Chicken Stew with Great Northern Beans

Name: Chicken Stew with Great Northern Beans
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 140 min
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients: 1 lb great northern beans; 2 lbs chicken; 1 cup white onion (diced); 2 cups celery (diced); 2 tbsp rosemary (minced); 6 cloves garlic; 40 oz chicken stock; 2 cups carrots (diced); 2 bay leaves; 3-1/2 tsp salt; 1-1/2 tsp pepper

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by Mark Hinds | 0 comments

Tender chicken, rosemary, and garlic come together with great northern beans to create a scrumptious stew. White beans and chicken are a delicious combination that creates a healthy stew, with lighter flavors that is one of our favorite comfort foods.

There are a couple of good reasons to use whole chicken parts, instead of boneless, skinless chicken for this recipe. Gently cooking chicken on the bone produces shredded chicken that is more tender and juicy and helps create a richer, more luxurious tasting broth.

This chicken stew is a great choice to make if you’re looking for quick dinners during the week or something to bring for lunch. The stew also freezes really well, which is why we often make it in large batches and bring it out whenever we’re looking for delicious comfort food.

We love to make and serve this stew in our Le Creuset Dutch Oven with homemade Buttermilk Biscuits. For more recipes like this check out our section on slow cooking.

Chicken Stew with Great Northern Beans

4.5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings: to 10 servings

Ingredients

1 lb great northern beans
2 lbs chicken
1 cup white onion, diced
2 cups celery, diced
2 tbsp rosemary, minced
6 cloves garlic
40 oz chicken stock
2 cups carrots, diced
2 bay leaves
3-1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp pepper

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Instructions

Wash and sort the beans, picking out any off looking ones. Place them in a large pot, cover with 48 ounces of water, bring to a boil for two minutes, remove from heat, and let them sit for at least an hour. Drain the water and set the beans aside.
While the beans are soaking, dice the onion, celery, and carrots and mince the garlic and rosemary.
After the beans have finished soaking, sauté the onion and celery for a couple of minutes in a little olive oil. Add the rosemary and garlic and continue sautéing for another couple of minutes.
Add the stock, beans, bay leafs, salt, and pepper to the pot. Bring everything to a boil for a minute or two, then turn the heat down to a simmer and add the chicken. Make sure the chicken is completely submerged in the liquid. Let the stew simmer for an hour to cook the chicken.
After an hour take the chicken out and let it cool enough to shred it. If you're using thighs or legs add the bones back to the pot.
Add the shredded chicken and carrots to the pot and bring the stew back to a boil for a minute or so, then turn the heat back to a simmer and cook the stew for another hour or so.
Serve with warm crusty bread or biscuits.

Optional Step

If you want to add some extra crunch and flavor, set the chicken skins aside when you're shredding the chicken and right before serving the stew place them on a broiler pan in a 350℉ oven for 6 to 10 minutes, turning them once. One the skin has crisped up, finely chop it and sprinkle it over the top of the stew.

Notes

If you want to start the recipe a day ahead it's ok to let the beans soak overnight. If great northern beans aren't available, substitute navy or other white beans.

Depending on how thick or thin you like your stew, add more or less chicken stock. It's worth noting that the stew will continue to thicken up as it sits and the beans absorb the liquid; this is particularly noticeable when the chicken stew sits over night.

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