Chicken Stew (African Style)
African Chicken Stew – a stew like no other. It’s easy, aromatic and flavorful with a thick rich tomato-based sauce. Great weeknight meal. Pair it with warm rice and plantains and you’ll have your new favorite chicken dinner!

Stews have always been a part of the cuisine in Africa specifically in West African countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and my home country Cameroon. They are also popular in some East African Countries like Kenya. There are all kinds of stews – beef, oxtail, and fish and, of course, these deeply-flavored chicken stew.
I have encountered many variations of stews through the years and I love them all, to be honest. But what makes it African-style is that it starts with browning the chicken that gives the stew extra flavor. You may choose to omit this part to cut down on the use of oil.

How to Make Chicken Stew the African-style?
Tomato-based dishes are a big thing in most African countries. We just love that acidic and sweetness flavor profile you get in a tomato-based stew.
Now after browning the chicken, this stew is followed by slowly simmering tomatoes and onions. You can use canned tomatoes, fresh or puree tomatoes.
I like to use Roma tomatoes when I can. They are less acidic and reduces the cooking time but I often use canned tomato sauce. In my opinion, a good African stew is one that has a noticeable tomato presence without the sharp taste. A few added spices like curry, thyme, paprika, and onions helps in this process. Yielding an intensely flavorful yet balanced sauce.

