Lebanese Chicken Stew with Vegetables is a mouth-watering dish packed with Middle Eastern flavors! It’s all in one pan and cooked purely on the stovetop, making it excellent for weeknight dinners!
Don’t even try to identify all the flavors when eating this dish; just enjoy every bite.
Lebanese chicken stew is smoky, tangy, and slightly sweet — and that’s just what I can identify. 🙂
Serve with Lebanese pita bread to soak all the sauce; expect a deliciously warming chicken dish that is bound to become a family favorite!
FOR MORE CLASSIC LEBANESE RECIPES, CHECK OUT THESE POSTS!
Ingredients
- Olive oil – use extra virgin olive oil, if possible.
- Chicken – I always use chicken drumsticks for this chicken stew recipe from Lebanon.
- Butter – salted or unsalted will work well.
- Garlic – grated; you will add it in the last part of cooking.
- Leek – use only the white and light green part; sliced thinly.
- Carrots – peeled and diced.
- Celery – diced, identical size as the carrots, if possible.
- Tomato paste – just use your favorite brand.
- Lemon – you would only be using a portion of lemon juice for this chicken stew.
- Spices and seasoning – cinnamon powder, 7-spice, saffron, salt and ground black pepper.
- White wine – dry white wine.
- Stock – I generally use chicken stock for a deeper flavor of the stewed chicken drumsticks.
Preparation
Start making your chicken stew by seasoning the chicken drumsticks with salt and pepper.
Place a medium or large pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil.
Once the oil is ready, add the chicken.
Brown the chicken on all sides, transfer on a plate and set aside.
Add butter into the same pan.
Once the butter melts, add chopped leek, carrots, and celery.
Mix and cook until the leek has softened, then adjust the heat to medium.
Add cinnamon powder, 7-spice blend, saffron, salt, pepper, and tomato paste.
Cook for about five to six minutes, stirring constantly.
Place the chicken back into the pan and pour the white wine into it.
Deglaze by mixing and let the wine reduce.
Pour the stock.
Cover the pan with a lid and bring the stewed chicken drumsticks to a boil.
Adjust the heat to medium-low and simmer for about thirty to thirty-five minutes.
Combine the grated garlic with lemon juice and add it to the chicken drumsticks.
Mix, and adjust seasoning as desired.
Place the lid back and continue simmering for a couple of minutes.
Transfer your stewed chicken drumsticks into plates and serve!
Helpful tips
- Dry the chicken drumsticks with kitchen paper before seasoning to ensure they are not wet when you start adding them to the pan.
- Do not overcrowd the pan. Do the browning of the chicken into batches if they don’t all fit at once.
- Feel free to add a bit more olive oil if you feel there is too little fat in the pan, even after the chunks of butter have melted.
- Do not rush the cooking of the spices and tomato paste.
It’s an important step to get more depth of flavor from them.
- Remember to taste and adjust the seasoning of your Lebanese chicken stew after adding the garlic and lemon juice at the last cooking stage.
Recipe variation
- Stock. Vegetable stock is an excellent alternative if you don’t have chicken stock available.
- Other chicken parts. You can use different chicken parts, as long as you keep the skin and bones in them.
It makes the stew more flavorful than using boneless chicken breasts (as an example).
Looks absolutely tempting, right? Try this Lebanese chicken stew recipe a try one of these days, and let me know!
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📖 Recipe
Lebanese Chicken Stew Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken legs (about 500 grams)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 piece leek, thinly sliced (only the white and light green parts)
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2/3 cup white wine
- 1 & 1/3 cups stock
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1/2 teaspoon 7-spice blend
- pinch saffron
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- salt and pepper, to season
Instructions
- Season the chicken drumsticks with salt and pepper — generously.
- Heat olive oil on a medium or large pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is ready, add the seasoned chicken legs.
- Brown the chicken drumsticks on all sides, transfer them to a plate, and set them aside.
- Add butter into the same pan.
- Once the butter has melted, add chopped leeks, carrots, and celery.
- Mix and cook until the leek turns soft, then adjust the heat to medium.
- Add cinnamon powder, 7-spices, saffron, salt, pepper, and tomato paste.
- Cook for about five to six minutes, stirring constantly.
- Place the chicken drumsticks back and pour the white wine.
- Mix to deglaze and let the wine reduce.
- Pour the stock.
- Cover the pan with a lid and bring the stewed chicken legs to a boil.
- Adjust the heat to medium-low and simmer for about thirty to thirty-five minutes.
- Combine the garlic with lemon juice and add it to the stewed chicken drumsticks.
- Mix, and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Place the lid back and continue simmering for a couple of minutes.
- Your Lebanese chicken stew is now ready for serving!
Notes
- Cook’s Tip #1: Make sure the pieces of chicken are not wet when you start browning them — use a kitchen towel to dry them before seasoning.
- Cook’s Tip #2: Brown the chicken in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan.
- Cook’s Tip #3: Try not to rush the cooking of the spices and tomato paste. It’s an important step to get more depth of flavor from them.
- Refer to the post’s ‘Recipe variation’ section for substitutions.
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