A flavorful Lemon Chicken Stew cooked together with vegetables and a lightly thickened lemon sauce.

This stew is a really healthy one also. For this recipe, we're using chicken parts containing bone. This means the chicken creates its own broth while it slowly simmers. And it is one of the reasons this stew is so healthy, but also yummy. And I'm sure most of you are already familiar with the health benefits of bone broth. As it's becoming more and more popular nowadays. And for those of you who aren't, you can read this article here.

-And if you want more delicious recipes using whole chicken, try Avgolemono soup. The Authentic Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup that is made with a whole chicken.

Other reasons this stew is really healthy are the vegetables it contains. And the lemon juice, that contains vitamin C and helps with the absorption of protein among other things.

Ingredients To Make Lemon Chicken Stew

THE CHICKEN

To make this Lemon Chicken Stew you need a whole chicken cut into 8 parts or just chicken parts that weigh 1.5 kg (3.3 lb). You can use only chicken legs for example cut in half. Or simply use drumsticks to make it. It doesn't really matter, as long as they contain bone. And ideally, opt for a free-range chicken to give extra flavor.

THE VEGGIES

This stew is made with potatoes, carrots, zucchini, leeks, and spring onions. Though vegetables like zucchini and Spring onion are more into the Spring-Summer season, you can easily substitute them during the colder months for other seasonal vegetables. Such as broccoli, cauliflower, and white cabbage. You can use any of these instead of the zucchinis. They all match nicely into this stew. As for the spring onions simply use red or white onions but don't forget to add them together with the leeks and saute them nicely first.

THE SAUCE

To make the lemon sauce for this stew you need to let the chicken slowly simmer to release its collagen first. This you do after you sear it in hot olive oil first. To give it some colour and a stronger flavor. Then remove the chicken from the pot, and saute the leeks and onions that will give a natural sweetness to the sauce. And once these are nice and soft, you add the seared chicken parts back to the pot.

Pour some apple cider vinegar on top or some white wine instead and wait a few minutes to evaporate. Each one of these ingredients helps to soften the meat and break down the fat. I prefer using apple cider vinegar as I like its fruity flavor for this stew. Just make sure you use organic apple cider vinegar otherwise it will be too rancid.

You can then cover the chicken with some water and vegetable stock, add the seasonings (thyme + bay leaves), and let it slowly simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes before adding the vegetables.

Once both the chicken and vegetables are cooked you can thicken the sauce with some cornstarch. To do this mix some cornstarch with cold water and pour it into the pot. Cornstarch starts to thicken as the sauce boils. So let the sauce boil for 2-3 minutes in order to thicken. And then you can add the lemon juice and zest, and a little bit of butter, turn the heat off but without removing the pot from it until the butter melts completely.

And all that's left, is to serve and enjoy with plenty of freshly ground pepper on top and perhaps some crusty bread as well to dip in the delicious sauce!

Recipe