Last weekend, leaf peeping in Vermont, we bought some soup to go from the Green Goddess Cafe in Stowe to have for dinner after our sunset hike up to Artists Bluff. We knew we’d be back a little late and didn’t want to deal with finding a restaurant in the dark. We got back to our cozy cabin and warmed up two big bowls of this Country Chicken Stew and it hit the spot. One of the many reasons we love staying in Airbnb’s while traveling. You feel more at home.

We thought that the cafe’s “soup of the day”, Country Chicken Stew sounded good but didn’t expect it to be THAT good. Kyle and I were both super impressed. I’m not sure why, but not many restaurants serve soup and it’s almost never as good as the soup you can make at home. Am I the only one that thinks that?

Anyway, I was so inspired and had to do a little research and development to try and recreate this soup. The week we returned from Vermont also just so happened to be the perfect week to make a soup – the temps drops below freezing and it was gloomy and rainy. Well, guys, I nailed this recipe! I have already made it twice and I am sure we’ll be enjoying it all fall & winter long.

It’s like a cross between chicken noodle soup and chicken pot pie filling. You can add in whatever veggies you have on hand or have in your freezer. Don’t have peas? Add some green beans! Don’t like mushrooms? Don’t add them! Rice instead of potatoes? Go for it! Do your thang – there are no rules here!

First step is to cook the chicken thighs. I prefer to cook them whole and then dice up after it has cooled slightly. You can also use kitchen shears to cut the chicken up and then cook it.

Then cook your veggies and garlic. Add in the herbs and more salt & pepper. Once that is all cooked, stir in the arrowroot starch. It’s going to get clumpy which is what it is supposed to do. Once you add in the milk it’ll smooth out.

The milk and arrowroot starch will make the mixture super creamy. Add in the rest of those veggies and it’ll start to look more like the filling of a chicken pot pie.

I have listed below a couple of options for making it creamy. Gotta get creative when you’re trying to stay gluten free and dairy free. I have tried both methods and honestly do not have a preference because its great either way.

Pour in the chicken broth and let the stew simmer until the potatoes cook through. That will be about 15 minutes. Poke one with a fork to test them out and cook a little longer if you need to.

Serve it up with some buttered toast or alongside some crackers and pretend you’re enjoying it in a cozy Vermont cabin!

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Country Chicken Stew (Paleo + Dairy Free + Gluten Free)

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Author Kendra Fredrickson

Ingredients

• 2 tbs avocado oil
• 1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs
• 1/2 small yellow onion diced
• 2-3 stalks celery diced
• 2-3 large carrots diced
• 1-2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp dried sage
• 3-4 tbsp arrowroot starch
• 1 cup cashew milk or cows/goats milk
• 3-4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup peas fresh or frozen
• 1 cup mushrooms rough chopped
• 1-2 cups yukon gold potatoes diced

Instructions

1. Add 1 tablespoon of avocado oil to a large stock pot and heat to medium high heat. Add the chicken thighs and season with some salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and cook until chicken is cooked through, flipping them once. Transfer to a cutting board to cool off a little bit. You will then dice up the cooked chicken thighs to add back into the stew later.

2. Add the remaining tablespoon of avocado oil to the stock pot on medium high heat. Add in the diced onions, carrots and celery. Cook until the onions are transparent. Then, add in the minced garlic cloves. Cook for a couple more minutes and add in the herbs.

3. Add 3 tablespoons of arrowroot starch to the veggie & herb mixture and stir around. Cook for a couple of minutes. This is going to end up being clumpy (that's totally how you want it!) until you add the liquids.

4. Add in the cashew milk and stir. This will look a lot like a thicker chicken pot pie filling.

5. Then add in the peas, mushrooms and diced potatoes. This will look a lot like a thicker chicken pot pie filling.

6. Add in all of the chicken broth. Heat until boiling then reduce to simmer for about 15 minutes to cook the potatoes through.

7. *If using the blending method mentioned below, now is when you would ladle out some of the soup to blend and then stir it back in. **Or you would add your slurry.

8. Add the diced chicken thighs and stir. Let simmer, taste, add more salt & pepper if needed.

9. Serve while its' hot or let it cool, transfer to a glass container and store in the fridge for a couple of days. Reheat in the microwave or stovetop.

Recipe Notes

*If you'd like a creamier soup rather than broth based there are two options: 1) before adding the chicken back in, ladle out one cup of soup (mostly potatoes) and transfer to a blender or a jar using an immersion blender. This will have a consistency like potato soup that you can add back in to thicken the stew. If you can tolerate dairy, add a little heavy cream to the potatoes before blending. 2) Create a slurry by adding some broth to a jar with 1 tablespoon of arrowroot starch. Shake it up and then add to the soup and simmer.