Brown Stew Chicken Recipe

Jamaican Brown Stew ChickenBrown stew chicken recipe is a spicy and sweet Jamaican stewed chicken that is made from a combination of different spices and herbs that all come together for a flavorful chicken stew. With the aroma of fresh thyme, ginger, garlic, spring onions, and peppers; you can rest assured that this will be one of your favorite Jamaican food for a delightful dinner.

Table of Contents

What is Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken?

The Brown stew chicken is a Jamaican recipe that got its name from the brown color of the stew; it is also called stew chicken. The stew is made with browning sauce (a common ingredient in Jamaican recipes), brown sugar, and the meat is also browned by frying. All these ingredients and procedures ensure the stew is brown in appearance as well as the chicken. Brown stew chicken is also a dish that is common in other Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Lucia, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, and Grenada.

Ingredients

  • 1kg of Chicken. Any chicken part can be used for this recipe.
  • 1/4 cup of chopped scallions
  • 1 scotch bonnet pepper. If you want more heat, you can add more scotch bonnets.
  • 1/2 tsp of ground allspice (or you can use pimento seeds)
  • 2 sliced red bell peppers
  • 1 tbsp of browning sauce
  • 2 sliced green bell peppers
  • 4 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 small grated ginger
  • 1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp of paprika powder
  • 2 tbsp of brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp of all-purpose seasoning and 1 tbsp of chicken bouillon cube (crushed)
  • 3 tbsp of tomato ketchup
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 5 fresh sprigs of thyme
  • 1 cup of chopped onions
  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil for frying.

How to Make Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken

Authentic Brown Stew Chicken

Marinating the chicken

  1. Marinate the chicken by combining the seasonings, herbs, and spices. I love to wash my chicken with lemon, it helps to easily get rid of bacteria and the dirt that sticks to the chicken.
  2. To the bowl containing the chicken, add the black pepper, salt, chicken bouillon powder, all-purpose seasoning, and allspice. Also, add paprika powder, and browning sauce. Mix everything together to combine.
  3. Next, add the herbs and spices. Go in with the minced garlic cloves, grated ginger, chop onions, red bell pepper, fresh sprigs of thyme, and green bell pepper. You can add half of the red and green bell peppers and then used half later.
  4. Once you added all the ingredients needed for the marinade, mix all to coat and combine with the chicken nicely.
  5. Now, you can allow it to sit for an hour for the ingredients to be absorbed by the chicken or you can marinate it overnight. The longer it is marinated the tastier your Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken will be. If you are going to marinate the chicken overnight, it should be in the fridge to prevent it from smelling; avoid using a freezer to marinate your foods because the ingredients would be frozen and so cannot be absorbed by the meat or chicken. Ensure the chicken is removed from the refrigerator an hour prior to browning it so that it can assume the room temperature prior to frying; that way, it cooks faster and evenly. Directly adding the chicken from the fridge into the oil will make the outer parts cook but the inner parts would still be cold.

Browning of the Marinated Chicken by Frying

  1. Place a pan on the heat and add some vegetable oil to the pan. About 1/2 a cup of olive oil can do. You can use a Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed pan as I did.
  2. When the oil is heated, add the marinated chicken pieces to it. Remember, to shake off the excess ingredients attached to the chicken especially the onions, red and green bell peppers because they may be burnt even before the chicken turns brown. Also, remember to keep the remaining marinade because you will need it later.
  3. After, shaking off the excess ingredients used for the marinade, add the chicken pieces to the hot oil and fry until it is brown on one side. Turn over to the other side and fry as well until it is also brown. This should take about 5 minutes each, on medium heat.
  4. After browning the chicken, remove it from the oil and place it on a plate, and keep aside.

