Fall comfort food season is just starting in my neck of the woods, and I couldn’t be happier. I absolutely love stews, braises, beans, and the like for warming up on a chilly evening. I’m also pretty busy, so I like to multi-task my meals. This recipe for Smoked Chicken and White Bean Stew does exactly that. For dinner one night, I’ll cook a nice plump chicken spatchcock style and serve with some sides. I’ll pull the remaining chicken and use it for this stew for the next night.
Spatchcocking a Chicken
If you haven’t ever cooked a chicken spatchcock style, you really are missing out on an easy and flavorful way to cook poultry. You can do this with almost any bird, even turkey. I’ll have a write up on the full advantages and cooking methods for cooking poultry soon. The simple method for spatchcock is just this: cut out the backbone with poultry shears. Then flip the bird over and using a sharp knife, slice into the area between the breasts to break apart the wishbone. Slightly press the bird flat- you’ll hear a slight crack. Season, flip back over, season, and cook. It’s really that easy. I cooked a big chicken, ate half for dinner, then used the other half of the meat (hand pulled) for this stew. Rotisserie chicken is a good substitute for this recipe as well.
Making Smoked Chicken and White Bean Stew
As I said, with a plump chicken, I can usually make two dinners plus leftovers for easy meal prep. If you’ve got a bigger family, you can use a rotisserie chicken for this recipe, or just smoke two chickens instead of one for dinner, then pull the meat from the extra chicken. This is always a good idea, as there are so many delicious uses for pulled chicken. I hate canned beans, and will only use them in a pinch. So, the night I cook the chicken, I soak a pound of navy beans overnight. You’ll have a delicious dinner, plus leftovers for meal prep, and it will be very inexpensive.
Broth Bombs Anyone?
One of the coolest items we carry at The BBQ Allstars are Broth Bombs. These seasoning “bombs” react to proteins in beans and fizz. It’s pretty cool to watch! Plus, they’re very flavorful! I used their “drops of Jupiter” bomb for this recipe, and it really came out nice.
Interested in more stews and comfort food? Check out my recipes for Winter Pork Stew and My Favorite Beef Stew Recipe!
