Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken
Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken is the perfect comfort food for any day of the week. This savory dish is packed with nutrients and simmered in a flavorful gravy-like sauce.
This Stew Chicken recipe is one of my favorite dishes to make.
It’s an easy weekday dinner recipe that will have everyone in your family asking for seconds and thirds.
It’s also an excellent budget-friendly meal if you’re shopping on a budget like me.
If you’ve tried my Jamaican Curry Chicken recipe, you’ll surely love this one.
I use a similar cooking style for both dishes, which is one of the easiest ways to cook these dishes (in my opinion).
What is Brown Stew Chicken?
This main course dish uses a method of “browning” or searing the chicken in hot oil – before simmering it in a savory gravy-like sauce consisting of ketchup, carrots, and potatoes.
There are many ways to cook this dish, especially in the Caribbean.
Many countries have different variations of this cuisine, from Dominican Stewed Chicken (Pollo Guisado) to Haitian Style Stew Chicken (Poulet En Sauce).
I look forward to exploring those dishes and one day adding them to my weekly dinner menu when I want to switch things up.
Ingredients To Use
There are many ways to prepare this dish, with similar but different ingredients.
For this recipe, I used:
- Chicken Parts – you can use any parts of the chicken or a whole chicken.
- Seasoning – escallion, onions, garlic, pimento berries, all-purpose seasoning, cumin, brown sugar, salt, and turmeric.
- Vegetables – carrots and irish potatoes. You can also add sweet peppers for more color and flavor.
- Sauces – browning sauce and ketchup or tomato paste.
- Oil
- Scotch Bonnet Pepper – a whole scotch bonnet pepper works best. I also use a scotch bonnet pepper sauce (from Spur Tree) since my hubby and I like our food extra spicy.
- Ginger flavoring or ginger (optional)
How To Make Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken
This dish is easy to make and a perfect beginner-friendly meal for anyone to add Caribbean flavor to their menu.
- Remove any skin and fat from chicken thighs.
- Wash chicken in vinegar and water. Cut chicken into medium-sized pieces and set aside.
- Season chicken in a large bowl with all the ingredients except scotch bonnet, escallion, thyme, irish potato, carrots, and oil. Set aside to marinate for 2 hours or overnight.
- Shake off some of the seasoning from chicken, then set aside. Heat oil in a large pot and add each piece of chicken to the pan.
- Turn chicken after five minutes, then cover pot to cook for 10 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, boil some water and add to the leftover seasoning in the bowl.
- Add water and leftover seasoning to chicken, then cover to cook for 15 minutes. Salt to taste.
- Add carrots, irish potato, escallion, scotch bonnet pepper, and thyme to chicken, then simmer for another 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Remove escallion and thyme from the chicken, then serve with the desired side.
Serving Suggestions
Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken is served with rice and peas alongside any side dish option.
Other suggestions include:
- Any type of rice dish – Pumpkin Rice is also a great option
- Mashed potatoes
- Steamed or roasted vegetables
- Boiled dumplings, yam, sweet potatoes, etc.
Tips for Making Brown Stew Chicken
- Using boiling water throughout the cooking process is optional. I prefer to use it to help with the cooking process.
- You may substitute ketchup with tomato paste for a thicker gravy.
- Pricking the scotch bonnet pepper before adding it to the pot helps add more spiciness to your dish.
- You can substitute the boiling water for chicken broth.
- Marinating your meat is a MUST for the best flavors.
Storing and Reheating Suggestions
- Always store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can keep it stored for up to 4-5 days.
- For meal prep, the same rule applies as above.
- To reheat it, you can place the chicken in a pan, then on low to medium flame, heat the meat slowly and until it warms up.
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Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lb. Chicken breasts/thighs (cut into medium-sized pieces)
- 1 small onion (finely chopped)
- 2-3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp. Browning sauce
- 2 stalks escallion (crushed)
- 2-3 sprigs thyme
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 2 tbsp. all-purpose seasoning
- ½ tsp. Cumin
- ¼ tsp. Turmeric
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 tsp. Brown sugar
- ½ tsp. Ginger flavoring (optional)
- A few pimento berries
- 1 tbsp. Vegetable oil
- 1-2 medium irish potato (chopped)
- 1 large carrot (chopped)
Instructions
- Remove any skin and fat from chicken thighs.
- Wash chicken in vinegar and water. Cut chicken into medium-sized pieces and set aside.
- Season chicken in a large bowl with all the ingredients except scotch bonnet, escallion, thyme, irish potato, carrots, and oil. Set aside to marinate for 2 hours or overnight.
- Shake off some of the seasoning from chicken, then set aside. Heat oil on medium flame in a large pot and add each piece of chicken to the pan.
- Turn chicken after five minutes, then cover pot to cook for 7-10 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, boil some water and add to the leftover seasoning in the bowl.
- Add water and leftover seasoning to chicken, then cover to cook for 15 minutes. Salt to taste.
- Add carrots, irish potato, escallion, scotch bonnet pepper, and thyme to chicken, then simmer for another 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Remove escallion and thyme from the chicken, then serve with the desired side.
Notes
Notes for Making Brown Stew Chicken
- Using boiling water throughout the cooking process is optional. I prefer to use it to help with the cooking process.
- You can substitute the boiling water for chicken broth.
- You may substitute ketchup with tomato paste for a thicker gravy.
- Pricking the scotch bonnet pepper before adding it to the pot helps add more spiciness to your dish.
