Our Family’s Southern Chicken Stew Recipe
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Featuring tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and chicken, this flavorful and hearty southern chicken stew recipe is a firm family favorite.
This Southern Chicken Stew is a must-try. Rich, comforting, and packed with flavor, it’s a dish that quickly becomes a household favorite. It’s simple to prepare, easy to customize, and perfect for feeding a crowd.
Originally published in a 1974 issue of Good Housekeeping, this recipe has stood the test of time. It’s a staple for family meals, gatherings, and cozy nights in. The hearty combination of tender chicken, potatoes, and a flavorful broth makes it both satisfying and versatile.
Once you’ve made it a couple of times, you’ll likely have the recipe memorized. It stores well in the fridge, freezes beautifully, and can be easily stretched by adding more potatoes. A double batch ensures a warm, homemade meal is always on hand for the week. This budget friendly, hearty meal is going to be your new favorite!
What You’ll Need to Make Southern Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- potatoes
- whole chicken
- crushed tomatoes
- corn
- onion
- salt
- black pepper
- sugar
- butter
How to Make Southern Chicken Stew
In a dutch oven, cover the whole chicken with water and cook over medium heat until it the thickest part of the breast registers 165°F (74°C) on an instant read thermometer. When done, remove the chicken from the broth and set it aside to cool a bit. Reserve broth. You can use boneless skinless chicken breast for this recipe, just add some chicken bouillon cubes to your water to make sure your chicken broth is rich enough.
Peel and dice the potatoes and onions.
Add diced onions and potatoes to the reserved broth. Cook until the potatoes are tender.
While the potatoes are cooking, remove the chicken meat from the bones and shred.
When the potatoes are very soft, remove approximately a coffee cup’s worth. With a fork, mash these potatoes in the cup.
Add the mashed potatoes back into the dutch oven.
Then add the .
Next, add the can of crushed tomatoes. You can use diced tomatoes or even fresh garden tomatoes in place of the crushed tomatoes.
Next add salt and pepper.
Finally, add the sugar. Sugar acts to enhance flavor and offset the acidity of the tomatoes.
Simmer slowly with the lid off for about forty-five minutes.
Just before serving, stir in the butter. Adding butter just before serving makes for a creamy, velvety texture.
Ladle stew into bowls and serve. This Southern Chicken Stew recipe refrigerates and freezes well. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating in the microwave.
Notes on Making Southern Chicken Stew
- Serve Southern Chicken Stew with saltine or oyster crackers, homemade drop biscuits, or cornbread. You could also serve it with a simple side salad, like an easy Greek salad.
- For a little kick, serve your stew with some hot sauce. Alternatively, before simmering add a teaspoon of paprika or a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning.
- Want to add more vegetables? Add in a cup of frozen peas or green beans when you add the corn. You could also add diced carrot, , or celery to your stew.
- You can use chicken that is already cooked and shredded (rotisserie chicken works well), but you will need to use chicken stock to cook the vegetables.
- If you want to make Southern Chicken Stew in a crockpot, cover and cook the chicken on low for 6-8 hours, add the potatoes and onions a couple of hours into cooking. When chicken is cooked and tender, remove from crockpot and shred, remove the potatoes as instructed above and then add everything back to the crockpot and cook on high for a couple of hours or until warmed through.
More Stew Recipes You’ll Love
Ingredients
- 1 chicken
- 2 large onions chopped
- 7 cups water
- 4 cups canned tomatoes
- 6 medium potatoes peeled and diced
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups frozen or canned whole kernel corn
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 5 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
Instructions
- Cook the chicken until done in water. Remove the chicken from the broth and discard its skin. Separate the meat from the bones and then shred the meat.1 chicken, 7 cups water
- Dip off as much fat from the broth as possible.
- Simmer potatoes in 1 cup of broth in a covered saucepan until done and do not drain. Mash potatoes slightly, keeping them lumpy.6 medium potatoes
- Add corn, onions, tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper to broth.2 large onions, 4 cups canned tomatoes, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 cups frozen or canned whole kernel corn, 5 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons pepper
- Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add potatoes and chicken pieces and simmer slowly with the lid off for at least 45 minutes.6 medium potatoes, 1 chicken
- Right before serving, stir in the butter and let it melt. This chicken stew is best if made a day ahead and reheated to serve.2 tablespoons butter
Stew looks great! You can freeze tomatoes? I never knew that. I sure have thrown out a ton of them from my dads garden..especially last year when he had 50 plants in the backyard!
