Chicken Squash Stew: Easy One-Pot Dinner

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Chicken Squash Stew: Easy One-Pot Dinner This chicken squash stew brings bite-size chicken, potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, celery, onion, and spinach together in a large pot of chicken broth. The recipe builds flavor in stages, starting with seasoned chicken and the vegetables cooked in the same pot before the broth, herbs, and remaining ingredients are added.

Watch How to Make It

Chicken breast and thighs are both used, giving the stew a mix of chicken pieces throughout. The butternut squash can be fresh or frozen, and the potatoes are flexible, with potatoes of choice used in the recipe.

The broth is seasoned with dried thyme, dried rosemary, turmeric, and bouillon base, while fresh thyme sprigs and bay leaves are used during the simmer. At the end, the stew can be adjusted with more broth and seasoning depending on how thick and seasoned you prefer it.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Everything cooks in one large pot, including the chicken, vegetables, broth, herbs, and spinach. The chicken is browned first but does not need to cook through at that stage, since it returns to the pot with the potatoes and squash for the main simmer.

The vegetable sequence is simple and purposeful. Onion, carrots, and celery cook first for about 5 minutes, followed by garlic for a brief 30 to 60 seconds. This keeps the garlic from going in too early while allowing it to become fragrant before the broth is added.

There is room to tailor the finished stew without changing the main method. After the chicken and vegetables are tender, add more salt, pepper, herbs, or broth according to your preferred thickness and seasoning level.

Fresh spinach goes in near the end, giving it time to wilt in the hot stew without being part of the longer vegetable simmer. The final steps also include removing the fresh thyme and bay leaves, stirring in a couple tablespoons of butter, and letting the pot sit for a few minutes before serving.

Ingredients You'll Need

Use 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of chicken breast and thighs, cut into bite-size pieces. Before browning, season the chicken with some of the salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika so those seasonings are already on the chicken when it goes into the pot.

The stew includes 3 cups of cubed butternut squash, either fresh or frozen, plus a 1.5-pound bag of potatoes of choice. Sliced carrots and celery, diced onion, and minced garlic form the vegetable base, while a couple handfuls of fresh spinach are added toward the end.

Chicken broth is the main cooking liquid, with 6 cups used to start and more available if needed later. The recipe also uses 2 tablespoons of bouillon base of choice, along with dried thyme, dried rosemary, turmeric, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika.

Have fresh thyme sprigs and one to three bay leaves ready to sit on top during the simmer. A little olive oil is optional for sautéing the chicken and vegetables, and a couple tablespoons of butter are added at the end. You will need a large pot for browning, sautéing, and simmering the entire stew.

How To Make It

Season the chicken with some of the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat with a little olive oil. Brown the chicken in batches if needed.

It doesn’t have to cook completely through yet. Remove and set aside.

Add the onion, carrots and celery to the same pot. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the minced garlic and cook for another 30-60 seconds, just until fragrant.

Add the chicken broth, thyme, rosemary, bouillon base and turmeric. Stir well, scraping up all those tasty browned bits from the bottom. Return the chicken & potatoes to the pot and add the butternut squash.

Bring everything to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered or partially covered for 25-35 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Add spinach at this time so it has time to just wilt.

Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add more salt, pepper, herbs or broth depending on how thick and seasoned you like your stew. Take out fresh herbs before serving.

My secret at the end is to add a couple T of butter. Let it sit for a few minutes before serving. And obviously… serve with a nice crusty roll for dunking. 😂🥖.

Serving & Variations

Serve the stew with a crusty roll for dunking. The broth and vegetables make this a bowl-style meal, while the roll is used alongside it for the liquid in the pot.

The recipe allows potatoes of choice, so use the potatoes you have selected for the stew. Butternut squash can be used fresh or frozen, with both options added to the pot with the chicken and potatoes before simmering.

For a thicker or thinner finished stew, use the final broth adjustment described in the recipe. Add more chicken broth after simmering if you prefer a looser consistency, then taste again and adjust the salt, pepper, or herbs as needed.

Wrapping Up

This chicken squash stew follows a clear one-pot order: season and brown the chicken, cook the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic, then simmer everything with broth, potatoes, squash, herbs, and bouillon. Spinach, butter, and the brief rest come at the end. Remove the fresh thyme and bay leaves before serving, then bring the stew to the table with a crusty roll for dunking.

Recipe created by Xena’s Kitchen for Trust Me Try It.

Chicken Squash Stew: Easy One-Pot Dinner

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2-2 lb chicken breast and thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 cup butternut squash, fresh or frozen, cubed
• 1 bag Potatoes of choice (I used little potatoes from the little potato co. 1.5 lbs
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4-5 clove garlic, minced
• 6 cup chicken broth, plus more if needed
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• a couple hand fulls of Fresh spinach
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 T bouillon base of choice I used roasted garlic
• Couple sprigs of thyme to sit on top with a bay leaf or 3
• Optional: A little olive oil for sautéing the chicken and vegetables.

Instructions

• Season the chicken with some of the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika.
• Heat a large pot over medium-high heat with a little olive oil. Brown the chicken in batches if needed. It doesn’t have to cook completely through yet. Remove and set aside.
• Add the onion, carrots and celery to the same pot. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the minced garlic and cook for another 30-60 seconds, just until fragrant.
• Add the chicken broth, thyme, rosemary, bouillon base and turmeric. Stir well, scraping up all those tasty browned bits from the bottom.
• Return the chicken & potatoes to the pot and add the butternut squash.
• Bring everything to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered or partially covered for 25-35 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through.
• Add spinach at this time so it has time to just wilt.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add more salt, pepper, herbs or broth depending on how thick and seasoned you like your stew. Take out fresh herbs before serving.
• My secret at the end is to add a couple T of butter.
• Let it sit for a few minutes before serving. And obviously… serve with a nice crusty roll for dunking. 😂🥖.