Lemony Greek Chicken, Spinach and Potato Stew

Name: Lemony Greek Chicken, Spinach and Potato Stew
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 to 5 servings
Ingredients: 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1 red or yellow onion, finely chopped; 8 large garlic cloves, smashed and finely chopped; 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, plus more to taste; 1 pound ground chicken; 1 heaping tablespoon roughly chopped fresh rosemary (leaves of about 1 large sprig) or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary; 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano; 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes; Black pepper; 1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (about 3 medium), scrubbed and chopped into 1/2-inch chunks; 6 cups chicken broth; Juice of 1 large lemon (about 1/4 cup juice); 1 (8-ounce) bunch mature spinach, stems included, chopped, or 1 1/2 cups frozen leaf spinach; 1/4 to 1/3 cup lightly packed roughly chopped dill; Crumbled feta and crushed pita chips, for topping

By Sarah DiGregorio

Published March 25, 2023

Lemony Greek Chicken, Spinach and Potato Stew — Kerri Brewer for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Total Time: 35 minutes
Rating: 5(6,199)
Comments: Read comments

If your favorite Greek foods are the lively vegetable dishes, this meal-in-a-bowl stew is for you. A simple mix of lemon, garlic and lots of herbs enliven the potatoes and spinach and using ground meat ensures a lot of flavor in very little time. Ground turkey or pork would be just as good, if you prefer. Russets can be substituted for Yukon golds, but their texture will be more grainy and less creamy. Mature spinach or frozen spinach works best here because of its mellow flavor, as opposed to baby spinach, which is more tannic. Add the amount of dill that sounds best to you, or if you don’t like it, swap in a few tablespoons of fresh parsley or mint.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 5 servings

¼cup extra-virgin olive oil
1red or yellow onion, finely chopped
8large garlic cloves, smashed and finely chopped
1½teaspoons coarse kosher salt, plus more to taste
1pound ground chicken
1heaping tablespoon roughly chopped fresh rosemary (leaves of about 1 large sprig) or 1½ teaspoons dried rosemary
1½teaspoons dried oregano
1teaspoon red-pepper flakes
Black pepper
1½pounds Yukon gold potatoes (about 3 medium), scrubbed and chopped into ½-inch chunks
6cups chicken broth
Juice of 1 large lemon (about ¼ cup juice)
1(8-ounce) bunch mature spinach, stems included, chopped, or 1½ cups frozen leaf spinach
¼ to ⅓cup lightly packed roughly chopped dill
Crumbled feta and crushed pita chips, for topping

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
In a large pot or Dutch oven, warm the oil over high heat. Add the onion, garlic and salt and cook, stirring, until the onion and garlic are softened and just starting to brown, 5 minutes. (Decrease the heat to medium-high if necessary to prevent scorching.)
Step 2
Decrease the heat to medium-high and add the chicken, rosemary, oregano, red-pepper flakes and several generous grinds of black pepper. Cook, breaking up the chicken into crumbles, until the meat starts to lose its translucent pinkness and is turning white, about 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and stir well to combine. Add the chicken broth and half the lemon juice, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom. Bring to a rolling boil and then lower the heat to maintain a very brisk simmer. Simmer until the potatoes are nearly tender, 15 minutes.
Step 3
Add the spinach and dill, to taste. Continue to simmer briskly until the potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes more. Taste and add some or all of the remaining lemon juice, as well as more salt and pepper, if desired. Serve in bowls topped with feta and crushed pita chips.

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Ratings

5 out of 5

6,199 user ratings

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Comments

matt2 years ago

I have a bit of an aversion to ground chicken so I filled a 5qt Dutch oven with water and added a celery stalk, a quartered onion, a halved lemon, a few smashed cloves of garlic, a few sprigs of thyme and 2 bay leaves along with 2 bone in and skin on chicken breast. Brought to a nice simmer for 30 minutes before removing the chicken to a bowl and straining the solids. The remaining liquid I used for my broth and I added the shredded chicken back in at the end. It was very good.

Peter2 years ago

A whole teaspoon of red pepper flakes is excessive for this amount of ingredients. Other than that, this is an excellent, easy-to-prepare soup. Rather than ground chicken (most likely to be breast meat), I intend to use an equivalent amount (or more) of boneless, skinless THIGH meat. I’ll brown it separately and chop it as finely as I can manage before adding it (and its pan juices) to the soup - adjusting cooking at that point accordingly. Also - use Kale rather than Spinach.

Raven2 years ago

In dishes like this, I like to use trimmed boneless, skinless chicken thighs that have been blitzed briefly in the food processor. Fresher and less expensive than purchased ground chicken.

sam2 weeks ago

@Oriana I used soy curls (slightly crushed into bite sized chunks) and better than bouillon no chicken base. It was perfect! I put in the soy curls about 5 minutes in so it boiled about 15 minutes. I probably could have done even less.

Neil1 month ago

I thought the recipe was top tier. Instead of crumbled ground chicken, I rolled the ground chicken into mini meatballs and browned them. Took a bit extra work but the texture was better in the final product.

Jamie1 month ago

Make the day before. Its delicious the day of, but amazing the next day.

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