Making Brown Stew Chicken

  1. After browning the chicken, reduce the oil in the pan to about 3 tbsp and then reduce the heat to low.
  2. Now, add the remaining marinade used for the chicken into the pan together with your chopped tomatoes and stir fry for about 2 minutes until the garlic and onions are fragrant.
  3. Next, go in with 1 scotch bonnet; make sure you slit the scotch bonnet pepper into two in order to release the heat into your Jamaican brown stew chicken.
  4. Add the tomato ketchup and brown sugar; then stir to combine. Cover the pot and allow the tomatoes to cook until they are wilted.
  5. After 5 minutes of cooking the stew, the tomatoes should have wilted; now, return the fried chicken into the stew and then add 1 cup of water into the stew. The water helps in further cooking of the chicken to ensure it is soft.
  6. Also, add the remaining red and green bell peppers to your Jamaican brown stew chicken; this adds color because the initial peppers used would have been wilted.
  7. You can taste and adjust any ingredients or salt at this point. Cover and allow the stew to cook for about 30 minutes. This allows some water to evaporate and so helps to thicken the stew a bit. You can add some cornstarch to help thicken the stew. Other ingredients used as thickens include potatoes. Adding potatoes into your stew especially diced potatoes help to thicken soups and stews because when cooked, potatoes release starch into soup or stew which helps to thicken it, also try potato soup. Be careful when adjusting the thickness of the stew because when on heat, it may seem a bit watery but when you bring it down, it becomes thicker.
  8. You can turn off the heat and serve your Jamaican brown stew chicken recipe with some boiled rice.
Brown Stew Chicken Recipe

Brown Stew Chicken Recipe

Avatar photo Razi Brown
Brown stew chicken recipe is a spicy and sweet Jamaican stewed chicken that is made from a combination of different spices and herbs that all come together for a flavorful chicken stew. With the aroma of fresh thyme, ginger, garlic, spring onions, and peppers; you can rest assured that this will be one of your favorite Jamaican food.
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Caribbean, Jamaican
Servings 8 people
Calories 289 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kg of Chicken pieces - you can use boneless chicken thighs or any part of chicken of choice.
  • ¼ cup of chopped scallions
  • 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper - slit into two halves to release the heat. The more the heat you like, the more the scotch bonnets.
  • ½ tsp of ground allspice - you can use pimento seeds
  • 2 whole red bell peppers - sliced into strips
  • 1 tbsp browning sauce commonly known as "browning". It increases the flavor and also adds color to the brown stew chicken.
  • 2 whole green bell peppers - also cut into strips
  • 4 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 small grated ginger
  • ½ cup of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp of paprika powder
  • 2 tbsp of brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp of all-purpose seasoning
  • 1 tbsp of chicken bouillon cube crushed
  • 3 tbsp of tomato ketchup
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1 cup of chopped onions
  • ½ cup of vegetable oil for frying

