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Home » Main Dish » Soups, Stews, and Chilis » Chicken and Sausage Stew with White Beans and Spinach

Chicken and Sausage Stew with White Beans and Spinach

By Valerie · January 17, 2020 · Updated May 21, 2020 12 Comments

OP One Pot MD Main Dish
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Chicken and Sausage Stew in a bowl with overlay text.

An easy stovetop method and simple ingredients create this flavor-packed Chicken and Sausage Stew with White Beans and Spinach. A rustic, comforting choice for a cold winter evening.

A pot filled with chicken and sausage stew with white beans and spinach.

Don’t you just love cold weather food? I’ve been in a soup and stew mood since November and our cool winter temps have kept that mood going strong. I’ve had such great feedback from so many of you on my Instant Beef Stew and my recipe for Classic Stovetop Beef Stew has become one of the top posts on Valerie’s Kitchen since the onset of fall. Well, I’m right there with you and we’ve been enjoying both of those recipes here as well.

I opened the blinds in our bedroom this morning and was stunned to see a blanket of white covering the ground. We finally had our first Oregon snow! I literally ran for my sweater and boots and with a pretty serious case of bedhead, ran out the door to snap photos. Check out my Instagram story to see what I’m looking at through my windows as I write this post.

The timing could not be better to be sharing this incredibly comforting Chicken and Sausage Stew with you all today. I love this lighter take on stew. The fact that it’s a one pot recipe means less time in the kitchen cleaning up and more time cozying up by the fire.

A pot of Chicken and Sausage Stew.

Bites of boneless chicken thighs and sausage cook together in a deliciously seasoned broth until fork tender. Creamy cannellini beans and fresh baby spinach add texture, color, and great nutrition.

It all happens in one pot on the stove and the result is pretty darned fabulous.

How to Make Chicken and Sausage Stew with White Beans and Spinach

The prep for this recipe includes trimming any excess fat from the edges of boneless, skinless chicken thighs and dicing up some veggies. Easy.

You’ll need a Dutch oven or nice sized soup pot.

What is Mirepoix?

A mirepoix is the aromatic base of a multitude of soup and stew recipes and the first step in creating this tasty Chicken and Sausage Stew. It sounds fancy but it’s just the simple combination of diced onion, celery, and carrots slowly cooked in either butter or oil until tender. We’re also adding a little garlic to the pot. This cooking over LOW or, in the case of this recipe, MEDIUM-LOW heat, coaxes out lots of great flavor.

Two in process images showing the carrots, celery, onion and garlic cooking in the Dutch oven with tomato paste.

When the veggies are nice and tender you’ll add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste to add a rich depth of flavor to the stew.

Two in process images showing flour added to the vegetable mixture in the pot.

Instead of thickening the stew at the end of the cooking process, flour is added and combined with the veggies before the broth is added.

Two in process images showing chicken broth and the remaining ingredients added to the pot.

Low-sodium chicken broth goes in next and then the sausage, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, cannellini beans, and seasonings. I highly recommend going with cannellini beans instead of smaller white beans. They are more substantial and add a wonderful creaminess to this stew.

Make it Low in Fat and Calories

You will save quite a bit of fat and calories by using chicken or turkey sausage in this recipe. The nutrition information on the recipe card below was calculated using chicken sausage and it comes to 420 calories per serving. That’s low enough that I don’t have any issue at all adding a nice sprinkling of Parmesan to mine.

Any fully-cooked smoked sausage will work so go with what works best for you and your diet.

A close up image of Chicken and Sausage Stew with White Beans and Spinach in a Dutch oven.

The last step is to add fresh baby spinach and remove the pot from the heat. The heat from the stew is all you need to wilt the spinach.

A ladle lifts up some of the stew.
Chicken and Sausage Stew in white bowls garnished with Parmesan cheese.

Shredded Parmesan adds a nice, salty bite. It’s the perfect way to finish of this delicious stew.

A close up shot of the stew in a white bowl with a spoon.
A two image vertical collage of Chicken and Sausage Stew with White Beans and Spinach with overlay text.


Valerie’s Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. 

A pot filled with chicken and sausage stew with white beans and spinach.

Chicken and Sausage Stew with White Beans and Spinach

An easy stovetop method and simple ingredients create this flavor-packed Chicken and Sausage Stew with White Beans and Spinach. A rustic, comforting choice for a cold winter evening.
5 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 420kcal
Author: Valerie Brunmeier

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 carrots, peeled, halved length-wise and sliced (1/2-inch slices)
  • 2 ribs celery, sliced
  • 1 cup diced sweet yellow onion
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 12 ounces smoked sausage, sliced (chicken, turkey or beef)
  • 29 ounces cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (2 14.5 ounce cans)
  • 14 ounces fire-roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste (optional)
  • 5 ounces roughly chopped baby spinach big stems removed (about 3 cups, tightly packed)
  • finely grated Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Instructions

  • Trim the chicken thighs of excess fat and cut into bite-size pieces.
  • Heat oil over MEDIUM-LOW heat in a large Dutch oven. Add carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Cook until onions are tender, about 5 or 6 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir until combined well with the veggies. Stir flour into carrot mixture until well blended. Gradually add broth and cook until mixture is thickened.
  • Increase heat to MEDIUM and add chicken, sausage, beans, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper (if using). Once mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to LOW, cover the pot and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked and fork tender. Stir spinach into hot stew and remove the pot from the heat. Allow the spinach to wilt from the heat of the stew and serve.

