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Slow Cooker Chicken Chickpea Stew

This easy gluten free Crock-Pot chickpea stew recipe sports: Layers of flavor from the garlic and spices, just enough underlying sweetness from the bell pepper to balance out the tangy olives and tomatoes, and satisfyingly contrasting textures in the chickpeas, shredded chicken, and mushrooms.
Course dinner
Cuisine slow cooker
Keyword chicken, chicken stew, crock-pot, slow cooker, slow cooker chicken
Total Time 6 hours 40 minutes
Servings 8
Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

- for the chicken

  • 2 tablespoon olive oil see Note
  • 3 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thighs trimmed
  • Sea salt to taste
  • Black pepper to taste

- for the stew

  • 1 medium yellow onion roughly chopped
  • 8 oz baby bella mushrooms roughly chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic about six cloves
  • 2 15 oz cans or one 28 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 2 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 teaspoon parsley
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon ginger
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne optional -- omit if you are sensitive to spice
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes I used Italian diced with onion, garlic, & olive oil
  • ½ cup Spanish Manzanilla green olives with pimiento

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, then swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. 
  • Season chicken with sea salt and pepper and place in pan, skin side down. Brown for about five minutes per side, using tongs to flip easily.
  • Meanwhile, add the chopped onion, mushrooms, and bell pepper to the bottom of your slow cooker, then top with minced garlic. Arrange the browned chicken thighs on top of the veggies, then pour in the chickpeas.
  • Season everything evenly with smoked paprika, oregano, parsley, cumin, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and cayenne.
  • Pour in the chicken broth and tomatoes, spreading the tomatoes across the top to make sure the chicken is fully covered, then top with the olives.
  • Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.  Carefully remove the chicken from the Crock-Pot and shred, discarding skin and bones. Stir the shredded chicken back into your stew, and serve!
  • Recommended: Serve your Chicken Chickpea Stew over rice, quinoa, or couscous. (I made my rice using the other half of my box of chicken broth, for extra flavor.)

Notes

For those watching these things, you do leave a lot of the oil behind in the pan after removing the chicken -- but I wanted to be sure to use enough to get some nice browning on both sides. You'll also remove the skin and bones before shredding the chicken thighs back into the stew, but cooking everything together helps impart a richer flavor to the final product.