Turmeric ginger chicken stew is the perfect easy recipe for a cold day. This cozy stew is a one pot meal featuring tender chicken, fresh vegetables, and a flavorful and creamy coconut milk based broth.
Looking for another delicious meal for a chilly night? Try our Thai inspired meatball soup with rice noodles, delicious dutch oven chili recipe, creamy chicken and gnocchi soup, or easy crockpot roast with gravy.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This hearty chicken stew recipe is a fun variation on a typical chicken soup recipe.
- It is made with simple ingredients that you likely have on hand, all in one pot.
- The spices used in this hearty stew combined with the creamy coconut milk create the best flavor.
- It is an easy recipe to take to a friend and can be made into a double batch if needed.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken breast or chicken thighs- either will work great for this recipe (boneless, skinless).
- Baby potatoes - we like using the baby Yukon gold potatoes. If you have a hard time finding these at your grocery store, you can buy regular Yukon golds and cut into about 1" chunks to get a similar result of tender potatoes.
- Coconut milk - the coconut milk helps to make a rich broth. We like using light coconut milk for this recipe, but if you want a creamier broth you can use full fat coconut milk.
- Chicken broth - we like to use low sodium chicken broth and add salt to taste. You can also use chicken stock.
- Spinach - spinach is our preference for this recipe, but chopped kale would be a great option too!
See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and measurements.
Recipe Tips & Variations
- You can switch up this recipe by using different types of fresh vegetables. You can try using sweet potatoes, green beans, or bell pepper.
- If you need to make this simple chicken stew recipe even easier, you can skip cooking the chicken and add in pieces of rotisserie chicken with the broth. This will still give a result with flavorful and tender chunks of chicken.
- This chicken stew recipe is delicious served with naan or crusty bread.
If you're in need of other easy one pot meals try out some of our other favorite recipes:
- One pot turkey lasagna soup
- One pan chicken sausage orzo skillet
- Crockpot chicken enchilada casserole
- One pan chicken thighs and rice
How to Make Turmeric Ginger Chicken Stew
For the full recipe instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Step 1: Begin by cutting the chicken breast into bite-size pieces. On a separate cutting board, cut the baby potatoes into quarters and chop the carrots and onions.
Place a large dutch oven or soup pot and 1 tablespoon of the oil on the stove top over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the pieces of chicken to the pot. Cook the chicken for about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through (an internal temperature of 165 degrees F). Remove the chicken from the pot, place it on a plate, and set aside.
Step 2: Add the additional teaspoon of oil to the pot and place the potatoes, carrots, onions, ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, and coriander in the pot. Mix until the vegetables are evenly coated. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften.
Step 3: In a small mixing bowl or glass pyrex measuring cup, whisk the cornstarch into the chicken broth until combined. Add the coconut milk and chicken broth/cornstarch mixture to the pot.
Step 4: Bring the contents of the pot to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Add the cooked chicken back in to the pot for the last 2-3 minutes.
Step 5: Add the chopped spinach and lemon juice.
Step 6: Mix until the spinach is wilted. Serve with minced cilantro if desired.
Turmeric Ginger Chicken Stew FAQs
We recommend storing leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container and eating within 3-4 days for best results.
This chicken stew is gluten-free and dairy-free. To make it vegetarian and vegan, use vegetable broth or stock and replace the chicken with a plant protein such as tofu or chickpeas.
Other Classic Comfort Food
If you make this creamy chicken stew recipe, please let us know how it turns out in the comments below and/or rate the recipe! Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram to show us your finished product—it makes our day every time we see you trying the recipes we love!
Turmeric Ginger Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast or boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 ½ pounds baby yellow potatoes
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 1 small white onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon cumin
- ¾ teaspoon coriander
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 2 cups chicken broth or chicken stock (low sodium)
- 1, 13.5 ounce can light coconut milk
- 3 cups chopped spinach or kale
- Fresh lemon juice, to taste
- Minced cilantro, for serving
Instructions
- Begin by cutting the chicken into bite-size pieces. On a separate cutting board, cut the baby potatoes into quarters and chop the carrots and onions.
- Place a large dutch oven or soup pot and 1 tablespoon of the oil on the stove top over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the pieces of chicken to the pot. Cook the chicken for about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through (an internal temperature of 165 degrees F). Remove the chicken from the pot, place it on a plate, and set aside.
- Add the additional teaspoon of oil to the pot and place the potatoes, carrots, onions, ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, and coriander to the pot. Mix until the vegetables are evenly coated. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften.
- In a small mixing bowl or glass pyrex measuring cup, whisk the cornstarch into the chicken broth until combined. Add the coconut milk and chicken broth/cornstarch mixture to the pot. Add the cooked chicken pieces. Bring the contents of the pot to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Add the cooked chicken back in to the pot for the last 2-3 minutes.
- Add the chopped spinach and lemon juice. Stir until the spinach is wilted.
- Serve with minced cilantro if desired.
Notes
- We recommend storing leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container and eating within 3-4 days for best results.
- This chicken stew is gluten-free and dairy-free. To make it vegetarian and vegan, use vegetable broth or stock and replace the chicken with a plant protein such as tofu or chickpeas.
- The recipe can be found on My Fitness Pal by searching "BWB Turmeric Ginger Chicken Stew." The nutrition content provided for each recipe is an estimate created through the My Fitness Pal database. Please be aware that the nutritional content of each recipe may vary based on the products you use, the precision of your measurements, and the source you use to obtain nutrition data. While we try to provide accurate information, we give no guarantee regarding the accuracy of the nutritional information provided.
NUTRITION
The recipe can be found on My Fitness Pal by searching "BWB Turmeric Ginger Chicken Stew."
The nutrition content provided for each recipe is an estimate created through the My Fitness Pal database. Please be aware that the nutritional content of each recipe may vary based on the products you use, the precision of your measurements, and the source you use to obtain nutrition data. While we try to provide accurate information, we give no guarantee regarding the accuracy of the nutritional information provided.
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