Chicken Fricassee was President Abe Lincoln’s favorite meal, and this crockpot version makes an easy weeknight dinner for President’s Day. (He also loved oyster stew, but I’m not attempting that one)
It is no secret that I love a family food holiday. And while I’ve never had a tradition around President’s Day, I thought this might be a fun new tradition to add to our menu.
Little Man is in a new stage where we discuss new holidays like Lunar New Year, Hannakuh, MLK Day, and Groundhog Day. We’ve been attending programs at our library, participating in play dates with our friends, and checking out books to learn more.
We recently read a book about the designation of President’s Day and learned a little more about President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln. We are talking about money and looked at trip pictures where we’ve been to mount Vernon and Mount Rushmore. Creating a personal connection to these historical figures helps history makes sense, even to a kid in Pre-K.
Chicken Fricassee was a traditional pheasant dinner. Chicken or fowl and whatever vegetables were around or foraged what was used to complete the dinner. I use chicken breast, but thighs are the traditional meat choice. This is a great way to use a Cornish hen, whole chicken pieces, chicken cutlets, or probably even pork chops.
Whether you try this Crockpot Chicken Fricassee recipe or something loved by another President, use this as a fun excuse to bring up history over dinner.
What foods did your favorite President love?
Slow Cooker Chicken Fricassee
Ingredients
- 2 – 3 lbs chicken breast or thighs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms optional
- 2 cups 16 oz chicken broth, divided
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 2 cans cream mushroom
- 1 can golden mushroom
- 1 can water
- 3 stalks celery optional
- 2 cups petite carrots
- 4 cups chopped potatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon seasoning salt
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts into pieces.
- In a skillet, heat the olive oil.
- Add the chicken pieces to the skillet and brown on both sides.
- Set the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker, or onto a side plate.
- While the chicken cooks, chop the onion.
- Add butter to the skillet.
- Once the butter melts, add the onion to the skillet.
- Cook until translucent.
- Add garlic and sliced mushrooms and stir.
- Measure out 2 cups of chicken broth.
- Add Worcestershire and Dijon mustard to the broth.
- Stir together with a fork or whisk.
- Pour into the hot skillet.
- Scrap the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get up brown bits.
- Bring to a soft boil.
- Remove from heat and pour into the slow cooker.
- Quarter and cut up potatoes.
- Add potatoes and carrots to the slow cooker, on top of the meat.
- Add thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper on top.
- Top with cream of mushroom and golden mushroom soups.
- Fill 1 can with water and pour over everything.
- Cook on high for 4 hours.
- Stir together and serve with biscuits.
Notes
–Any chicken works – use thighs, chicken breast, or your favorite cut of meat.
–Raw chicken chunks could be put into the crockpot. Browning meat is just a traditional cooking method for this recipe.
–Part of this can be prepared ahead of time and thrown together into the crockpot in the morning. Brown the chicken and prepare the onions and chicken broth sauce. Store in the refrigerator and add to the crockpot the next day.
–While this recipe was adapted to the slow cooker, the same ingredients would work in the traditional preparation method as a one-pan dinner.
–We served ours with a side of rice. But that was two starches. So leave the potatoes out of the slow cooker and serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.
Other President’s favorite meals:
- Abraham Lincoln loved bacon and his mother’s gingerbread cookies
- George Washington – hoecakes with butter and honey and hot tea – a pancake dinner would suffice if you don’t like hoecakes.
- Thomas Jefferson – macaroni and cheese – he discovered macaroni on a trip to France – french sauces and creme brulee were also favorites from these trips.
- John Adams – New England boiled dinner, hard cider, apple pandowdy, and homemade pickles were a must every day.
- James Madison – hopping john, Virginia Ham, and Potomac River oysters, Vol-a-vent pastries and Veal Fricassee, and ice cream
- James Monroe – lake perch and garden vegetables (salmon sheet pan could sub) and spoon bread, and he loved to eat on Presidential china
- John Quincy Adams – fresh fruit
- John Tyler – Indian Pudding, sometimes called hasty pudding
- Zachary Taylor – creole food and beignets
- Warren Harding – Chicken Pot Pie
- Woodrow Wilson – chicken salad
- Calvin Coolidge – apple pie, so make it in any form, like these apple dumplings.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – grilled cheese
- John F. Kennedy – New England fish chowder
- Lyndon B. Johnson – loved Fresca
- Jimmy Carter – grits
- Ronald Regan – loved jelly beans
- Bush Senior – loved pork rinds with Tobasco sauce, and he HATED broccoli.
- Bill Clinton – greasy cheeseburger with jalapenos
- George W. Bush – cheeseburger pizza
- Barak Obama – nachos
You can research all kinds of things online, but this article about the food timeline of our Presidents was super interesting.
