Last Sunday, my niece came over for a cooking session with me.
Definition of cooking session = I buy all the ingredients and do the cooking while she assist me and once we are done, I will pack the food for her to take back home where she and her other five family members can enjoy the food in the comfort of their home.
End of definition.
Yes some people are blessed with the best of aunt.
So, we did a pasta dish and one pot chicken casserole upon the niece’s request. I shall save the pasta for another day. Let’s talk about the one pot chicken casserole, shall we?
The beauty of a one-pot dish is that you will have less dishes and cleaning up to do after cooking. Cooking in one pot also means the flavors can mingle and come together beautifully.
Basically the steps for cooking this one pot chicken casserole are:
- Brown the chicken pieces.
- Sauté the aromatics and tomato puree.
- Throw in canned tomatoes, stock and a few other ingredients.
- Add in the chicken.
- Forget about it for the next 75 mins.
This is the kind of recipe that you would spend 20 minutes cooking and then letting it do it’s own thing for the next hour or so but do take note that when this is forty minutes into baking, you would have gathered the attention of your neighbors with the awesome smell of the casserole.
By the time this chicken is in the oven for 1 hour, your neighbors would have started secretly wishing that you would send a bowl over because the smell is a tad hard to resist. You would of course not be sending anything over as you want to have leftovers for the next day’s lunch. In my case, I needed to be the best aunt and send the niece off with this pot of chicken. As the clock ticks away, your neighbor would know that getting a bowl of this isn’t happening and they can just hope that you would post the recipe on your blog at the very least.
Anyways, since the chicken was cooking away for 75 minutes, this resulted in a chicken that was so tender and it soaked up all the sauce beautifully. You can either cook the chicken on the stove at very low heat or you can slow cook this in the oven. I chose the latter.
This one pot chicken casserole is a great dish for the whole family and it is also perfect when you have guests over. This can be served with anything, from rice to pasta to crusty breads and couscous. It’s great with mashed potatoes too! You can also throw any vegetables that you already have on hand like carrots, potatoes, leek. etc.
Hei neighbors, if you are reading this, sorry that I could not send any your way that day. Perhaps you can give this recipe a try and send some over to me instead?
- 1.2 kg of your favorite chicken parts (I used a mix)
- 2 onions, peeled and sliced
- 5 cloves of garlic , chopped
- ½ cup of celery - 1 cm cubes
- A few sprigs of thyme or rosemary
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 650ml chicken stock
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 x 400g tin butter beans (or any other beans that you prefer), drained
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Olive oil
- Place a large dutch oven or heavy-lidded pan on a medium heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle about 2 tbsp olive oil into the pan.
- Add the chicken pieces and cook for about 5 minutes on a medium/high heat or until golden brown.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and keep aside.
- In the same pot, add 1 more tablespoon of olive oil and add the onions and herbs to the pan and cook for at least 5 minutes.
- Add in garlic, fry for a further 30 seconds and stir in the tomato puree.
- Add in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.
- At this point, you can add the canned tomatoes, stock and season with salt and black pepper.
- Simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken pieces, celery and beans.
- Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer. Place the lid on and cook on the stove, under low heat for around 1 hour 15 mins.
- Alternatively, you can cook this in the oven.
- Serve with rice, bread or mashed potatoes.
Untung dapat auntie macam maya. InsyaAllah ummi akan try this resipi.
Hi Maya, love to try this dish. Just to ask u.how to do the chicken stock? Thank you.
Cik Siti, I used 2 chicken cubes dissolved in 650ml of hot water. You can also make your own stock by boiling chicken bones with water, ginger, garlic and salt. 🙂
Hey there Maya!
Your One Pot Chicken Casserole looks absolutely fabulous! Awesome photography that captures the ‘taste’ as well! We just made a one-pot meal a few days ago so this is really right up our alley!
It seems we share much in common too! My wife and I are both from Singapore (where it never snows, as you said on Pinch of Yum, LOL) although we are staying at Melbourne at the moment. We, too, also dabble in trading, though we do dividend stocks rather than Forex trading. 🙂
Really love what we’re seeing on your super-organized blog. Please keep ’em recipes coming! Everything looks delicious. 🙂
Foodishly yours,
Levan
Hei Levan, that is a lot of similarities….pretty cool aye?
