This Roast Chicken Leftovers Stew is serious comfort food and a great way to use up leftover roast chicken. Alternatively it can be made with pork, lamb or beef leftovers. No leftovers? No problem! This stew can be made with fresh diced chicken too.
There are few things in life as comforting as a big pot of chicken stew with pillowy soft dumplings. This is the food of my childhood memories. Mum made a stew almost every week with the leftovers from the Sunday roast…sometimes she served it with potatoes or a pie crust, but my favourite was when she made stew with dumplings!
This Roast Chicken Leftovers Stew is an absolutely fantastic way to use up leftover roast chicken as it can accommodate as much or as little leftovers as you have got. I have used 500g roast chicken in this recipe, but I have done it before with less, just use what you’ve got and use extra veggies and / or dumplings to make it stretch.
Of course it doesn’t have to be chicken, this warming stew recipe can be made with leftover beef, lamb, ham, turkey or pork. Though you probably want to omit the apple if you are doing this with lamb or beef!
If you don’t have any leftovers, simply add in the same quantity of fresh diced chicken thigh or breast instead. You can pan fry it first if you like, but I actually find I prefer the texture when the chicken is simply poached in the stew.
And of course if you can make this without meat at all and use either Quorn chicken pieces or tofu instead…or just extra veg!
The veggies below are really just a suggestion, use whatever vegetables you fancy (or have lurking at the back of your fridge). The total weight should be about 1kg. I do find root vegetables work best though.
If you don’t fancy dumplings with the stew, try baked potatoes, mashed potato or just a big hunk of crusty bread to mop up all the delicious gravy. Baked potatoes can be popped in the oven at the same time as you switch on the oven to preheat.
This Roast Chicken Leftovers Stew is delicious with a fresh and fruity chardonnay from France, Chile or New Zealand.
Need more ideas for your roast chicken leftovers?
Need more ideas? Check out my collection of easy leftover chicken recipes >>
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
- Beef and Ale Stew with Dumplings
- Diced Pork and Apple Stew
- Easy One Pot Irish Lamb Stew
- Easy Lamb Hotpot
Roast Chicken Leftovers Stew with Easy Peasy Dumplings
Ingredients
Stew:
- 200 g swede (rutabaga) chopped into 2cm chunks
- 200 g parsnips chopped into 2cm chunks
- 200 g carrots chopped into 2cm chunks
- 100 g mushrooms chopped into 1cm chunks
- 100 g leek chopped into 1cm chunks
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 750 ml chicken stock or vegetable stock, or whatever goes best with the meat you are using
- 500 g leftover cooked chicken shredded (or whatever leftover meat you’ve got)
- 1 large cooking apple chopped into 16 pieces
Dumplings:
- 200 g self raising flour
- 100 g suet meat or vegetable
- Salt
- Cold water
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 200C
- Chop the swede (rutabaga) and put it in a wide, deep pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Turn on to a medium heat and stir occasionally.
- Chop the parsnip and add to the pan, then repeat with the carrots, mushrooms and leeks. Give the pan a quick stir after you add each vegetable.
- Make a quick gravy by putting the two tablespoons of flour into a large jug. Pour over a small amount of cold chicken stock (or cold water if your chicken stock is hot) and stir to make a smooth paste, then add the rest of the chicken stock slowly to ensure there are no lumps.
- Pour the gravy into pan with the vegetables and bring to the boil, stirring until thickened.
- Add the shredded cooked chicken and stir again.
- Put the chopped apple into a large casserole dish that has a lid and pour over the stew, taking care not to burn yourself!
- Put the lid on and put the stew into the preheated oven. Cook for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile make the dumplings. Simply put the flour and suet into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and just enough cold water to make the mixture come together. Shape into 16 balls.
- After 25 minutes, take the stew out of the oven and give it a stir. Add a splash of boiling water if it looks dry and then place the dumplings on top and put the lid back on. Cook for a further 20 minutes, by which time the he veggies should be soft but not mushy. If you are not sure get a bit of swede out to check.
- Serve just as it is or with green vegetables.
Need more ideas? Check out these 12 Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Recipes
Love Chicken? Check out my collection of Easy Peasy Chicken Recipes
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Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food says
This recipe is just what I need! I’m always buying rotisserie chickens from the grocery—they’re such a great bargain! But I eat them backward, meaning that I first pull all the meat off the carcass and boil the bones to make broth. Then I spend the week incorporating the meat and broth into delicious dishes, and a can’t wait to try this one! Thanks for sharing on #BrillBlogPosts!
Eb Gargano says
That is such a great idea! You should so write a post about how you do that! I would definitely read it for sure….and I am sure it would help a whole lot of other people too!! Eb x
jenny walters says
This looks seriously amazing Eb.What a fabulous feast!perfect for all this cold weather.Yum x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Jenny. You are right – perfect winter comfort food!! Eb x
Jacqui Bellefontaine says
We often have chicken at the weekend and I usually make a rissoto with the left overs . But next time I shall give this ago as we love dumplings
Eb Gargano says
Oh if you love dumplings, then you need to try this! Perfect for using up leftover roast chicken!! Eb x
Joanne says
How long can you keep reheating the stew after it’s been cooked with chicken in it
Eb Gargano says
Different experts will say different things, the Food Standards Agency say you should only reheat meat once, other experts say you can do it more than that, so long as you do it safely. Here is this FSA guidance >>> https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/home-food-fact-checker And here is an interesting article on the BBC about this subject >>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35234184 Personally, I would err on the safe side and only reheat cooked meat once. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