Crock Pot Asian Chicken Stew
Now that the slow days of summer are over and school is in full swing, I’ve been thinking a lot about make-ahead meals, quick and easy recipes, and anything that can be made in the crockpot. Depending on my kids’ after-school schedules, sometimes it’s best to have dinner ready in the crockpot so the kids can eat dinner as soon as they walk in the door. I’ve found the crockpot and rice cooker make a great team – rice or quinoa keeps warm in the rice cooker, and one-pot meals stay warm in the crockpot, ready at anytime to be eaten.
This Crockpot Asian Chicken Stew is a recipe I tried recently with great success. All the ingredients just went into the crockpot without any stove-top cooking. I threw everything into my crockpot at 2:30PM, and by 4:30PM, it was done, and I just turned off the crockpot to keep dinner warm until the rice was done. I cooked this stew on high as I got a late start, and I used boneless chicken thighs cut into smaller pieces, so the cooking time was less than it would have been had I used chicken on the bone. Next time, I’ll start earlier in the day and try using chicken on the bone and cook everything on low.
The Asian flavors in this chicken stew come from soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, garlic, onions and sesame oil. I also added some Korean red pepper flakes which I’ve seen used in a similar Korean chicken dish. Finally, I tossed in some potatoes and carrots from my CSA box. The key is to make sure the vegetables are cut into small pieces so they cook in the same amount of time as the chicken. Since I used boneless chicken, this stew did not take that long to cook, just 2 hours on high.
Now I have two Asian inspired chicken crockpot recipes – this one and the Five Spice Braised Chicken I made last last fall. Served with a bowl of Steamed Brown Rice, either of these recipes would make a fine meal.
Asian Crockpot Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 4 dried shitake mushrooms soaked in 1 cup hot water for 2 hours, optional
- 1 pound boneless chicken thighs cut into 1" chunks
- One 1" piece fresh ginger peeled, minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 onion or 2 leeks chopped
- 4 carrots cut into 1/2" pieces
- 3 medium potatoes cut into 1/2" thick chunks
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce gluten-free
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
- 2 teaspoons Korean red pepper flakes or substitute a few dashes of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup mushroom soaking liquid strained
- 1 scallion minced, for garnish
Instructions
- Trim stem from pre-soaked shitake mushrooms; quarter mushrooms; reserve soaking liquid.
- Put all ingredients (except for scallions) in slow cooker and mix well. Cook on high for 2 hours. Sprinkle with minced scallions before serving. Serve with steamed rice.
Recipe Notes
If you don't have Korean red pepper flakes, you can leave them out and serve with your favorite chili sauce if you like spicy food. Alternatively, add a few shakes of cayenne pepper as a substitute.
This post has been linked up to Tidy Mom’s I’m Lovin’ It and Beyond The Peel’s Keeping It Real Thursday.
I love when a new dish comes together like that on a whim! This sounds awesome 🙂
Alyssa – I do too, especially when it’s as easy as this recipe.
Sounds delicious.
That looks SO good!
What a great meal for one of those crazy busy weeknights!
I used my crockpot yesterday–it’s definitely that time of year!
I’ve never been a huge crock pot person but you’re right, now that the school year is in swing it’s time to start thinking about breaking it out and getting better at it. This dish sounds like it might juts convince me that crock pots are brilliant after all. Thanks Jeanette!
I’m loving this easy crock pot meal Jeanette! I’ll have to give this a try and cook it on low during the day while I’m at work… I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I love this, Jeanette…the flavors sound amazing!
Yum! This recipe sounds fantastic. And that bowl is adorable! Where did you get it?
okay i totally need a crockpot
I haven’t used my crockpot in awhile, especially since it has been so hot here lately, but I’m sure I will be using it soon for make ahead meals like this. BTW, we all loved your Kung Pao Chicken tonight, and lucky me gets to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow 🙂
Complete savory deliciousness!! I’ve got to try this.
This is a really beautiful dish, I love that it’s full of Asian flavors. I really need to get out my crockpot for the season!
Gish I really wish I had a crockpot…Why don’t I own one. Seems silly really. This just looks lovely and I love the idea of throwing everything in a pot and walking away.
Does rice wine mean wine or wine vinegar? Just making now. Have vinegar.
Rice wine is not vinegar – it is a type of Chinese cooking wine. You can substitute sherry for rice wine (not cooking sherry, but a dry sherry).