Thank you for visiting! It is great to see a fella Singaporean ard here. Am gonna hop to your blog in a bit! 😀
I made this chicken last weekend and it does smell absolutely heavenly while it is simmering. I served it with garlic cheese polenta and it was wonderful. This will definitely be one of my favorite chicken recipes!
This looks amazing!!! so great of you to give cooking lessons to your niece!!
Mine wasn’t as pretty but it was divine! We had it with rice on the 1st day and the leftovers were eaten with baked potatoes. Delicious!
I’ve got this simmering on the stove now (I made it with a sick, sleeping baby attached to me in an ergo carrier, so that goes to show you how easy it was) and it smells delicious. Next time, if I use the oven, what temp does it go in on?
Hi Steph,
I am glad that the recipe was easy for you. I started at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes and I reduced it to 160 for the remaining 30 minutes.
Looks awesome! So I am Planning on making this tonight and was just curious about what type of onion you used and also what size of onion. Thanks in advance!
Hi Stephanie,
I used 2 medium sized white onions. Good luck! 🙂
Hi! I’m getting ready to make his now with chicken thighs. Should I peel off the fat first?
Hello Kat,
Yes, i always try to remove most of the fats. Happy cooking! 🙂
i want to make this for friends this week, and maybe I missed it but I was wondering what the serving size is for this?? I am a horrible estimator!
Hi Maya. This would suffice for 4-6 people, depending on their appetite. 😀 Have fun cooking this!
This is definitely a dumb question but i’m new to cooking so bear with me: when i’m cooking the chicken in the pot for those first five mins, should they become white throughout or is it ok if it’s pink since it’s getting boiled for an hour? E.coli fears and such got me sweatin 🙂
Hello Layley. Your question made a whole lot of sense to me, so no worries! So basically you just want the chicken to brown on the outside and the chicken would only be about half cooked at this point. After an hour, it’s gonna be cooked all the way through. Yes, no longer pink by then.:D
i would like to put the pot in the oven. Just to keep the house warm. What is the oven temperature? Thanks. Will make this for my future-son-in law.;))))
Hello Patchara,
I started at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes and I reduced it to 160 for the remaining 30 minutes. Your future son in law is a lucky man! 😀
im an American living in Germsny and need some clarification on your “tomato purée” would this be sauce or tomato paste?
Hello Elaine,
It’s tomato paste. 🙂
Good morning, I am really looking forward to making your delicious dish. What I was wondering is if it could be made in a crockpot for the second part of the cooking? Thank you so much!
Hello Mel. Yes a crockpot works too. Happy cooking! 🙂
Hi,
I can see the skin is still on for the wings but do you leave the skin on for the other pieces? I’m in 2 minds about it, it can add flavour but also lots more fat/oil and it will be gelatinous by the end.
Hello Nat,
I removed the skin from the chicken pieces, except for the wings. In my household, most of us do not eat chicken skin, so it is really a matter of preference. Yes, the skin would definitely add flavour. If you are unsure, you might want to do a half-half so that you would know as to how you prefer it? Keep the skin on for the wings and thighs perhaps 🙂
Hey there. I am planning on making this recipe tonight! I can’t wait. I think I’m going to put it over baked potatoes. since I will be pre making this and my husband will have to finish it off…….. (Not sure if I trust him)….. I saw you mention it can be finished in the crockpot. My question is, how long would it take to finish in the crockpot? and on high or low? Also, should I drain the diced tomatoes or put the juice in and all?
Thank you
Hiya. Oh baked potatoes sound yummy. I am planning to revisit this recipe with mashed potatoes next! In a slow cooker, cook on high for 3-4 hours, depending on the size of the chicken. And yes, tomato + juice included. Have fun cooking! Good luck to ur hubz 😀
Hello! I can’t see in the recipe when to add the celery? Going to give it a go this week! Excited
Oops just spotted it towards the end I’m sorry, disregardbut last message. I’ll let you know how it goes
Happy trying! 🙂
I made this recipe tonight – it was absolutely fantastic!! 5 stars all the way!
