Chicken Stew with Garbanzo Beans and Butternut Squash

This is another recipe I got from Cooking Pleasures that I make somewhat regularly. It is easy, cheap, filling, and while slightly bland-ish, is something I find a craving for on occasion. Because I cut up whole chickens for recipes that typically require breasts, this is a great go-to recipe for when I have some whole legs.

Chicken Stew with Garbanzo Beans and Squash

1. 2 tbsp olive oil
2. 1 large onion, finely chopped
3. 1 red bell pepper, chopped
4. 3⁄4 tsp cinnamon
5. 4 chicken thigh and leg portions (or 4 thighs and 4 drums), skin removed
6. 1⁄4 c pearl barley
7. 1 c reduced-sodium chicken broth
8. 3⁄4 tsp salt
9. 1⁄4 tsp freshly ground pepper
10. 1 (1-lb.) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 3⁄4-inch pieces
11. 1 (15-oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed

Heat oven to 400°F. Heat oil in large heavy ovenproof pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add onion, bell pepper and cinnamon; cook 6 to 7 minutes or until onion is very soft, stirring occasionally.


Increase heat to medium-high. Add chicken thighs and chicken legs;


cook until lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes, turning once. Reduce heat to medium.

Distribute barley around chicken; add broth, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Cover with foil, then with lid.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until chicken is partially cooked.

Remove from oven; add squash and garbanzo beans around chicken.


Cover and bake an additional 30 to 35 minutes or until squash is tender and chicken juices run clear.

8 servings

8 servings? Yeah right. This gives us three, maybe four, servings. What can I say, Rodney can put it away. I'd rather he load up on this than crap like Doritos or Crisp'n'Tasty "pizza".

Cost: Most of the stuff we have on hand but for the stuff we'd have to buy to make this:

1. chicken quarters, it's about $3 (or less) total (if you cut up your own chickens!)
2. 1 lb. squash, $0.99
3. red pepper, $1
4. $0.75 for a can of beans

It essentially costs us $6 if I include having to buy the other stuff and portion it for this recipe specifically. That comes to about $1.44 if you use our serving size. If you consider this enough for eight (I don't know how unless it's one adult and seven toddlers), then yeah, this is $0.72 a serving. I don't know how much cheaper you can get. You can't even do boxed mac'n'cheese this cheap. Who wants to eat a plate of mac'n'cheese when you can have this?

I remove the bones from the pieces after it comes out of the oven. It's not as pretty as it is if you serve some stew with a whole piece of thigh or drum, but it's easier to eat. The first time I did this, I gave Rodney and myself a chicken quarter along with a portion of the rest of the stuff. I found that

1. it was too much for me to eat
2. we needed a "waste container" at the table for the bones and sinewy/cartiledgy parts -- gross, unless you are eating seafood

Deboning it from the pot is easy, especially if you use whole chicken leg quarters since you can count exactly how many bones should be coming out and don't have to fish around too hard for them.

For this, dinner is done in about 1.5 hours with enough leisure time between to get some stuff done. And if you have 6 leg portions instead of 4, that works too. Is your squash a little too big or too little? That's ok, use it anyway. Just try to get the pieces the same size so they cook evenly.

Most important: You won't be chained to the stove. I promise.

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