Chunky Paprika Chicken and Vegetable Pot

This is chunky satisfying slow-cooker stew recipe packed with juicy chicken thighs, peppers, courgettes, sweet potato and chickpeas – all the fuel you could possibly need to get through the day.

It’s pretty versatile so could make for a family dinner served with mountains of buttery mash or served soup-style in deep bowls for lunch with doorstep slices of crusty bread. I think it would also go nicely spooned over a jacket spud with a grating of cheese on top.

The key is to make a big batch at the weekend, then portion it up in pots and either keep it in the fridge for the week ahead, or shuffle it off to the freezer ready to be plucked out when you want a nutritious home-cooked meal but have no time to make anything. It’s the ideal kind of meal to have on-hand when you’ve just got back from a weekend-away!

I made this in preparation for my mum and her partner coming to stay, so there’d be something easy for them to heat up for a meal. It’s also perfect for me to take a pot of to work to heat up for lunch.

Chunky Paprika Chicken and Vegetable Pot

Serves 4-6
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 4 hours 15 mins

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
6 chicken thighs
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp chopped sundried tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped roasted red peppers
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 courgettes, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 handful cherry tomatoes
1 lemon, zest only
300ml chicken stock
500g passata

Method

1. Put the slow cooker on it’s 15 minute browning setting and heat the oil and add the chicken thighs with the paprika and stir until the meat has started to cook – about 5 mins. Add the onion and cook for around 3 mins and as it starts to soften, add the garlic, sundries tomatoes and roasted peppers and cook for a further minute.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and give everything a good mix. Once the browning setting period has ended, set the slow cooker to a 4 hour setting, cover and leave to cook.

3. Serve with mash on the side  or soup-style in bowls with crusty bread.

Cook’s tip: If you’re serving this recipe as a plated meal you don’t need to chop the chicken thighs and could leave them whole. Chopping the meat makes it go further and also makes it easier to eat out of a bowl (or at your desk!)

New-look!

You’ve probably noticed that things are looking a little different around here… Well I thought so much has changed in my life in the last 12 months that it was about time my blog got a new lease of life. Let me know what you think in the comments below, but hopefully the fresh design will help you find all of my recipes more easily! A huge thank you goes out to Jo at Callia Web who’s been beavering away behind the scenes making all of this possible, and also to my talented friend Nisia who generously designed the beautiful graphic banner which depicts so perfectly my new coastal life with the boys!