Our Family’s Southern Chicken Stew Recipe
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
There is a big ol’ pot of sittin on my stove. I gave it a little taste test and it is fabulous..extremely comforting 🙂 I can not wait to taste it tomorrow to see how much better it can get! I used 1/2 the amount of sugar (hubby’s preference) and added a dash of cayenne pepper and ground oregano. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Hi Christy, I just saw your chicken stew recipe and plan to make it saturday for a group of 70 people. How many much should I make? I am excited to make this and hope it turns out the way it sounds!! Thanks a lot! 🙂
I also wanted to let you know I plan on using the boneless chicken breast. How many do I need? Thanks a lot! 🙂
I cooked chicken breasts in 7 cups of water. When it started to boil I would add 7 bouillon cubes to make the broth and as the broth would go down I added one chicken bouillon for each cup of water to keep enough broth. When the chicken breast were cooked, I took them out of the broth and added the potatoes and cooked til done. then took out a little potatoes and mashed them but I could not tell a difference in making it thicker until I added the veg.. I then added everything except the shredded chicken to a huge pot and added the can tomatoes, sugar, pepper, corn, peas, carrots, green beans and anything else I wanted to throw in to make it go further and let cook for about 30 min. then added the chicken and lets cook 30 more min then it was done!!! The potatoes cooked in the broth tastes good and gave me an idea to make them again later for a side dish instead of using butter. I had to make enough for 70 people and I had them asking for more!! I see making this again in the not so distant future! lol I had to make this 3 times to make enough for 70. Thanks! 🙂
Hello , I’m from essex england ,was searching the internet for a chicken stew that i was sure my children would eat ,had friends over for dinner yesterday and wanted something wholesome and homely to serve ,made it for 8 people and all 8 people absolutely loved it , was excatly what I was looking for , tasty ,hot and comforting,you was perfectly right on 3 things you said ,first it was a easy tutorial and I’d easily be able to repeat without a recipe in the future ,second it was absolutely yummy,and lastly it would have been a awful shame not to have cooked it ,I have already had my orders to cook it again soon, thanks ever so much x
Oh my goodness, you just made my day Joanne!! I am so glad to hear that everyone liked it so well!! Thank you for sharing and i hope you have a great day!!
Not at all christy, its a definate thank u , its because of great people like u who love to share that people like me love the experience of cooking ! I grew up without a mother to teach me to cook so I rely on learning through people who love to share their know how on line ,and because of this my kids have eaten good home cooking all their lives , thanks again !
It’s a cold drizzly day in North Texas and I’m fixing this for the first time. Smells marvelous! I just had a little sample taste as it started to simmer and I can’t wait for a bowl!!! Thanks for all the recipes!
Hi christy, I just made the stew..haven’t tasted yet… But, I was quite confused with the directions about cooking the potatoes…..I didn’t understand about cooking the potatoes in 1 cup of broth? Too many potatoes and not enough liquid.
Can you explain this step? Thank so much
Christy, This is wonderful. We love chicken stew. Thank You for all of your wonderful recipes and more. You are a Great person. My Sister died last month and I wanted to ask you for some very easy comfort food recipes. Thank You.
Just made this and it is delicious! Reminds me of my grandma’s. Thank you!