Easy Slow Cooker Chicken and Bean Stew simmered with garlic, onions, tomatoes, ginger, thyme and Caribbean spices. Comfort food never tasted so good! Pull out your slow cooker cause you’re going to want to make this ASAP!
My first slow cooker was an impulse purchase, and I got it because it was dead cheap. Sadly, it collected dust for MANY MANY years and to tell you the truth, for the life of me, I can’t really remember what happened to it.
This time, I am not going to let that happen; I bought this one with the intention of putting it to WORK. I’m getting my money’s worth. In fact, I have recipes lined up to try or remake in this crockpot. So be prepared.
This slow cooker chicken and bean stew has been crossed off that list. It’s quickly becoming a staple in my household. Incredibly popular when I serve it to a crowd and incredibly easy to make, with just about 10 minutes of prep time required.
Make it with canned beans or leftover beans – it’s quicker this way. I always boil more beans than needed and freeze to make soups and stews. No preference here, any beans will suffice.
Same with chicken, you can use boneless, or bone-in chicken breast or thighs. I used leftover bone-in chicken from a previous recipe and just took the skin off.
Notes
- Since slow cookers mellow out the flavors of spices, it’s always good to adjust your spices as needed towards the end of the cooking.
- If you don’t own a slow cooker, you can always make this stovetop too, it’s just that easy and practical. Just follow the same instructions and instead of adding everything into the pot, you add some stock, bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer until chicken is cooked through. Easy!
- When adding chicken, it is a great idea to brown the chicken first, for a few minutes, sauté the garlic, onions and other spices stove top, before adding to the crockpot. Seriously adds flavor.
- If you want to throw everything in the crockpot and cook away, that’s fine too. I always brown before adding to the slow cooker.
- After making this chicken and beans, you MUST make this corn bread. You would thank me later. Incredibly Delicious!
It’s a match made in heaven.
Enjoy!!
Easy Slow Cooker Chicken and Bean Stew simmered with garlic, onions, tomatoes, ginger, thyme and Caribbean spices. Comfort food never tasted so good! Pull out your slow cooker cause you're going to want to make this ASAP!
- 2 – 2 1/2 pounds chicken breast or thighs
- 2- tablespoon canola oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2-3 green onion diced
- 1 small jalapeno pepper seeded and minced (use scotch bonnet pepper if you want more heat)
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin spice
- 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 large bay leaf
- ¼-½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2-3 medium tomato chopped
- 4 cups cooked beans or 1-2 15oz. cans rinse and drained
- 2 cups chicken broth or more
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder optional
- Salt and white pepper to taste
- Fresh cilantro/parsley leaves optional
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Place chicken thighs in a large bowl. Then season with your preferred seasoning, salt or marinate with garlic, ginger, paprika, white pepper and thyme.
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When ready to cook, heat up a skillet or large sauce pan with about 2 tablespoons oil, and then brown the chicken about 3-4 minutes until chicken is golden brown. Remove and place in the crockpot. Drain any excess oil from the skillet and leave about 2 Tablespoons of oil or add more if needed.
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Add the onions, garlic, green onions, thyme, ginger,cumin, paprika, all spice, jalapeño and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add to crockpot.
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Then add beans, chicken broth, tomatoes, bay leaf, bouillon powder, and salt. Cover and cook on high for about 3-4 hours.
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Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 35 minutes or more until chicken is tender and has reached desired consistency.
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Adjust seasonings and thickness of soup according to preference with broth and spices.
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Remove shredded chicken, if desired, and serve warm with corn bread. Garnish with parsley ,green onions or cilantro.
- Since slow cookers mellow out he flavors of spices, it’s always good to adjust your spices as needed towards the end of the cooking.
- If you don’t own a slow cooker, you can always make this stovetop too, it’s just that easy and practical. Just follow the same instructions and instead of, adding everything into the pot, you add some stock, bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer. Until chicken cooked through. Easy!
- When adding chicken, it is a great idea to brown the chicken first, for a few minutes, sauté the garlic, onions and other spices stove top, before adding to the crockpot. Seriously adds flavor.
- If you want to throw everything in the crockpot and cook away, that’s fine too, but sauté and I always brown before adding to slow cooker.
When ready to cook heat up a skillet or large sauce pan with about 2 tablespoons oil, and then brown the chicken about 3-4 minutes until chicken is golden brown: remove and place in the crockpot.
Add the onions, garlic, thyme, ginger, paprika, all spice, jalapeño and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent, about 6-7 minutes. Add to crockpot
Can I use dried pinto beans?? If so would it be the same steps?
Yes, I would recommend soaking the beans overnight. However, I have not tried them that way so please let me know how it turns out.
Everything was absolutely delicious! I would add more pineapple in the muffins next time. Thanks
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback.
Fantastic dish. So much flavor. Served it over thick noodles. Thank you.
Glad you love it, Patty.
Different beans need different cooking times. Also tomatoes affect the cooking times of beans so that needs to be adjusted. I would also look at the typos in your blog. That affects things a lot as well
I don’t see anywhere what kind of beans you used, you just say beans.
