This chicken stew recipe is packed with fantastic flavor and health benefits, thanks to the butternut squash and quinoa. Comfort in a bowl! 330 calories and 5 Weight Watchers Freestyle SP
I was patting myself on the back for this hearty chicken stew recipe all day long. Tasty? Oh my, yes. Healthy? You better believe it. Aroma? I'd say it gets a "15" on a scale of 1 to 10. This recipe formed in my head slowly, starting with some chicken thighs sitting in the fridge. Then I picked up a butternut squash at the grocery store, with the thought of making soup. Instead, I cubed and steamed the squash, mashing half of it to help thicken the stew. In went the quinoa, one of my favorite grains, for an extra punch of protein and fiber. The topper was a kick of briny flavor from some kalamata olives and a burst of freshness from a handful of chopped parsley.
While low in calories and fat, a bowlful of this chicken stew recipe easily satisfied my craving for comfort food. Also, butternut squash is high in Vitamins A and C, as well as fiber, so I knew I was getting a well-rounded meal to keep my body healthy for my daily workouts. One can not keep up with a high-energy "power pump" instructor without some decent fuel from which to draw. Seriously, this woman makes the Energizer bunny look like a total slacker. And she has about a dozen grandkids! Inspirational? Yeah, I'd say so.
This stew can be made in advance, but you may need to add a little more chicken broth before serving because the quinoa will expand as it sits. Either way, the flavors and textures are fantastic and it is sure to become a cold-weather favorite.
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Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds butternut squash peeled, seeded & chopped into ½-inch pieces
- 3 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- ⅔ cup uncooked quinoa
- ¾ cup pitted & quartered kalamata olives
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Steam the butternut squash until barely tender, about 10 minutes. Remove half of the squash pieces and set aside.
- Steam the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 4 to 6 minutes. Mash this squash with the back of a fork. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan set over medium-high heat, bring the chicken broth to a simmer.
- Add chicken thighs, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken thighs to a plate and allow to cool. Pour broth into a medium-sized bowl.
- Return the saucepan to the stovetop and lower heat to medium. Add olive oil.
- Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is starting to turn brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the salt, minced garlic and oregano. Cook, stirring, for 1 additional minute.
- To the saucepan, add tomatoes, butternut squash pieces, mashed butternut squash. Stir to combine.
- Stir in reserved chicken broth and quinoa. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.
- Shred the chicken with your fingers or a fork.
- Stir the chicken, olives and pepper into the stew and simmer, uncovered, to heat, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in parsley and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Other healthy stew recipes:
Left to right: Italian Split Pea Stew with Cauliflower, Spiced Mushroom, Chickpea & Tomato Stew, and Curry Red Lentil Stew with Tomatoes
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elembee123
This is our favorite recipe, hands down! It is at the front of our Favorites binder and when I make it, I use a 16 qt stockpot which ends up filled to the brim. This allows for freezing the excess to have later.
As I have never made it as written (quantity-wise) I am also adding my voice to the chorus of some estimate of how much a serving is. (*sigh* I'm also trying to track my calories a bit better.) If you make your recipe as is, how much total does it make? Based on that, I could divide it by 6 servings and get some sort of an approximation as to serving size.
Or, I guess I COULD make it as written...but...but...but! What would I stash in the freezer?! 🙂
For what it's worth, I have also made modifications over the years - it's a very versitile recipe! We omit the olives, I sometimes use turkey instead of chicken, I double the quinoa amount using 1/2 white and 1/2 red just for the looks alone, and I use WAY more broth as I've found that quinoa is very thirsty and we like ours a bit more soupy. Oh, and I ALWAYS forget to add in the parsley at the end.
And still, it is the most requested recipe in our family, no matter how it's fixed!
Two thumbs, WAY up! 🙂
Dara
It makes me very happy to hear how much you like this recipe. It's one of our favorites, too. I finally figured out the exact serving size, which is 1 2/3 cups. I hope that helps!
Pam
Hi Dara,
I'm getting ready to make this stew tomorrow. Because I am on a very low sodium diet (heart attack 2 weeks ago) I've had to substitute no salt added broth and tomatoes and omit the olives. I'm trying to redo the nutritional analysis but without the serving size it is impossible. 1/6 of the pot doesn't do it. How did you come up with your nutrition analysis if you don't know what a serving size is? Any ideas for me? If you use bowls, how big are your bowls that you use? One cup? Two cups? What about your dutch oven? How big is that and does the stew fill it up totally or maybe 3/4 full? Any help you can give me with this would be greatly appreciated as I'd really like to make and eat this tomorrow. Can't wait!!
Dara
Hi Pam, I finally figured out the exact serving size, which is 1 2/3 cups. I hope that helps!
aristea
enjoyed making your chicken stew and butternut squash with quinoa recipe. was super easy and absolutely delicious. we thoroughly enjoyed it on this cold, rainy day in new york. thank you for sharing.
Jess
Excellent recipe. We are very much enjoying this. Thanks!
Rose
hey - I've made this stew more times than I can count - I made it for every one of my friends who had new babies this summer (5? 8?) because it's so hearty and tasty and it also freezes well!
My husband doesn't like olives or quinoa, and it's still good without (though I do like them in the stew). Once you get the hang of making it, it's easy. The first time I felt like there was a lot to keep track of.
I roasted the squash too, like another reader, because I'm used to doing it that way. One trick I found was to roast it at 350 for 35 or 40 minutes, not all the way done (I think I roast my butternut squash usually for 50 minutes), so that the meat at the bell end is soft and smashable but the meat in the long end holds it's shape for cubing and throwing in the stew.
Thank you for this recipe!
Laura
I was curious about freezing. Do you follow the recipe and then just freeze it or did you find you needed to make any changes to it? Thanks!
Carol
This was amazingly fabulous!! We ate it for supper last night and I just had some leftovers for lunch. So delish! I thought I would mention a couple small changes that I tried. I roasted my butternut squash rather than steam it because I love roasted veggies in general. I added a bit of diced celery with my onion. And I was going to use my usual Italian herb blend for the oregano and then realized I was out (yikes!) so I subbed some herbes de Provence. Sadly, I didn't have any olives on hand but the next time I make this (and there WILL be a next time) I will be sure to have some. Thank you so much for this tasty recipe. It was a big hit here!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Carol, I am so glad that you enjoyed it and am glad to hear that you were able to make changes to fit your preferences and supplies. It is definitely a favorite at our house.
Amy
Quick question - I apologize if it's already been asked and answered: how much is a serving size? A cup? A cup and a half? I'd really like to make this ASAP.
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Hi Amy, I apologize - I haven't measured out the exact serving size for this dish, but promise to do so the next time that I make it. I typically just estimate one serving size as 1/6 of the stew.
Fran
This stew sounded great until I got to the olives.... No t hanks 🙁 Have you made it without the olives?
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
My husband is not an olive fan, either, but he loves the stew without them.
Jennifer
Looks delish, I was wondering if you need to rinse the quiona before adding it to the stew.
Carmela
Does this soup freeze well?
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Carmela, it freezes very well. I often make a double batch so that I can stick half of it in the freezer.