How long will they keep?
I need to go buy a chicken. They’re really cheap, and we always have canned tomatoes and corn, and my folks just gleaned enough potatoes to last all of us all winter. This really does look like a very good stew.
And you look so pretty in that picture at the bottom of your post!
Oh Christy,
You have made my day for sure. I have been looking for a Chicken Stew recipe for a long time now. The kind we used to get when they would sell them at fund raisers and such. I never made it myself, and didnt have a recipe till NOW!…
They dont make this stuff up here, and I will definately have to introduce everyone I know to it.
Thanks for such a fabulous recipe.
Girls, Seriously, you all have to try this recipe… its good hearty food, home cooking food… and a southern staple for sure!!!!!
Sharon OOH YAY!! I seriously hope so bad y’all try this! My natural instinct is to feed people and it just kills me that fall is nipping at our heels and I can’t make y’all this stew!!! I have had a very busy but REALLY great day, thank you!!!
I try to always have good days. I tell my kids “Each day when you wake up, you have a choice. You can have a good day or you can have a bad one, so you might has well have a good one.”
Its not always that easy but…….wow, you didn’t mean for me to go into all of that, did ya?
Gosh darnit, I’m just chatty!
Linda Thank you!! You know, This stew is the perfect thing when you have company or have a bit of a busy weekend with folks to feed despite it. We have this big Fiddler’s Convention in my town this weekend and my in laws are here. So I made this tonight and then we’ll eat it again for lunch one day this weekend. No one has EVER minded having chicken stew for leftovers! In fact, we came back from the Fiddler’s tonight and gathered around the soup pot once more!
My brother is a Jack Daniel’s two time grand champion winner for his bbq and he is selling pork chop sandwiches and bbq sundaes all weekend at Fiddlers, oh and roasted corn, too. I’m going to bring y’all some pics back tomorrow and put them into my next post – or maybe the next newsletter. I’ll have to decide.
I try not to ever post just general things about my family or what we did this weekend or such because I figure folks come to Southern Plate for recipes so I do my best to keep on point (in as much as I am able – y’all know I like to ramble). Anyway, my point is that I am going to have some neat pics coming up as soon as I have an excuse to post them or something I can include them with. I thought I’d get some pics of my parents tomorrow and such. Everyone is taking their turn working for my brother this weekend! His BBQ restaurant opens up next weekend and I already have plans to spend some time in his kitchen with my camera for tutorials from there!
Jo Hey!! Wow, thank you!! y’all always make me grin and blush! Just make me feel so good.
I really hope you all know how much I appreciate you taking the time to read Southern Plate and to give me such wonderful feedback. Feedback is so very important and it just makes me feel so good and so thrilled to do more recipes and tutorials every time I read the kind things you all say!
I sure do hope y’all have a wonderful weekend!
Gratefully,
Christy
yummilicious! That looks great Christy, your recipes always do 😉
My oh My! There have been so many good recipes this past month I am in a quandary as to what to take to pot luck on Sunday! I’m going to have to go back and reread all of them.
I think I will definitely make this chicken stew when all the kids come home for Thanksgiving!
Hi there. I may make this for our Sunday meal. It looks yummy.:) Hope you are having a great day.:)
Sharon:)
I tried to follow along based on your instructions and your mother’s recipe. And my soup is a bit bland and I was wondering if that was normal since I have never tasted chicken stew before? I added more salt and pepper it’s still kind of just eh! What to add for a boost of flavor, or will it be better tomorrow?
The flavors do meld and get better the next day but I’ve never had it not really flavorful as soon as it’s done. Did you cook bone in chicken in water to make the broth? The one thing I’m wondering is if perhaps you put boneless chicken in water and then didn’t end up with a broth at the end. Regardless, I’d add some chicken broth concentrate 🙂
I grew up on this recipe too. We use Rotel instead of just tomatoes. We also add Oregon and a little cumin. It has lots of flavor. We love it!
My sweet neighbor made this for me over the weekend. Yummy! Will be making it from now on. It was perfect.
A dash of Tabasco!
I add a little chili powder and it gives a boost of flavor.
That’s a great idea!
I’ve made the recipe multiple times, and really like it. Do you think this would be a recipe that I could can in jars?