Any beans would be fine. I used kidney red beans.
Holy cow this was delicious! I made it exactly how you suggested in the slow cooker and it might be my favorite slow cooker recipe of all time. I squeezed in some lime at the end but otherwise made as is. This is a keeper!
YESS!! So happy to hear this! Thank you so much!
Do you have the proportions for marinating the chicken with the ginger, thyme, etc and are you using any liquid in the marinade? I’m not as advanced as to trust myself on that.
You can start with these proportions here.
¼ teaspoon minced ginger
½ teaspoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Thank you!
I have made this soooo many times now. My family turns up their nose while it’s cooking but somehow it magically disappears when it’s done. It is so good that I wish it were cold out again already. The only things I do differently are breasts instead of thighs, cannellini beans and we hate the ‘smoked’ paprika. Otherwise this is a favorite again and again. Thank you so much!!!
I made this and it was amazing! This is definitely going in my keeper shelf.
Thanks!
Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to let me know, Francesca.
I only have cherry tomatoes. Is it okay if I use that or should I use a can of diced tomatoes instead? Also if I need more beans can I add some butter beans?
Thank you! Looks delicious
Yes to cherry tomatoes and butter beans.
The recipe looks great and I’m preparing things now to make it, but I’m not clear about the “marinade” step. If I don’t use a seasoning salt, are the ingredients for the marinade the same as the ingredients listed for the later step, i.e. if I use the fresh thyme, ginger, paprika, etc. now, do I not add those ingredients again in step 3? Also, is there a wet component of the “marinade”?
I used dried ingredients to season the Chicken – they are optional. You can use seasoned salt . The list of fresh ingredients are for the beans.
There is no wet component to the seasoning here. However, you can use some additional wet ingredients to spice it up , if you like .
This better be good. Gonna try it tonight overnight.
This was so good. I take liberty with recipes. If I don’t have an ingredient, I leave it out or substitute. Turkey wings, no paprika. I’ll be back to Africanbites for more inspiration.
Awesome! So happy to hear this! I feel recipes are just a guide. Thank you for taking the time to provide feed back! I do appreciate you.
It tastes delicious! i dont know if its me.. but it taste the same as the Moroccan stew haha.
did i so something wrong? oke its not exactly the same but a lot of similarities.
thanks for sharing! second week i tried your stews.
My Pleasure ! You are right they do have similarities. However, the Moroccan stew has different flavor profile and has the addition of olives. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Do you have th4e recipe for the corn bread?
Yes I do right here
What kind of beans do you use kidney or black?
I used kidney beans. Black beans would work as well.
This was amazing. These spices go so well together and all of the ingredients were stuff I already had nothing super special to look for specifically. My favorite kind of meal! Thanks you!!
Mine too! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Enjoy your slow cooker! I love mine… (though honestly, I often use it to cook ingredients rather than finished recipes – it’s an easy way to keep cooked beans or meat on hand for later recipes.)
I totally agree about the preliminary saute. You can skip it if you’re in a rush, and really have to, but it adds so much flavor…
I’ve done variations of this, but your spices sound wonderful. I never used allspice much, and am learning to – and loving it… this gives me another variable with it. Thanks.
I really fancy a big bow of this full of flavor chicken and bean stew. I might try something similar over boxing day with some left over turkey. Have yourself a fab Xmas break and catch up in the New Year.
Oh wow I love the spicy twist on this simple bean and chicken soup, sounds heavenly!
This sounds absolutely delicious! I don’t have a slow cooker at home (but luckily was able to use one while housesitting in Costa Rica) but I need to get one! It’s such an awesome kitchen gadget!
Oh Immy, I just love every bit of your posts. I have actually tried some recipes and am doing pretty well.
Thank you
Awesome!!! Super happy to hear this.
Oooh yes, I could go for a huge bowl of this right now! I love homemade stew, especially on a cold Winter’s night snuggled on the sofa. This would be just perfect!
This looks so comforting and delicious! I, too, always saute my onions and garlic and brown the meat – it adds so much flavour to the dish, I also find that onions never quite cook out properly in the slow cooker.
Yes, Yes. Totally agree.
This looks perfect for the cold winter months ahead. My slow cooker is also collecting dust somewhere, so I think i’ll give it a try on the stove top.
Ann, you need to pull out that slow cooker. You’ll be glad you did
Thanks for another fantastic recipe! It was a hit with the family, the littles included 🙂 I’ll definitely be making this again!
Where does one store the slow cooker when one doesn’t have enough space. 🙁 I need a slow cooker! Ah, this looks so so so good especially with the cold cold weather for this tropical girl.
I have that same problem too! Cleaned out my space and only kept a few cooking pans and pots.If I buy something new then something got to go. You need one Tropical girl
Line 4 of the instructions state add ketchup and brown sauce but no amounts are given
Silly me. Recipe updated . Not needed.Thanks
Looks amazing. I know this is going to be a hit. Will try this very soon.
Thanks! Don’t forget the cornbread. They really pair well together.
This is perfect! My favorite kind of slow cooker recipe. Definitely making this one!
Thanks Allison. Do tell how it works out for you.