Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken
The classic Jamaican brown stew chicken recipe is incredibly flavorful. All the complementary sweet and spicy notes you’ll want to whip up for a weeknight meal and entertaining. And besides being delicious, it’s an absolute breeze to make!
I love spicy things in general (just in case you haven’t figured that out yet). I come from a lengthy background of spice-loving people, which is one reason I am so in love with this stew. The aromatic blend of garlic, ginger, pepper, thyme, and green onions makes my mouth water long before serving up a plate.
This recipe is downright comforting! It makes your house smell amazing and will remind you of long weekends spent at home with family while your mom cooked everyone’s favorite meals. In fact, don’t be surprised if this dish turns into one of your own family’s favs.
Why It’s Called Brown Stew
Browning sauce is one of the major flavor enhancers of an authentic Jamaican brown stew chicken recipe. Thus, the name of a popular Caribbean condiment that blends caramel color, vegetable concentrates, and seasonings. This sauce enhances the flavor of meat and darkens the broth in soups and stews.
How to Make Brown Stew Chicken
- Season with salt and pepper according to your taste, then add the chicken bouillon powder, ginger, garlic, white pepper, thyme, paprika, and green onions. (Photos 1-4)
- Marinate in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight.
- Sear the chicken, reserving the marinade for later, for 3-4 minutes until golden. Set it aside. (Photo 5)
- Sauté the onions, garlic, thyme, hot sauce, paprika, brown sugar, browning sauce, ketchup, bell peppers (if desired, add some or all of the bell peppers towards the last 10 minutes of cooking), and salt to taste. A scotch bonnet pepper is also a nice addition for more heat. (Photos 6-8)
- Add the leftover marinade from the chicken, and deglaze the pan with the chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil. (Photo 9)
- Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for about 25 minutes or until it becomes fall-off-the-bone tender and the sauce thickens slightly. (Photo 10)
- Add the rest of the bell peppers and scotch bonnet if desired, adjust seasonings to taste, and adjust the sauce consistency as desired. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Make this recipe in a slow cooker or Instant Pot for an even easier meal! Just brown the chicken and sauté the seasonings, then toss all the ingredients into the crock pot (on high for 3-4 hours) or pressure cooker (10 minutes on high, then natural release for 10 minutes).
- You can also make this in an Instant Pot following the same instructions as the slow cooker.
- Leave out the hot sauce for a mild version of brown chicken stew.
Make-Ahead and Leftovers
This stew will stay good for a few days in the fridge, so feel free to make it a couple of days ahead. Then, you can heat it up on the stovetop on medium-high heat.
Store your leftover stew in an airtight container in the fridge. It should keep for 3-5 days. I prefer reheating this stew on the stovetop on medium heat, but you can microwave it if in a hurry.
What Goes With Brown Stew Chicken
Honestly, this stewed chicken is fantastic all on its own. Still, if you’re asking me what’s on my dinner table, you’d probably find coconut rice, fried plantains, and steamed veggies.
I’d also be serving sorrel drink over ice because it is another island classic that is beautifully refreshing. And for dessert? Rum raisin cake with rum glaze for dessert.
More Soul-Satisfying Jamaican Recipes to Try
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
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This post was first published in May 2014 and has been updated with a new recipe, photos, tips, and a video.
Brown Stew Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 3½-5 pound (1.75-2.5k) chicken, cut into 10 pieces
- salt and black pepper to taste (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon (2g) chicken bouillon powder
- 1-2 teaspoons (2-4g) minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon (5g) minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon (1g) white pepper
- 1 teaspoon (2g) fresh thyme (¼-½ teaspoon dried thyme)
- ½ teaspoon (2g) paprika
- 2 green onions, finely sliced
Brown Stew Chicken
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) canola oil (more if needed)
- 1 medium onion, diced (about 1¼ cups)
- 2 teaspoons (10g) minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon (2g) fresh thyme (¼-½ teaspoon dried thyme)
- 1 teaspoon (5g) hot sauce (or sub chili sauce)
- 1½ teaspoons (5g) paprika
- 1 tablespoon (12g) brown sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons (5-10ml) browning sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons (30-45g) ketchup
- 2 small bell peppers, sliced (red or green)
- 1-2 cups (236-470ml) chicken broth (or water)
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then place it in a bowl and season it with salt and pepper (see notes on how much salt).
- Add the chicken bouillon powder, ginger, garlic, white pepper, thyme, paprika, and green onions. Thoroughly mix the chicken with a spoon or your hands until well coated, cover tightly, and marinate in the fridge for about an hour (or overnight).
- When ready to cook, remove excess marinade from the chicken and reserve it for later. Heat a large pan (mine was a 12-inch cast-iron skillet) with about 2 tablespoons of oil.
- Brown the chicken for 3-4 minutes until golden brown, remove it, and set it aside. Drain excess oil from the skillet, leaving 2-3 tablespoons.
- To the same pan, add the onions, garlic, thyme, hot sauce, paprika, sugar, browning sauce, ketchup, bell peppers (if desired, add some or all of the bell peppers towards the last 10 minutes of cooking), and salt to taste. Stir for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent. Then, add the reserved chicken marinade.
