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.
Chicken Stew (African-Style)
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Ingredients
- 3-3½ pound (1.5kg) chicken, cut in pieces
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons (4-8g) Creole seasoning
- ¼-½ cup (62-125g) oil (canola, olive, or vegetable oil)
- 5-6 Roma tomatoes (or 2 cups tomato sauce)
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon (8g) garlic, minced (3-4 cloves)
- 1½ teaspoon (1.5g) dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon (7g) smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon (0.5g) curry powder
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon Maggi or bouillon (chicken-flavored)
- 2 cups (475ml) water
- 2 green onion, chopped (whites and green parts)
- 3 tablespoon (12g) parsley
- 1-2 cups (130-250g) carrot, sliced
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat until hot, and then add the chicken and sauté, stirring frequently and scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot until the chicken is brown.
- If using fresh tomatoes, blend tomatoes, onions, and garlic.
- If using tomato sauce, saute the onion and garlic until tender (4-5 minutes).
- Pour the tomato blend (or sauce, onion, and garlic) into the pot of chicken, add the thyme, smoked paprika, curry powder, bay leaf, and bouillon, bring to a boil, and let it simmer until tender (depending on the chicken), 20-30 minutes, frequently stirring to prevent the stew from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
- Add carrots, green onions, and parsley. Cook for five more minutes. Adjust the thickness of the stew with water or stock.
- Season with salt according to preference. Remove bay leaf.
- Serve over warm rice.
Tips & Notes:
- You can throw in other vegetables, like potatoes or sweet potatoes, into this dish towards the last 15-20 minutes of cooking.
- You may use bone-in chicken breast for this dish. Or a rotisserie chicken, provided you add the chicken towards the last 15 minutes of cooking.
- For a little kick, you may add a bit of cayenne pepper.
- When using a crockpot, brown the chicken first, then add onions and tomato blend. Saute for about 5 minutes and finish it off in the crock pot for 3-4 hours on high.
- I used canola oil for this recipe, and I would not recommend palm oil for this one.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition Information:
Dean says
I made it several times. it is always excellent and my wife and kids love it .
Thanks for the recipe
Imma says
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:)
Jacqueline says
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.
Imma says
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:)
Akira says
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!
imma africanbites says
Hi, Akira. Thank you for pointing those out. I’ve already updated the recipe. And yes, it’s 2 cups tomato sauce.
Rei says
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.
Jana says
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
ImmaculateBites says
For fresh tomatoes, I blended the onion with it. You need to add those ingredients in the blending process. 🙂
Terri says
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!
Immaculate Bites says
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!
Chey says
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?
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Chey! If you’ve done step 3 using fresh tomatoes, you may skip on step 4. 🙂
Enjoy!
Suzie says
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.
ImmaculateBites says
Sorry for the mixed up. It is added to the tomatoes and spices.
Jerry says
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?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes . Skip step 4 if you are not using canned tomato sauce .
Govind Unni says
Recently I have started liking African cuisine. This recipe is interesting. I will surely try this recipe.
Jo says
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
imma africanbites says
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.
Eddie says
Would this recipe still work for boneless, skinless chicken breast, or would I have to make any adjustments?
ImmaculateBites says
You will have to adjust the cooking time .
Charmaine Ambush says
Can you use skinless chicken?
Thanks!
ImmaculateBites says
Yes it would . Cut back on the cooking time.
John Ferguson says
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!
ImmaculateBites says
Your welcome ! Glad to hear it worked out well for you.
Brittany says
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.
ImmaculateBites says
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.
Lisa Simmons says
Will be trying this for New Years Day during my personal Kwanzaa Celebration!
ImmaculateBites says
Great! Enjoy and Happy KwanZaa!