Crock Pot Sausage and Chicken Stew

Overhead photo of Crock Pot Sausage and Chicken Stew in a white bowl. There is a striped napkin and spoon on the table next to the soup bowl. The stew is covered with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

So this crock pot sausage and chicken stew. It’s one of those incredibly easy one pot meals where you prep the meal in the morning and let it slow cook all day, so that dinner is just about ready when you walk in the door at night. 

Is it not the best kind of meal?!

Ingredients

This is the basic shopping list for this chicken stew but be sure to check out the green recipe card below for the full ingredient list!

  • Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Italian sausage links (sweet or spicy)
  • Onion
  • Fresh garlic
  • Tomato paste
  • Fresh or dried thyme
  • Red pepper flakes
  • All-purpose flour
  • Dry white wine
  • Low-sodium chicken broth
  • Bay leaves
  • Canned cannellini beans (or other large white bean like Great Northern)
  • Fresh baby spinach
  • Parmesan cheese

How Long in the Crock Pot?

This chicken stew recipe that had me excited all day the day it simmered away a few weeks ago. Crock pot chicken recipes can vary in cooking time from 4 hours up to 8 hours. Here’s the LOW and HIGH cooking times for this stew:

  • LOW: 6 to 8 hours
  • HIGH: 4 to 6 hours

Instant Pot Conversion

You can definitely use your Instant Pot for this recipe as long as it has Sauté and Slow Cooker settings. Simply sauté the sausages and onions as directed in the stainless Instant Pot insert and then proceed with the recipe using the Slow Cooker function.

I don’t want to tell you how many slow cooker meals have fallen flat for us in the past few years. But not this one.  Who knew this one would become one of our newest favorite fall meals?  With its creamy gravy holding perfectly tender shredded chicken and chunks of sausage, white beans, and spinach, we unflinchingly downed this meal for lunches and dinners for three days straight. No holds barred, this stew rocked it for us.

More Stew Recipes

Overhead photo of Crock Pot Sausage and Chicken Stew in a white bowl. There is a striped napkin and spoon on the table next to the soup bowl. The stew is covered with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Crock Pot Sausage and Chicken Stew

Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes

Crock pot chicken stew is a fantastic cold weather meal will make your house smell amazing while it cooks all day long. A quick browning of the sausage and an easy aromatic roux allow the stew to perfectly thicken throughout the day rather than leaving you with loose chicken and sausage soup.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lb Italian sausage links (sweet or spicy)
  • 2 large onions, minced
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme (or ½ tsp dried)
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes
  • ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 (15-oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 8 oz baby spinach (about 8 cups)
  • Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Instructions

  1. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the slow cooker.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Cook the sausages until the are brown on all sides, about 1-2 minutes per side. They shouldn't be fully cooked at this point since they will continue to cook in the slow cooker. Transfer the sausages to a plate and set aside. Once they have cooled for a few minutes, slice them into bite-size pieces.
  3. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan and add the onions. If you don't have enough fat in the pan add some olive oil instead. Cook the onions for 5-8 minutes, stirring often, until they start to soften and brown lightly. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, thyme, and red pepper flakes. After about 1 minute and the onions are coated with the tomato paste, stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for another minute. Whisk in the wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Gradually whisk in 1 cup of the broth until no lumps of flour remain. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
  4. Stir the remaining 2 cups of broth into the onion mixture along with the bay leaves, beans, and sliced sausage. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.
  5. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker, shred it with two forks, then stir it back into the stew. Stir in half of the spinach and cover. Cook on high for 2-3 minutes before mixing in the remaining spinach. Cook for another 7-8 minutes on high until all of the spinach is wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over the tops of the stew before serving.

Notes

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Leave a Comment

  • Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie
    October 23, 2013 at 12:52 PM

    Loving this recipe for the slow cooker.

  • Melinda Z.
    October 30, 2013 at 4:26 PM

    We loved this recipe! It was hearty, but not heavy… quick, but not full of processed crap… and really nice to come home to on a chilly fall day. This recipe is a keeper for sure. Thanks!!!

  • taraliptak
    February 6, 2014 at 5:41 AM

    Hope you enjoyed it!