- Deglaze the pan with the broth or water. Bring to a boil and return the brown chicken to the pan.
- Cover and cook for about 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (no pink showing) and the sauce thickens slightly. Adjust the seasonings and consistency to taste.
- Turn off the stove, and serve the stew with fried plantains and Caribbean rice and beans.
Tips & Notes:
- While the amount of salt and pepper is up to personal tastes, ½-¾ teaspoon of salt per pound of chicken is a good start. Then add a pinch at a time while cooking as needed, tasting as you go.
- You don’t have to brown the chicken and sauté the onions and spices before making the stew, but this small step results in big flavor. I recommend you don’t skip it!
- When you deglaze your pan with cool water (or broth), stir frequently. The cool water on the hot pan, combined with your stirring, will lift any flavorful bits sticking to the pan, prevent them from burning, and make your stew incredibly tasty.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
I loved the recipe. I followed it to the “T”…it came out great can’t wait to try more.
Thanks so much!
This recipe is incredible! Delicious just as written, and after I’d made it a few times I added both sliced jalapeno and a tiny pinch of Carolina Reaper powder to give it a bigger kick. My meat-and -potatoes husband now asks for this instead at least once a week! Thank you!!!!
Thanks so much! Glad to hear hubby enjoys it as much as we do.
I am a little nervous about making this because I’m used to making Spanish style stew chicken. But I absolutely love Jamaican brown stew chicken and I’m looking forward to putting all this together. I will post an update of the results. Heading to the store now
You will love this one too! keep us posted.
I am anxious to try this beautiful recipe. However, I was wondering if you can suggest a substitute for the browning sauce? Where I live there would not be anything like that available in the tiendas or markets? Thank you,cans love your recipes.
Browning sauce is burnt sugar. Do you have molasses? or leave it out completely. Will be updating blog soon with a good substitute .
I’ve been making your recipes for a few years now. This is my favorite go to dish for ANYTHING! Thank you for such tastiness!!
Oh my! Thanks so much for your continuous support . Happy Holidays.
This is an amazing meal – so easy and so flavourful. Thanks so much!
Thank you for the feedback, Kelly!
Can I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken?
Yes you sure can.
Just like the wonderful Jamaican place down the street. I did leave in the green onions and garlic. I added some cornstarch to thicken a bit, otherwise just as written.
Great! Thanks for the feedback.
Hi!
When do you add the brown sugar? I’m assuming with the rest of the spices and browning/ketchup to make the gravy?
Thank you
Hi. Yes, it’s along with the browning sauce and ketchup in step #5.
This recipe worked out perfectly! I was surprised that it tasted so authentic. I did throw in a scotch bonnet instead of the chilli hot sauce. I would recommend definitely recommend doing that. I took out the bonnet at the very end since it can get extremely spicy but cooking it in the sauce with a few fork marks in the bonnet released a lot of its flavour.
I have made this multiple times turns out delicious every time thank you for sharing
Remove what excess particles?
The green onions and or garlic from the marinated chicken.
I made this tonight along with your rice and beans recipe and it was simply amazing. Utterly delicious.
Our only complaint is that when viewed on a mobile device, your recipe keeps moving around as your adverts reload.
Noted. Thanks for sharing this with us
This is my 2nd time making this soooooooo delicious! Thank you
So happy to hear this .Thanks for the feedback.
I want to thank you …this came out SUPER DELISH….i added more bell peppers at the end and crush pepper and two bay leaf when I started cooking it..I followed you to the tee…ty..i look forward to mastering this and I will follow more of your recipes..oh yeah rice and pigeon peas on the side.
With rice and pigeon peas on the side… that sounds absolutely Divine!! I am glad you love this recipe, Martin. Thank you so much for the feedback.
I made this for the first time as I enjoy Caribbean food. It was delicious which is an understatement. I didn’t have time to marinate it but still the chicken soaked up all the flavours and it was so tender as well. Thank you for sharing.
Fantastic!! I am so happy this recipe was a hit with you, Petra! Thank you for the feedback :)!
Incredibly delicious ! Thank you for sharing the recipe !
You’re welcome, Chin! Glad you loved it! 🙂
My father in-law is from Kingston, Jamaica and I often make this recipe for my family and it is DELICIOUS. I love this brown stew chicken. This is my third time making it.
Three times? Yess! Thank you so much.
I’ve I made this brown stew chicken many times always a hit in my house will continue to use thank you so much
Fantastic!! I am so glad this is a hit in your home, Josha :)!!
Hi…love your recipes!!!
Making the Brown Stew Chicken, but the recipe only mentions using 3/4 of water to deglaze…what about the 1-2 cups of the chicken broth…do use 3/4 of that and the balance if you need to?
Thanks,
Cathy
Thanks Cathy. I have made corrections to the recipe is 1-2 cups of water adjust as you cook.
I don’t normally leave comments on websites, but this is my favorite chicken recipe of all time! I have made it so many times. It’s soooooo warming when it’s raining. Thanks so much for sharing it with me!
This is one of my favorites too!! 🙂 I agree this is such a comforting dish! Glad you loved it. Thanks for stopping by!