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.
I am going to start this post off by asking a favor of you all. Please make this chicken stew. It’s that good. I mean, it’s so good that it actually bothers me to think that some of you might only look at the photos, read the tutorial, and never make it. It’s so good that if I could, I would seriously arrange a time and place for all of us to meet up under a tent somewhere in the middle of the country just to serve you this chicken stew. It’s just, well folks, it’s just so good!
My mother got this recipe out of a 1974 issue of Good Housekeeping. There was a photograph of a little old lady next to the title and Mama said “She just looked like her food would be really good”. Since then, I cannot even begin to tell you how often we make it. Everyone in my family makes this and loves it. My in-laws are coming in from Georgia this weekend for the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddler’s Convention as they do every year and this stew is always a request for their first meal. Tonight I’m serving it with Dixie Cornbread.
Once you make this a time or two, you’ll have no more need for the recipe. It will be ingrained in your heart, your taste buds, and your stomach. If you need more reasons to give this southern chicken stew recipe a go, it refrigerates well, freezes well, and can easily feed a crowd simply by adding more potatoes. I always try to make a double batch and my family happily eats a bowl of this supreme dish whenever they need a quick meal all week long!
Recipe Ingredients
- Potatoes
- A chicken
- Crushed tomatoes
- Corn
- Onion
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Sugar
- Margarine
Helpful Kitchen Tools
Cover your whole chicken with water and cook over medium heat until it’s done. When chicken is done, remove it from the broth and set it aside to cool a bit. Reserve broth.
If you prefer to 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 potatoes. Also, peel and dice your onion.
Add potatoes to the broth.
Add diced onion as well. Cook these until your potatoes are tender.
Cook until potatoes are tender. Remove about a coffee cup’s worth of potatoes.
Like this.
With a fork, mash those potatoes in the cup. We are going to add this back to the stew and it will thicken it.
You can also just use a bit of instant mashed potatoes here if you want, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post. (I truly believe soup thickening is about all they are good for… except for when I make this crust out of them for our Taco casserole… but that is a recipe for another day).
Place back in the saucepot along with the .
Add the can of tomatoes.
Now, you can use any type you want here. I tend to use crushed because my husband (who I have oft mentioned was dropped on his head as a child) doesn’t like to actually bite into a piece of tomato in his stew. However, I prefer diced if I’m going with canned. Nothing though, NOTHING is better than homegrown tomatoes from my freezer if I have them!
Add corn.
I often use frozen corn if you prefer that.
Add salt…
And pepper.
Then add the sugar. I know sugar sounds a bit odd in a stew, but trust me on this.
Simmer slowly with the lid off for about forty-five minutes.
Just before serving, stir in margarine. YUM!!
Storage
As I said, 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.
Recipe Notes
- Serve your homemade chicken stew with saltine 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.
- If you’d prefer slow cooker chicken stew, follow the steps but once the potatoes, chicken, and onions are cooked in the broth, you’ll want to transfer everything to a slow cooker before adding the can of tomatoes and the remaining ingredients. Then cook on high for 4 to 6 hours.
Check out these other sensation stew recipes:
Beef Stew Recipe for Slow Cooker
Lentil Stew (Budget-Friendly & Delicious)
Ground Beef Stew (with a secret!)
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
Nutrition
I just made the stew for the first time! It is great!! I forgot the butter at the end but about to add it now…. what does the butter actually do?!
It adds a lovely depth to the flavor but it’s still good without! Hope you enjoyed it!
This is so delicious and very thrifty. Thank-you for your time in putting this site together!!!
Thank you Caroline!!!! I am so glad you liked the stew!!
Hi Christy,
I’ve made this several times over the years, it’s an all-time favorite for me! I’m not as culinary-challenged as I once was, thanks to you . However, I’d like to know your suggestion as to how to turn this into a slow-cooker version?
Thank u
How many chicken breasts should I use? I am weird about chicken. I don’t do whole ones. 🙂
Did you ever find out? I don’t really want to use a whole chicken either.
It’s really up to you how much chicken you want in it. You can use as few as one or as many as three or four. You might like to see the shortcut version of this recipe: https://www.southernplate.com/2016/11/shortcut-chicken-stew.html
I’m very excited to try this. I use to live in Southern Tn but am now back home in North Alabama (Whew! Big time 30 min move). Anyway, this looks almost identical to the “chicken stew” made in Lincoln County, Tn and sold by the gallons to raise money for schools, fire departments, churches, etc…. Thanks for sharing this and I look forward to trying more from you!
Considering how close we are geographically I’d say you’re probably right! Let me know what you think and thank you so much for being here!
Are the directions correct in stating to “simmer potatoes in 1 cup of broth”? That doesn’t seem like near enough liquid for 6 potatoes.
That is how Mama does it. I just toss ’em in the pot with everything else.
My family has been making chicken stew like this for as long as I can remember. It is best cooked outside over a campfire in a big black pot. But it’s good cooked inside too, when the fire and black pot aren’t feasible. Only difference is we add elbow noodles at the very end. Yum….now I want some