Instructions
 

  • Marinate the chicken by combining the seasonings, herbs, and spices. To the bowl containing the chicken, add the black pepper, salt, chicken bouillon powder, all-purpose seasoning, and allspice. Also, add paprika powder, and browning sauce. Mix everything together to combine.
    Marinate the chicken with the seasonings and spices
  • Go in with the minced garlic cloves, grated ginger, chop onions, red bell pepper, fresh sprigs of thyme, and green bell pepper. You can add half of the red and green bell peppers and then used half later.
    Add the vegetables, spices, and herbs
  • Once you added all the ingredients needed for the marinade, mix all to coat and combine with the chicken nicely.
    Marinate the chicken for 1 hour
  • Once you added all the ingredients needed for the marinade, mix all to coat and combine with the chicken nicely. Now, you can allow it to sit for an hour for the ingredients to be absorbed by the chicken or you can marinate it overnight. The longer it is marinated the tastier your Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken will be.
  • Place a pan on the heat and add some vegetable oil to the pan. About 1/2 a cup of olive oil can do.
  • When the oil is heated, add the marinated chicken pieces to it. Remember, to shake off the excess ingredients attached to the chicken especially the onions, red and green bell peppers because they may be burnt even before the chicken turns brown.
  • After, shaking off the excess ingredients used for the marinade, add the chicken pieces to the hot oil and fry until it is brown on one side. Turn over to the other side and fry as well until it is also brown. This should take about 5 minutes each, on medium heat.
    Fried chicken that is browned for stew chicken
  • After browning the chicken, remove it from the oil and place it on a plate, and keep aside. Reduce the oil in the pan to about 3 tbsp and then reduce the heat to low. Now, add the remaining marinade used for the chicken into the pan together with your chopped tomatoes and stir fry for about 2 minutes until the garlic and onions are fragrant.
    Add tomatoes and the remaining marinade used for the chicken
  • Next, go in with 1 scotch bonnet; make sure you slit the scotch bonnet pepper into two in order to release the heat into your Jamaican brown stew chicken. Add the tomato ketchup and brown sugar; then stir to combine. Cover the pot and allow the tomatoes to cook until they are wilted.
    add some ketchup to the stew
  • After 5 minutes of cooking the stew, the tomatoes should have wilted; now, return the fried chicken into the stew and then add 1 cup of water into the stew. The water helps in further cooking of the chicken to ensure it is soft.
    Bring the fried chicken into the brown stew
  • Also, add the remaining red and green bell peppers to your Jamaican brown stew chicken; this adds color because the initial peppers used would have been wilted.
    Add the remaining red and green bell peppers into the stew
  • You can taste and adjust any ingredients or salt at this point. Cover and allow the stew to cook for about 30 minutes. This allows some water to evaporate and so helps to thicken the stew a bit.
    Brown stew chicken is thicken

Video

Notes

The brown sugar adds extra brown color to the stew chicken and also removes the sour taste of the fresh tomatoes used, making your Jamaican brown stew chicken tasty and not tangy or sour. If you notice the brown stew chicken is sour, it is because you didn't add brown sugar. You can use normal white sugar to remove tanginess from curry or stew recipes; there are many other ways of removing sour taste from soups, stews, or curries you can check this article.
Keyword Brown Stew Chicken, Stew Chicken

FAQ 

What can you serve with brown stew chicken?

You can eat brown stew chicken with Jamaican rice and peas, some parboiled white rice, pasta, steamed vegetables such as cabbage, coconut rice with some beans, or boiled potatoes. It can be used as a dipping sauce for your Jamaican fried dumpling. Other dishes that can be eaten with the Jamaican brown stew chicken include roti (naan bread)

What is Browning Sauce?

Browning is a vegetable stock concentrate with some seasonings and the color of caramel. It looks like Worcestershire sauce, Oyster sauce, or Soy Sauce but in terms of consistency, browning is thicker than soy sauce; when compared to Worcestershire sauce and oyster sauce, browning has a lighter consistency.

Browning sauce adds flavor and dark color to foods. It is a very common sauce and food condiment in the Caribbean. Common brands include Kitchen bouquet browning sauce, Grace master browning sauce, and another one known simply as browning – which is the Grace browning sauce.

What is the substitute for Browning sauce?

You can use Soy sauce, Oyster sauce, or Worcestershire sauce as substitutes for browning sauce in this Brown stew chicken. If you don’t have any of those, then you can make an easy homemade substitute for Browning sauce.

Homemade browning sauce can be made by combining  1/2 cup of brown sugar and a cup of water, then cooking it on low heat until it is almost dark in color; after that add about 2 tsp of meat stock and stir to combine; continue heating for about 1 minute and your homemade browning sauce substitute is ready.

What is the best part of a chicken to use for the brown stew chicken recipe?

Any part of chicken can be used but for me, the best part to use should be the chicken thighs with the skin and bones intact. Chicken breast can be used as well.

Nutrition and Calories

There are about 289 calories per serving of the Jamaican brown stew chicken made without using potatoes or adding cornstarch. It also contains about 9 grams of carbs, 21 grams of fats, and 16 grams of protein. Other nutrients include 221 milligrams of sodium and about 342 milligrams of potassium.