  • Serve with grated Parmesan.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 420kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 980mg | Potassium: 1034mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4814IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 138mg | Iron: 6mg
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Categories: Main Dish, One Pot, Poultry, Recipe, Soups, Stews, and Chilis

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Reader Interactions

Latest Comments
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  1. Sharon says

    February 22, 2021 at 1:03 pm

    Hi…I made this for our dinner tonight..it was amazing…I followed the directions to a tee…will definitely make it again…served with crusty bread and a salad

    Reply
  2. Leanne Suess says

    February 19, 2021 at 11:45 am

    Haven’t made this yet, but I’m not a fan of beans. Can I sub in some potato, or maybe some barley?

    Reply
    • Valerie says

      February 27, 2021 at 10:30 am

      Sure!

      Reply
  3. Sharon S. says

    January 10, 2021 at 5:33 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious! I only had lamb sausage and Tex-Mex diced tomatoes on hand but I liked the kick they gave this stew. My husband asked to have this put on our regular rotation.

    Reply
  4. Sharon says

    December 31, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    5 stars
    I made this soup for our New Year’s Eve dinner. I made half a recipe and it was probably still more than four servings. I had one chicken breast and one red-pepper garlic chicken sausage, used chunky home-made tomato sauce and otherwise I followed the recipe. Served it with black-pepper onion bread from our favorite French Bakery and some cheese and crackers and kalamata olives on the side.

    Reply
  5. Dee says

    December 30, 2020 at 11:21 am

    It’s only my husband and I so Can this recipe be frozen? I could see leaving out the beans to freeze?

    Reply
    • Valerie says

      January 21, 2021 at 9:41 am

      Beans freeze very well so there is no need to leave them out. The spinach won’t fare as well but I think overall it will be fine.

      Reply
  6. James Friedman says

    December 8, 2020 at 6:21 pm

    5 stars
    Okay to I made this today. Delish. Some modifications were: I cooked 1 1/2lbs of sliced Italian sausage and added to the chicken, also I tsp Applewood Smoked Salt. Prep took about an hour. So 2 hours from start to finish.

    Reply
  7. Sylvia says

    November 9, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    5 stars
    I made this soup and it was SO delicious, I tweaked it a touch per my family’s taste (less tomatoes, more carrots). Family LOVED it. Ate it with sour dough bread
    I have a question…How many cups is 1 serving please? Tgank you!

    Reply
  8. Suzanne Hennessy says

    January 19, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Valerie, I haven’t made this yet. I just found the recipe today. Just from the ingredients and the photo, I would rate it a 10. It looks and sounds spectacular. My reason for writing now is that I’m constantly looking for recipes that include nutrition information (calories, etc.). So I was very happy to see you had it with this recipe. However, when I saw that you listed 1 gram of fiber per serving, that just didn’t add up for me. Surely there would be more fiber with the carrots, celery, onion, beans, canned tomato, and spinach. I found a nutrition calculator on line. I looked up the fiber content for each item, added them up, and then divided by 8 servings. What I ended up with was 5.4 grams of fiber in each serving. The beans alone provide almost 4 grams per serving. I’m definitely going to make this. I’m on the NOOM diet and we log our meals. Sometimes we have to provide nutrition information.
    I love your site and will continue to follow you. I’ll try to write again after I make this wonderful recipe.

    Reply
    • Valerie says

      January 21, 2020 at 9:27 am

      Hi Suzanne. We strive to provide the most accurate nutritional information we can but unfortunately we are at the mercy of the program that calculates it for us. I can’t vouch for the accuracy and do recommend that you run your own calculations with trusted tools if any specific nutritional components are important for your particular diet.

      Hope you love the stew! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Joseph says

    January 19, 2020 at 10:29 am

    5 stars
    Hello there chef ,just so happens I crock potted a half a chicken yesterday removed meat and is in fridge returned bones to pot which already had carrot celery garlic onion cooked all night on low ,,so stock is ready have some smoked sausage also ,,love the idea of sauce veggies so one can control texture just need to combine and pick some savoy spinach and sweet turnip greens combine all and enjoy will be a cold night outside but in my coach will be warm and enjoyable wit my stew. thanks timing was great

    Reply

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Hello and welcome to my online kitchen! My focus here is to provide simple, seasonal meal solutions for busy households. I hope you find some inspiration while you’re here and visit again soon!

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