While some stews may take a long time to cook, the actual preparation is simple and straight forward with AMAZING results. Trust me, you’ll want seconds and thirds of this.
How Long Can You Keep Chicken Stew in the Fridge?
This type of stew usually is good for 1-2 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Just simply reheat it through on the stovetop when serving.
What to Serve with Chicken Stew?
Stews were once considered a MUST have for Christmas tables in Cameroon. – A festive meal. Each home, cooking up their own variation, for friends and family to savor. It pairs well with white rice or any starchy side (plantains, yams,). Below are just few of our favorite dishes to pair with this scrumptious dinner.
More Stew Recipes to Explore
- Slow Cooker Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken
- Brunswick Stew
- Hot Pot Potatoes (African Stewed Potatoes)
- Maafe (Peanut Stew)
- Jamaican Oxtail Stew
- Fish Stew
How to Make Chicken Stew (African Style)
Season chicken with, salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning. Set aside.
In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat, until hot, and then add the chicken and sauté stirring, frequently, any browned bits off the bottom of the pot, until chicken is brown. If using fresh tomatoes, blend tomatoes, onions, garlic, and onions. Pour the tomatoes blend in the pot of chicken, bring to a boil and let it simmer until tender (depending on the chicken) about 20- 30 minutes, frequently stirring the saucepan to prevent burns. If using tomato sauce; add the onion, sauté until tender, about 4-5- minutes. Pour tomato sauce, curry powder, smoked paprika, thyme, bay leaf, garlic, and bouillon powder. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Add about 2 cups of water to the pan. Add carrots, green onions, parsley. Cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust the thickness of soup with water or stock. Season with salt according to preference. Remove bay leaf. Serve over warm rice.
Watch How To Make It
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This post was first published in September 2013 and has been updated with new photos, write up and a video.
This was delicious! I’ll definitely make it again. I think I’ll try putting the carrots in earlier next time.
Amazing!!!!! That looks absolutely delicious!! Glad you loved it. Looking forward to you trying more of my recipes.
I am so in love with your recipe
Thank you:) There’s more to come, so stay tuned
This was absolutely delicious. My family who is so tired of chicken agreed this is a keeper!
Oh great to hear that. Thank you so much!
This is delicious! Thank you for sharing. The only thing I would have done differently is added the carrots much sooner. They needed way more than five minutes to cook, although I could have sliced them thinner as well.
yeah, you can adjust the recipe as per your own experience and preference. Thank you for sharing your valuable feedback:) Much Love!
Going to try with a rotisserie chicken. Do I debone it using the skin for flavor?
Sounds like a great idea. Since the chicken is already cooked, I would debone it and remove the skin (isn’t chicken skin so good when it’s crispy?). Then add the chicken toward the end after the carrots, and let it simmer until it’s heated through. Please let me know how it turns out❤️
I made it several times. it is always excellent and my wife and kids love it .
Thanks for the recipe
Thank you so much, Dean, well it’s really exciting to hear from you. Stay tuned and try some other recipes, I am sure your wife and kids would be inspired with your cooking skills:)
I am very excited to try this – am making it for dinner tonight. I have seen the comments about the confusion and I too am confused. It doesn’t make sense to me to NOT add the smoked paprika, curry, etc., if you are using fresh tomatoes – why not? The ingredients list does not make that clear, and some of the steps could be more straightforward. I will figure it out but it would be great to simply follow clear steps. Thank you for sharing the recipe, and I am anticipating it will be delicious.
Thank you for pointing that out. I can understand the confusion, so I’ve separated the tomato options. It should now be clear that after deciding between fresh tomatoes and tomato sauce, the procedure is the same. Thanks:)
This dish was really good, alltho in the recipe i would like some clarity, if you don’t greatly mind.
-Ingredients list has paprika, yet the instructions has smoked paprika
-The name is stew yet in the instructions its referred as a soup
-also the choice of bullion does make an impact on the dish, i would stick with one preferred choice
-Also i have a question about the tomato puree, it seems a whole lot to smack 2 cups – I personally substituted it with crushed tomatoes and some puree along with water to give it a nice texture and viscosity. Also this is referred as sauce in instructions instead of puree.
Other than that, amazing dish!
Hi, Akira. Thank you for pointing those out. I’ve already updated the recipe. And yes, it’s 2 cups tomato sauce.
Thus is my first time making an African Chicken Stew, but with help from this amazing recipe and the comments section, this may be the best dish I’ve ever made. It’s absolutely gorgeous and even better the day after once all the flavours has had time to really mature. Thank you so much for this recipe. I also used your home made creole seasoning recipe.
Please I don’t understand when should i add the paprika, dried thyme, carry powder, bay leaf and maggi if I’m making my own tomato sauce
For fresh tomatoes, I blended the onion with it. You need to add those ingredients in the blending process. 🙂
Which flavor Maggi cube do you use: chicken or vegetable? And could I use a nonstick frying pan, since I can’t use cast iron on my glass top stove? The saddest part: I want to make this for a friend who can’t tolerate pepper at all. What can I use to season this besides creole seasoning to get the similar rich flavor without the heat? Thanks!
Hello Terri! I use chicken, and yes you can use nonstick frying pan. For the seasoning, you may take out creole and opt to create your own 🙂 Let me know how it goes. Enjoy!
Do you still add the curry powder, smoked paprika, thyme, bay leaf, garlic, and bouillon powder, and 2 cups of water if you make the tomato sauce yourself instead of using premade?
Hi Chey! If you’ve done step 3 using fresh tomatoes, you may skip on step 4. 🙂
Enjoy!
So confused if the water is added to the tomatos and the spices in step 3 or if they are omitted? Can you clarify please.
Sorry for the mixed up. It is added to the tomatoes and spices.
Thanks for this recipe! I just don’t really understand step 4. You say “if using tomato sauce”, but there is no tomato sauce in the recipe. Do I skip this whole step?
Yes . Skip step 4 if you are not using canned tomato sauce .
Recently I have started liking African cuisine. This recipe is interesting. I will surely try this recipe.
You can make this PLANT BASED.
My sister raved about this recipe and sent pictures. I had to try it for myself but… I
am plant based. So I used 2.5 cans of trader Joes jackfruit while keeping everything else almost the same. I seasoned the jackfruit and “browned” it with the onions and garlic. Added a habanero pepper while it was simmering on low for about 30 mins, I had to add sugar to it to the calm the acidity from the canned tomato puree. I added ground ginger. I used 1 cup of veggie broth and cup of water. TBS of maggie and 1 vegan beef bouillon (would have used the vegan chicken bouillon if I had it, but this tasted just fine)
Next time, I will add 1 more part liquid. Unlike chicken, jackfruit soaks up liquid instead of adding to it. It wasn’t as stew like as I would have liked but we LOVED it. It was so tasty! We will be making this again
Thank you for sharing your version, Jo. Will have to try it one of these days once I get hold of jackfruit. It’s been a while since I last had one.
Would this recipe still work for boneless, skinless chicken breast, or would I have to make any adjustments?
You will have to adjust the cooking time .
Can you use skinless chicken?
Thanks!
Yes it would . Cut back on the cooking time.
This recipe is a super classic easy to make stew that is bold on flavor, easily expandable to feed a crowd, and economical as well. Thanks Imma!
Your welcome ! Glad to hear it worked out well for you.
Do the seeds need to be removed from the Roma tomatoes first?
Also, if the tomato sauce simmets longer, is that better for the taste overall?
Thank you for an awesome recipe! I made your African chicken stew recipe in the past & EVERYONE loved it & begged me to make more at the time. I’m going to make it again & just had these 2 questions.
Hello!
No you do not have to remove the seeds . Feel free to grind the whole thing.
Yes. Most of the liquid evaporates and the flavor is intensified . Hope this answers your question.
Will be trying this for New Years Day during my personal Kwanzaa Celebration!
Great! Enjoy and Happy KwanZaa!