Im glad you liked it! Thank you for the feedback! 🙂
Would this sauce also work using beef? Maybe use beef stock instead? Anything else you would change?
Hi Tina! Yes beef would work too. Personally I would saute all the spices and aromatics first, then add the beef and stir-fry it for 10 minutes. Followed by the flour and after a few minutes of frying to get rid of the raw flour flavor, I would then add everything else. And yes, I would use beef stock too. 🙂
Would I be able to substitute dry thyme or Rosemary in place of the fresh? I’m not able to find it where I live.
Hi Julie. Yes definitely. In fact you can use any dried herbs that you prefer. 🙂
i would like to figure out a way to do this in a dutch oven outside over coals.
That would make it taste even more delicious! My late grandma used to cook using the coals everyday and her food tasted amazing. I presume you can brown the chicken pieces first over the stove and then cook the casserole over the coal for about 1-1.25 hours? 🙂
I am making this tonight. My family does not like beans (except in chili) so I will omit those. And my husband dislikes biting into celery in stews, etc. So I am going to put stalks of celery in when it’s cooking for the flavor, but remove them at the end. Lastly, I think I am going to use white wine in place of some of the stock. I love the flavor of wine in dishes like this. We live in the U.S. so I had to convert all the measurements. I hope I get them right!
Hello Jen! This recipe is really versatile. The changes that you are gonna implement sounds good actually! I hope your family enjoyed this dish! 🙂
Maya
I served mine with red bliss smashed potatoes. If I wanted to cook the potatoes with the protein, do you think I would put them in in the beginning, or go back and add them 1/2 way through the cooking? I wouldn’t want them to over cook.
It was really good. I added carrots. Used crushed tomatoes and added extra stock, plus white wine. I thickened the sauce more after it was done, while chicken rested in the oven. There was so much sauce, I ended up with tomato soup to have as leftovers.I think if you wanted to quick prep, all the things could be dumped into a crockpot without the browning first. I am going ot make this with meat next time. I love recipes that are adaptable like this.
Does this receipe freeze well?
Hi Lyn,
Yes it does. I would usually not add the beans first If I am planning to freeze them. I would only add the beans prior to heating up the casserole. Hope that helps. 🙂
So I made this tonight, and while it was tasty and definitely made my house smell great, I would do a couple of things differently next time. 1) It had way too much liquid. I’d drop the chicken broth to 1 cup and add more if needed. 2) I would use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs. It’s way too messy to have to worry about getting meat off the bones. It almost seemed more like a stew, but as I said, it was very tasty!
Hi Laura! Yup boneless chicken would work too…just that our family somehow love the chicken bones and the bones do add flavour. The proportion of the liquid was good for me as we wanted more gravy to go along with our mash and stuffs..but then again, cooking is all about experimenting what works better for you. Glad you liked the dish!
Hi Maya! I’m making this dish tonight, but I don’t have chicken stock… I am wondering if I can substitute it with beef stock instead?
Hiya. Yes you can. Good luck! 🙂
You could use boneless pieces, leave out the celery and beans, and use this over pasta as well.
Yums! That sounds like a good idea!! Thank you for sharing!
Hey Maya, looking forward to trying this recipe tonight….always looking for something different and this looks really good. Will let you know the verdict lol, husband, son and girlfriend, daughter and boyfriend and mum in law here for dinner so the variety of tastes will be met with this recipe 🙂
Hello Frances. I hope the recipe works for you and dinner would end up great 😀 Have fun! 🙂
Hi! I want to try this recipe with a whole cut up chicken. Do you think this will work well with chicken breast added in? I’m worried about it getting a bit dry, but maybe because we’re braising, it doesn’t really matter?
Hi Grea. Ya it’s gonna be okay. Mine turned out tender. 🙂
This looks incredibly taste-worthy and I am hopeful you have US conversion measurements to offer? Thank you for wonderful blog and recipe!
Hi
If cook in the oven, is this 180 degrees followed by 160 degrees for a Fan oven?
Hi Chris. Yup, that would be fine.