Food - Drink
The Key Step For Chunkier Chicken Stew
By AMANDA BRETZ
Stew is a hearty, rustic, and comforting dish, and with the benefits of lean protein and filling root vegetables, chicken stew is one of the best kinds you can make. However, it's easy for your thick and rich stew to wind up thin and soupy without knowing what you did wrong — here's the way to ensure truly rib-sticking chicken stew.
What separates stew from soup is that stew has less liquid and larger cuts of meat and vegetables. If your goal is a chunkier and heartier chicken stew, adding thickening agents such as flour or corn starch is a good start, but there's a better trick for thickening the broth without diluting the flavor: reducing it over low heat.
Reducing the base of your stew involves cooking the meat and larger chunks of veggies in the pot, then taking them out and letting the liquid simmer on its own. This allows excess water to evaporate so the stew thickens to your desired consistency, before you add the other ingredients back in and serve dinner.