of course the veggies are totally up to you – peas, carrots, celery, etc.
- If you want to make this stew vegetarian, omit the chicken and use vegetable broth instead of chicken stock.
How to Make This Chicken Stew Recipe
To get the depth of flavor you crave in a good stew, it takes a couple of steps starting with roasting the butternut squash. You also want to caramelize the onions a little bit and then let everything simmer so the flavors can come together. Here are the basic steps:
- Roast: Toss the butternut squash with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 400 degrees F until it’s tender. Remove half of the squash and set it aside and then roast the remaining squash until super tender. Mash this squash with a fork.
- Sauté: Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat and add olive oil. Sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and all the seasonings and spices. Stir until bloomed.
- Combine: Add the tomatoes, butternut squash pieces and mashed butternut until combined. Stir in the chicken broth, quinoa and kale.
- Simmer: Bring everything to a light boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer until the quinoa turns translucent.
- Stir: Add in the chicken, orange zest and pepper and simmer for another 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and serve in large soup bowls.
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for a complete look at the whole recipe.
How to Make Chicken Stew Thicker?
If your stew ends up more like soup and you want that thick, gravy-like stew consistency, there are a few options to thicken it up. For this particular recipe, the mashed butternut squash will be key to getting it thick. Have you tried our classic butternut squash soup? We use the same technique in that recipe too.
Another option for thickening it is to mix equal parts flour and fat (i.e. a roux), usually butter, and whisking it in.
You can also make a slurry by mixing equal parts cornstarch and cold water and whisking it in to a hot stew until the desired thickness.
I have recently become obsessed with Cornaby’s products, especially their EZ Gel, for thickening. You can follow the instructions on the bag, but basically you just sprinkle in the gel and let it do its thing. If I was going to choose between all these options (aside from just using the mashed butternut), I would go with EZ Gel.
Can I Make This Soup in a Slow Cooker? Instant Pot?
For the slow cooker, you would have to cook everything first (roast the butternut squash, sauté the onions, etc.) so it kind of defeats the purpose of using a slow cooker.
For the Instant Pot, you would want to cook the butternut in the oven first to get that rich roasted flavor. If you wanted to strictly use the pressure cooker, add a cup of water and then put the cubed butternut squash in a basket and cook for 4 min on high. Drain and remove. You’ll be missing that delicious roasted flavor though. Then sauté everything in batches. Then add everything back to the Instant Pot and cook for 5-7 minutes and then do a natural release.
What to Eat with Fall Chicken Stew
When I eat stew, there must be a delicious bread to dip in it! It’s an absolute must! Here are some ideas for breads:
Storage Tips
This chicken stew will store well in an airtight container in the fridge to up to 5 days.
This stew freezes extremely well. Place it in a freezer-safe container or ziploc bag and place it in the freezer. It will keep for up to 3 months. Let it thaw on the counter or in the refrigerator and reheat.
To reheat the stew, you can use the microwave of the stove top. If I’m just heating up a quick bowl for myself, I’ll zap it in the microwave. If I’m reheating multiple servings, I’ll warm it up in a large saucepan until heated through.
Need a warm, comforting meal to get you through the cold winter months? This hearty autumn chicken stew recipe is packed with flavor and nutritious ingredients that will leave you feeling satisfied and cozy.
More Chicken Soups and Stew Recipes:
- Southwestern Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Best Chicken Tortilla Soup
- White Chicken Chili
- Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
- Instant Pot Italian Chicken Soup
- Gnocchi Chicken Soup
Fall Chicken Stew with Quinoa and Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into ½-inch pieces, about 1.5 pounds
- 3 ½ Cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
- 1 ½ Pounds Rotisserie Chicken, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Yellow Onion, medium, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 4 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dried Oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 Can Diced Tomatoes, 14oz, petite diced
- 2/3 Cup Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend, uncooked, or 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 teaspoon Orange Zest
- 1 Cup Kale, chopped, *optional
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste
- 1/4 Cup Flat-Leaf Parsley, fresh, minced
Instructions
- Toss the butternut squash with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake at 400 until barely tender, about 15 minutes. Remove half of the squash pieces and set aside.3 Cups Butternut Squash, 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Bake the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 15 minutes. Mash this squash with the back of a fork. Set aside.
- In a large dutch oven over medium heat add olive oil.1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is starting to turn transleucent, 8 to 10 minutes.1 Yellow Onion
- Add the salt, minced garlic, oregano, cumin and nutmeg. Cook, stirring, for 1 additional minute.4 Cloves Garlic, 1 ½ teaspoons Dried Oregano, 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin, 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
- To the pot, add tomatoes, butternut squash pieces, mashed butternut squash and stir to combine.1 Can Diced Tomatoes
- Stir in chicken broth, quinoa and kale (if using). Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.3 ½ Cups Chicken Broth, 2/3 Cup Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend, 1 Cup Kale
- Stir the chicken, orange zest and pepper into the stew and simmer, uncovered, to heat, about 5 minutes.1 ½ Pounds Rotisserie Chicken, 1 teaspoon Orange Zest
- Stir in parsley and serve.1/4 Cup Flat-Leaf Parsley
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m excited to make this soup, how do we feel about the nutmeg in it? Would it still be good without?
Hi Jamie! You can definitely leave it out, or try it without and then add a little pinch to your bowl and try it. It really adds an extra level of flavor that is so unexpected but delicious!
Excellent dinner on a cool fall night. The nutmeg at the end was key, added something I wasn’t expecting.
Isn’t the nutmeg just amazing?! Thank you so much for your feedback Susan!
it looks like israeli couscous was used, but i don’t see it in the recipe, how much do you use and do you use it dry or cooked?
Hi Charity! This recipe doesn’t have couscous in it, just the quinoa listed in the recipe card. It’s so yummy!!
in the picture at the top of the page it looks like there’s israeli couscous and/or orzo too, i see quinoa but there’s round white dots, just curious
Hi Charity! You area absolutely right! I totally forgot that when I photographed this recipe, I used a harvest grains blend from Trader Joe’s that included couscous and orzo. If you can’t find a grains blend, just use 2/3 cup quinoa.
Looks absolutely delicious! Do you rinse the quinoa before use?
Hello Olwyn! You don’t have to but you certainly can!