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a bowl of thick orange-brown chicken peanut stew with short shredded chicken pieces, softened red lentils and partly broken orange sweet potato cubes, without rice, coconut cream, whole peanuts or garnish
Andre Lewis

Chicken Peanut and Red Lentil Stew Dump Bag

Keep the peanut butter out of the raw freezer bag and stir it into the hot stew after the chicken is cooked. That makes it easier to blend smoothly into the tomato-and-lentil broth, where it adds body without needing a separate coconut sauce. The red lentils and sweet potato soften during the long cook, leaving tender shreds of chicken in a thick stew that doesn't require rice to make a full bowl. Thaw the bag completely in the refrigerator before it goes into the cooker; a frozen block of raw chicken isn't the starting point for this method. Once dinner is cooked, freeze any portions you won't eat soon so the large batch becomes several easy meals instead of a pot you keep reheating.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 7 hours 15 minutes
Total Time 7 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs trimmed and left whole
  • 1 cup dry red lentils rinsed and drained well
  • 1 lb sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
  • 1 medium yellow onion finely diced
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tbsp finely grated ginger
  • 1 can 14.5 oz diced tomatoes with juice
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 3/4 tsp fine salt
  • 4 cups unsalted chicken broth kept separate until cooking
  • 1/2 cup smooth unsweetened peanut butter kept separate until finishing
  • 1 tbsp lime juice kept separate until finishing
  • 2 tbsp water per cooked portion for reheating

Method
 

  1. Label a gallon freezer bag with the recipe name, date and reminder to add broth after thawing. Put raw chicken, drained lentils, sweet potato, onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, cumin and salt inside; press out excess air and seal.
  2. Freeze the bag flat on a tray immediately, then store for up to 3 months for best quality. Keep broth, peanut butter and lime juice separate from the raw bag.
  3. Move the bag to a rimmed dish in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours until completely thawed, keeping it at 40°F or below. Empty the entire bag into a 6-quart slow cooker and add the measured broth; do not start with frozen chicken.
  4. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours until chicken reaches 165°F, lentils have softened and sweet potato breaks easily under a spoon.
  5. Lift chicken onto a board and shred into short pieces. Whisk peanut butter with a ladleful of hot broth in a bowl until smooth, then stir it and the chicken back into the cooker.
  6. Cook on high for 15 minutes until evenly hot, then stir in lime juice. Divide among six servings.
  7. For cooked freezer portions, cool the stew promptly in shallow containers, refrigerate within 2 hours and chill completely before covering and freezing for up to 3 months.
  8. Reheat one cooked frozen portion in a small covered saucepan with its measured reheating water over low heat, stirring and breaking it apart as it softens. Simmer until the whole portion reaches 165°F, usually 20 to 30 minutes.