White Stew is a classic Japanese-style stew made with chicken, mushrooms, and vegetables. Incredibly comforting, you want to soak up the delicious creamy sauce with steamed rice or crusty bread. A one-pot wonder that your whole family will embrace and love!
What are some of your favorite foods to make when the temperature drops? Do they have to be easy to make and devoured by adults and kids alike? If so, you’d enjoy this beloved Japanese-style White Stew (ホワイトシチュー), an ultimate comfort food that will be your next family favorite!
What is White Stew?
Influenced by the French cuisine, White Stew is essentially a simple dish that marries all the usual ingredients in a homestyle stew: chicken, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, and potatoes. What holds them together is a creamy, savory sauce known as Béchamel, made from butter, flour, and milk. It may be hearty, but not heavy, making it an ideal dish to serve for the entire family.
White Stew – A One-Pot Wonder to Cook in Your Dutch Oven
To make White Stew, it’s time to let the kitchen workhorse – Dutch Oven – works its magic. The whole meal comes together in one pot, just like what a weeknight dinner should be. Unlike other stews or braising recipes, there’s no long simmering required either. Just get your ingredients prepared in advance and the actual cooking time can be done under 45 minutes.
In this dish, start off by sauteeing onions and chicken. Once the chicken is cooked, slowly stir in the flour and milk. Then add in your vegetables, canned tuna, bay leaves, and bouillon. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil, and then let simmer for 20 minutes. Finally, add in broccoli and heavy whipping cream. Cook for another 5-10 minutes and the coziest dinner will be ready for the table.
Secret Ingredient for the White Stew
I had always made my white stew with chicken and vegetables until a friend of mine shared her secret ingredient with me – a canned tuna! Surprised as I did, I went ahead and added tuna into my original recipe, and boy, was I convinced right away.
Canned tuna may sound like an unusual ingredient to a stew, but you just have to gather up your courage (or trust) and give it a try. You’d be surprised how much complexity it adds to the stew.
Enjoy White Stew with Rice or Toasty Bread
Are you craving this yet? I hope so. Serve the stew with steamed rice or some toasty bread. It will warm your belly right up! For the leftover, remove the potatoes and keep the remaining stew in the freezer and save it for an emergency meal.
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White Stew - A classic Japanese-style stew made with chicken, mushrooms, vegetables, and tuna. It's a one-pot wonder that your whole family will love.
- 5 chicken thighs (5 thighs or 2 breasts)
- salt (kosher or sea salt; use half if using table salt) (or sea salt)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 onion (halved lengthwise and sliced)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 3½ cup milk
- 2 potatoes (cut into small pieces)
- 1 carrot (cut into small pieces)
- 1 cup corns (frozen)
- 8 mushrooms (sliced)
- 1 can tuna in oil (drain 90% of oil)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cube vegetable bouillon (optional)
- 2 cup broccoli florets
- ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
- Cut the chicken and season with salt and pepper (I put quite a bit – just a little bit more than usual). If the chicken breasts are thick, follow Kannon-Biraki and Sogigiri cutting techniques.
- Cut vegetables.
- In a Dutch oven (or large pot), heat butter on medium heat and sauté onion and chicken.
- When the chicken is cooked, slowly stir in flour and mix well.
- Slowly stir in milk. During this process, constantly scrape off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to prevent the flour from burning.
- Add potatoes, carrots, corns, mushrooms, tuna, bay leaves, and bouillon. Cover the pot with lid and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low (simmering) and cook for another 20 minutes. Make sure to stir once in a while.
- Add broccoli and heavy whipping cream. Cover to cook another 5-10 minutes until the broccoli is done to your liking.
- Serve with rice or bread. Season with freshly ground black pepper before you eat.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
