Grab a delicious taste of the Caribbean islands with this brown stew chicken recipe. Incredibly flavorful chicken that falls off the bone simmered in tasty spices. Pair along with rice and peas for a great meal!
It should be of no surprise just how much I love me some Caribbean food, y’all. It’s in my blood, it signifies home + warmth, and most importantly, it’s just dang good! Island food always hits my heart way different than any other foods that I make. Our food is typically well seasoned and packed with a ton of flavor. Listen, Island folks do not skimp on a variety of spices, ha! Sometimes I think we don’t have a limit on aromatics!
While I enjoy developing all kinds of recipes for Butter Be Ready, I love sharing Caribbean recipes the most! For example, my curry goat and rice and peas recipes are big time hits with you readers! And I have many more coming that I can’t wait to share. Like omg, I’m getting ready to share a stewed oxtails recipe that you really don’t wanna miss. Any who, let’s get into this brown stew chicken recipe that you clicked on.
What Is Brown Stew Chicken?
So, brown stew chicken is a Jamaican recipe that encompasses deeply marinated and stewed chicken parts. The chicken braises in a ton of spices, herbs, veggies, and more. It’s also a one-pot meal as well. The chicken tenderizes and soaks in all the juices its cooked in until it literally falls off the bone. It’s insanely delicious!
Ingredients To Make This Recipe
- chicken pieces
- smoked paprika
- ground ginger
- jamaican allspice
- salt/pepper
- yellow onion
- scallions
- garlic cloves
- brown sugar
- browning sauce
- fresh thyme
- bay leaves
- canola oil
- chicken stock
- carrots
- tomato purée
- scotch bonnet pepper
One of my top favorite things about this brown stew chicken recipe is the flavor! As you can see above, there are so many elements of flavor that truly make this dish taste amazing. You will find most of these ingredients within your local grocery store except the browning sauce; for that you will find in Caribbean markets. I usually buy the “Grace” brand. Browning is used in many Caribbean recipes to enhance the color of cakes, spiced buns; and also used in meat/poultry dishes to enhance the color and flavor.
How To Make This Brown Stew Chicken
Okay, so first things first, we marinate! We want great flavor so that involves marinating these chicken parts for a good bit of time before cooking. The marination process allows for the aromatics and such to really penetrate to the bones. After that, we’re ready to cook them up! You’ll want to use a large heavy-bottomed stockpot or dutch oven for this recipe too. Next, heat up the oil and begin to fry the chicken.
At this stage, you’re looking to get nice golden brownness on the chicken. Once all chicken has browned, you’ll add in the carrots, stock, and tomato puree. Lastly, this brown stew chicken cooks up for a while and develops a really rich and flavorful gravy that makes the chicken so tender, slick, and buttery.
Other Great Recipes You May Enjoy
- Caribbean Curry Goat
- Jamaican Rice and Peas
- Salmon Cakes with Quick Aioli
- Jerk Chicken Wings with Guava Sauce
- The Best Chicken and Waffles
- Southern Collard Greens
- Creamy Vegan Jerk Pasta
- Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese
How To Serve Up Brown Stew Chicken
There is an unwritten rule amongst Caribbean recipes that says almost all dishes are to be served alongside rice and peas and plantains! Throw in some cabbage too if you want the full West Indian experience, haha! In all seriousness, nothing beats pairing this brown stew chicken with equally delicious rice and peas.
What Kind Of Chicken Parts Can I Use?
Great question! I love using bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs and legs for more flavor. The chicken gets nice and succulent and falls off the bone. However, you can also use boneless/skinless chicken parts if you like. Above all, chicken thighs and chicken legs are the best for brown stew chicken!
Y’all, this recipe is so delicious and makes such a great meal for any occasion. If you’re West Indian, I hope you find this brown stew chicken to bring some comfort + joy. And if you’re new to Caribbean cuisine, I’m excited for you to try this recipe out! Let me know what you think and enjoy this one, friends!
REMEMBER TO LEAVE A ⭐️STAR RATING⭐️AND TAG ME ON THE ‘GRAM IF YOU MAKE ANY OF MY RECIPES! I ALWAYS LOVE TO SEE IT WHEN YOU DO!
UNTIL NEXT TIME…LOVE AND BUTTER,
Q.
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Brown Stew Chicken Recipe
- Prep Time: 30m
- Cook Time: 2hr
- Total Time: 2 hr 30m
- Yield: 4–6 1x
Description
Grab a delicious taste of the Caribbean islands with this brown stew chicken recipe. Incredibly flavorful chicken that falls off the bone simmered in tasty spices.
Ingredients
- 8 chicken pieces, such as thighs and legs
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground Jamaican allspice
- salt/pepper, to taste
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 4 scallions, chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons browning
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 medium-sized carrots, chopped
- 1/2 cup tomato purée
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper (left whole), optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl or ziplock bag, add in chicken parts. Then sprinkle in paprika, ginger, allspice, salt/pepper, to taste. Add in onion, scallions, garlic, brown sugar, browning, thyme, and bay leaves. Gently rub together all ingredients to fully coat chicken pieces in marinade.
- Cover bowl with lid/plastic wrap or seal ziplock bag and transfer to refrigerator to allow flavors to marinate for 1 hour or up to overnight. If marinating overnight, be sure to stir chicken around in bowl/bag at least once. This will ensure even flavor marination throughout.
- Take chicken pieces and remove from marinade mixture, shaking off excess onion/scallions/bay leaves. Be sure to reserve that marinade though by setting aside.
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Fry chicken pieces until golden brown in color on all sides, about 15-20 minutes. Careful not to overcrowd pot, fry chicken in batches if you need to. If using bone-in/skin-on chicken pieces, at this stage, chicken will not be fully cooked through but heavily browned. Chicken will finish cooking through later.
- Add all chicken pieces back into pot with reserved marinade mixture bits, stock, carrots, tomato purée, and scotch bonnet. Stir and cover pot with lid and allow chicken to stew over medium-low heat for 1 1/2-2 hours. Chicken should be extra tender and sauce will have thickened some.
- Discard bay leaves and scotch bonnet. Taste brown stew chicken and adjust seasonings by adding more salt/pepper, as desired. Pair this recipe alongside rice and peas, and enjoy!
Notes
- If using boneless chicken parts, frying time will be reduced, about 5-6 minutes.
- If using boneless chicken thighs, be sure to cut chicken into rough chunks.
- Category: Entrée, Dinner
- Cuisine: Caribbean
Keywords: caribbean, chicken, brown stew, jamaican, one pot
If you can’t find the browning sauce is there something you can substitute or leave out? This looks so delicious!
Hi Shelly, you can either make it homemade (check out this recipe) or leave it out completely 🙂
Both stewed chicken and rice were delicious had them for dinner tonight and will make both again!!!
★★★★★
Hey Kim- so happy you loved both of these recipes 🙂
Delicious and easy! Made it to serve for an outdoor dinner with friends and added a couple extra chicken thighs thinking it would be great leftovers but there were none!!! I left out the scotch bonnet because I was also feeding kids and, although it was still fantastic, I think it would have been over the top with that little bit of extra heat.
★★★★★
Hi Katy- glad to hear you + your friends enjoyed this brown stew chicken! 🙂