Our Family’s Southern Chicken Stew
Warm, rich, and bursting with flavor, this Southern Chicken Stew has earned its place as a family classic! We’re talking chicken, corn, potatoes, and tomatoes, all slow-simmered in a broth so good you’ll want to mop it up with one of my Southern Cathead Biscuits. It’s simple to prepare, easy to customize, and perfect for feeding a crowd.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Southern Chicken Stew
- Serves: 4
- Main Ingredients: chicken, onions, water, canned tomatoes, potatoes, sugar, frozen or canned whole kernel corn, butter
- Why You'll Love It: Featuring tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and chicken, this flavorful and hearty southern chicken stew recipe is a firm family favorite.
How do you make Southern chicken stew?
Cook a whole chicken in 7 cups of water, then shred the meat and skim the broth. Simmer 6 diced potatoes in a cup of the broth until tender and mash them slightly. Add corn, chopped onions, 4 cups canned tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper to the broth and simmer 20 minutes, then stir in the potatoes and chicken and simmer uncovered at least 45 minutes. Finish with 2 tablespoons of butter.
The Chicken Stew That’s Been in Our Family for Decades
Originally published in a 1974 issue of Good Housekeeping, this Southern chicken stew recipe has stood the test of time. It’s been a staple for our family meals, gatherings, and cozy nights in for as long as I can remember, and is often served alongside my Deep South Buttermilk Cornbread. You really just can’t beat the hearty mix of tender chicken, potatoes, and a flavorful broth, which makes it both satisfying and versatile.
This stew is so straightforward that 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, much like my Cozy Potato Corn Chowder, can be easily stretched by adding more potatoes. A double batch keeps a warm, homemade meal on hand all week. And did I mention that it’s budget-friendly too? Honestly, the more you learn about this stew, the better it gets!
Ingredients
- Bone-in chicken breast (pre-cooked or rotisserie works too)
- Onions
- Canned tomatoes (or fresh diced tomatoes if that’s what you have!)
- Potatoes
- Sugar
- Frozen or canned corn (whole kernel)
- Butter
- Salt & pepper
Tips Before You Get Started
- For a little kick, try serving your stew with hot sauce on the side. Or, if you like it spicy, just toss in a teaspoon of paprika or a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning before you let it simmer!
- Feel free to bulk it up with more veggies! I love throwing in a cup of frozen peas or green beans when I add the corn. You can also add diced carrots, bell pepper, or celery. Whatever you’ve got in the fridge works great.
- To make this in a crockpot, cover the chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours, adding the potatoes and onions a couple of hours in. Once the chicken is tender, pull it out and shred it, remove the potatoes as usual, then add everything back in. Cook on high for a couple more hours until it’s all warmed through.
How to Make Southern Chicken Stew
1. Cook the Chicken
In a Dutch oven, cover the whole chicken with water and cook it over medium heat until the thickest part of the breast hits 165°F (74°C) on an instant-read thermometer.
Once it’s done, take the chicken out of the broth and let it cool for a bit. Don’t throw out that broth – you’ll need it later!
2. Cook the Potatoes
Peel and dice your potatoes and onions, then toss them into the reserved broth. Cook everything until the potatoes are nice and tender.
3. Shred the Chicken
While the potatoes are cooking, go ahead and pull the chicken meat off the bones and give it a good shred.
4. Mash the Potatoes
Once the potatoes are very soft, scoop out about a coffee cup’s worth and mash them up with a fork. Stir the mashed potatoes back into the Dutch oven, then add in your shredded chicken.
Note: We’re only mashing a portion of the potatoes here, not all of them. The mashed potatoes help thicken the stew, while the remaining whole potatoes add a hearty texture. It’s the best of both worlds!
5. Add Ingredients & Simmer
Next, add your can of tomatoes, then add in the corn.
Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the sugar.
Let everything simmer slowly with the lid off for about 45 minutes.
6. Add Butter & Serve
Just before serving, stir in the butter. Adding butter just before serving makes for a creamy, velvety texture.
Time to serve up this hearty stew! We love soaking it up with our 2-Ingredient Easy Homemade Biscuits. Enjoy!
Storage
This Southern chicken stew recipe refrigerates and freezes really well. You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat in the microwave.
Southern Chicken Stew FAQs
You sure can! I would just recommend adding in some chicken bouillon cubes to your water to make sure your chicken broth is rich enough.
The secret to better chicken stew is all about layering flavors! While this recipe doesn’t call for it, one way to boost the flavor is by searing your chicken thighs in the Dutch oven first to get a beautiful golden crust, then deglaze the pot to pick up all those tasty browned bits from the bottom. Then you’d add your broth and cook your onions and potatoes from there.
Saltine crackers, some buttery cornbread, or homemade drop biscuits are some of my top choices! Honestly, nothing beats dunking a warm, buttery biscuit into a hearty bowl of stew. If you’re looking for something a little lighter on the side, I’d also recommend throwing together an easy Greek salad.
I hope this stew warms your heart as much as it does ours! Rate it below and tell me how you made it your own.
Southern Chicken Stew
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 in water until done.1 chicken, 7 cups water
- Remove the chicken from the broth and discard its skin. Separate the meat from the bones, then shred the meat. Skim off as much fat from the broth as possible.
- Simmer potatoes in 1 cup of broth in a covered saucepan until done. 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, 5 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons pepper
- Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and chicken pieces, then 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!