Brown Stew Chicken

Brown Stew Chicken

Brown Stew Chicken

Brown Stew Chicken is a staple in Jamaican cuisine. This chicken is so tender after slow cooking for 3 hours, the bones pull right out clean. You barely have to chew this. Sweet and savory.
For the chicken: you can use a whole chicken cut up into parts or use just chicken thighs. I used Bone in chicken thighs since dark meat works a little better for slow cooking instead of any white meat. When marinating the chicken thighs; I pull the skin back from the thigh meat but not completely off so the marinade can penetrate all of the chicken instead of just the skin side. When it's time to cook them, I pull the skin back over the thighs. 
If you don't want to turn on your oven, you can do this recipe in a slow cooker. I would recommend following all of the steps, except instead of throwing the pan in the oven, transfer to the slow cooker instead, cooking on high for 4 hours. Either way, you will get excellent results.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time3 hours
Total Time3 hours 15 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Jamaican
Keyword: Caribbean, Chicken, Jamaican, main course
Servings: 4
Author: Alex Gorgos

Ingredients

Marinade for the chicken

  • 6 bone in chicken thighs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
  • 1/2 tsp minced ginger
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 green onions diced

Brown Stew Chicken

  • 2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 2 small bell pepper, 1 red, 1 green sliced into strips
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tsp browning sauce
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper or 1 habanero
  • 3/4 cup chicken stock
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Marinade for the chicken

  • Mix all of the marinade ingredients together. Pull back the skin from the chicken thighs, but don’t remove. By doing this, you can make sure that the chicken meat itself, and not just the skin will get marinated. Mix the chicken with the marinade. Cover and let sit for 4 hours, preferably overnight. 
    Jamaican, chicken
  • When ready to cook, pull the skin back over the thighs.
    Jamaican, chicken

Brown Stew Chicken

  • On medium high meat add cooking oil to a large pan or dutch oven. Sear the chicken thighs skin side down for 5 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for 3 minutes. Set aside.
    Jamaican, chicken
  • In the same pan, sauté onions, bell peppers, garlic, brown sugar, thyme, white pepper, cayenne or habanero, ketchup, and browning sauce for 4-5 minutes.
    Jamaican, chicken
  • Deglaze the pan by add the chicken stock. Scrape the bits up from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken thighs. 
  • Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cook uncovered for 3 hours, basting the skin of the chicken thighs with the juices once an hour.
    Jamaican, main course, chicken
Jamaican, main course, chicken
Serve the chicken with coconut rice.