Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken

Brown Stew Chicken is a Jamaican classic where chicken is cooked in a browning sauce along with veggies. This delicious stew is best enjoyed with coconut rice or mashed potatoes. Here is how to make it.

Check out my Indian Mughlai Mutton Stew and Kerala Chicken Stew recipes if you are fond of Indian style curries.

Succulent and deliciously marinated Chicken pieces in a gravy that is packed with lots of flavor, Brown Stew Chicken has it all.

This dish comes from Jamaica and is very popular among the Jamaican households and English speaking Caribbean islands.

Well, this dish is a hit at many places such as Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Belize, Dominica, and in Caribbean communities throughout the world.

This recipe has a special brown sauce, which gives this Chicken dish a fantastic color and flavor.

So if you are bored of your regular meals, give it a break and try this recipe of Jamaican Brown Chicken Stew that is filled with all the goodness of Jamaican flavors and maybe this recipe makes you want to explore this cuisine even more?

And I must tell you you won’t need your napkins after devouring this chicken, because you are going to lick your fingers clean and definitely nibble on the bones. 

About the recipe

It is a classic Jamaican stew dish that is made with chicken, vegetables such as red bell pepper, green bell pepper and some aromatic spices that makes this dish irresistible.

The end result of this combination is soft and tender chicken in a rich brown stew gravy and a wonderfully scented kitchen.

The aroma of this dish will make you instantly hungry!

The most important part that makes all the difference in this dish is marinating the chicken well.

Here, I have used chicken bouillon powder, ginger, garlic, fresh thyme, salt and pepper to marinate the chicken.

Once you marinate it, keep it aside for about an hour. But if you have more time, keep it for as long as one day and it will give you the best flavours.

Marinated chicken is browned from both the sides in the pan and then added in the brown sauce to make a mouth-watering dish, that can make anyone hungry at only one glance.

About its name

Well, why this is called Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken and not any stew chicken is because of the use of Brown Sauce.

We have used Brown Sugar to get that beautiful dark brown colour to this dish.

This sauce is called “Browning Sauce”.

It adds a wonderful depth of flavour, and a gorgeous dark brown colour to sauce, meats and stews.

Brown Sugar is melted in a pan and then water is added to get a perfect consistency and your brown sauce is ready. Easy and delicious, right?

Ingredients

Serving Suggestions

Well, it tastes great when served with steamed white or brown rice, but you can also serve with rice and peas, rice and beans, coconut rice or maybe serve with a side of fried plantains or french fries?

I like to whip up a quick batch of my best ever Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes and serve this stew over it.

Process

Making this Brown Chicken Stew is very easy and you need very few ingredients to get this highly aromatic stew ready.

If you do not have the browning sauce, then the first step is to get that ready, as it does all the work in the recipe.

Next, marinate the chicken and keep it aside for about an hour or overnight works best so that the chicken can soak up all the flavor.

Once done, heat a pan with oil and cook the chicken from both sides until it turns nice and brown. Keep the chicken aside.

Now to make the gravy, heat oil in a pan and in the same pan, add onion, garlic, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and let it cook until pepper becomes a little soft.

Add tomato ketchup, hot sauce, and cook for another minute. Next, add the browning sauce, chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil.

Add the browned chicken pieces, cover the pan and simmer for 25-30 minutes.

Making it in Slow Cooker/ Crock Pot

You can also make this Brown Chicken Stew in a slow cooker.

Make the browning sauce in a pan.

Marinate the chicken and cook it on the pan till its browned from both the side

Add all the ingredients including the chicken and browning sauce in the slow cooker and cook on high for about 3 to 4 hours.

Once done, serve with your choice of rice.

You might also like

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Moroccan Harissa Sauce

Tandoori Chicken

Step by Step Recipe

Add sugar in a pan and cook on low medium heat until it melts and gets dark brown in colour. Keep mixing continuously and make sure the sugar doesn’t scorch.

Start to water little by little and mix well until all the sugar dissolves in water.

Wipe the chicken dry using kitchen tissue. Add all the marinade ingredients over the chicken and mix well. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour or better overnight.

For the gravy, heat oil in a cast-iron skillet. When the oil is hot, arrange the marinated chicken pieces in a single layer.

Cook for 2-3 minutes until chicken is nicely browned from the bottom side. Then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes so that it browns well. Remove the browned chicken on a  plate.

In the same pan, add onion, garlic, green pepper and red pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add tomato ketchup and hot sauce and cook for another minute. Add the brown sauce that we made at the beginning and the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil.

Now add the browned chicken pieces.

Cover the pan and simmer for 25-30 minutes.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

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Brown Stew Chicken Recipe

It is a Jamaican classic where chicken is cooked in a browning sauce along with veggies. This delicious stew is best enjoyed with coconut rice or mashed potatoes. Here is how to make it.

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Caribbean

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 538kcal

Author: Neha Mathur

Ingredients 

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For the browning sauce

• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Warm Water

For the marinade

• 1 kg Chicken (With Bones)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Chicken Bouillon Powder
• 1/2 tsp Ginger (Minced)
• 1 tsp Garlic (Minced)
• 2 tsp Mixed Fresh Herbs

For the gravy

• 1/4 cup Oil
• 1/2 cup Onion (Diced)
• 1 tsp Garlic (Minced)
• 1/2 cup Green Bell Pepper (Sliced)
• 1/2 cup Red Bell Pepper (Sliced)
• 2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
• 1 tsp Hot Sauce
• 1 cup Chicken Stock
• Salt to taste

Instructions

For the browning sauce

• Add sugar in a pan and cook on low medium heat until it melts and gets dark brown in colour.
• Keep mixing continuously and make sure the sugar doesn’t scorch.
• Start to add water little by little and mix well until all the sugar dissolves in water.
• Remove the pan from heat and keep aside.

For the marinade

• Wipe the chicken dry using kitchen tissue.
• Add all the marinade ingredients over the chicken and mix well.
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate for atleast an hour or better overnight.

For the gravy

• Heat oil in a cast iron skillet.
• When the oil is hot, arrange the marinated chicken pieces in a single layer.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes until chicken is nicely browned from the bottom side.
• Then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes so that it browns well.
• Remove the browned chicken on a plate.
• In the same pan, add onion, garlic, green pepper and red pepper and cook fro 2-3 minutes.
• Add tomato ketchup and hot sauce and cook for another minute.
• Add the brown sauce that we made at the beginning and the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil.
• Now add the browned chicken pieces.
• Cover the pan and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
• Serve hot with steamed rice.

Notes

Don’t use your best pan to make this sauce. The pan might gets some stains while burning the sugar which won’t go later.

You can add more hot sauce if you like spicy.

Nutrition Facts

Brown Stew Chicken Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 538 Calories from Fat 297

% Daily Value*

Fat 33g51%

Saturated Fat 6g38%

Cholesterol 92mg31%

Sodium 978mg43%

Potassium 451mg13%

Carbohydrates 36g12%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 31g34%

Protein 25g50%

Vitamin A 859IU17%

Vitamin C 44mg53%

Calcium 41mg4%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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