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
I use the same recipe every year I have to google your blog every time. Im from South Carolina but my husband and I are stationed in Texas, and tomorrow is actually going to be a cold day here. Making my first pot of the season freezing some and saving it for him when he comes home from deployment. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe!
Rebecca, where in tx are you stationed? I’m making this today in Wichita falls
Wow me too!! Have lived in wichita falls for ten years but my family has lived here forever!! Made this today and it was wonderful!
Just made this! I added some mozzzarella on top so gooooooooooooood later ill probably eat it with a small bed of rice 🙂
I am so glad you enjoyed it Allexis!!
try adding some baby lima beans to this recipe. My mother and grandmother made this when I was a kid..I am 74 and I still make it now!!!
Thanks for sharing your tip Frank!!
This delicious!
Trust her on the sugar amount! It does something that adds to this stew!
Best I have ever had.
I’m making this tonight! I have made chicken stew maybe once in my married life and it wasn’t hearty at all the way I remember my papa’s being. So this morning I googled “Southern Chicken Stew” and yours was the first that popped up. It looks so much like what I remember eating on Sunday’s growing up. What’s even more comforting is my husband and I are from North Alabama as well, though we currently live in Southern GA for the next couple of years. It always feels nice to find a little bit of home when you’re so far away.
A bit of home is always a nice thing isn’t it Victoria! I hope you enjoy the stew, I can’t wait to hear if you like it!
I loved it! It’s nearly identical to what I grew up eating!
I am so glad to hear that Victoria!!
Can you do this recipe in a crock pot? I don’t have a large pot to cook on the stove. If so, how long would you cook the chicken? And on high/low?
I did this just this past weekend. What I did was put my chicken in the slow cooker, covered in water, before I went to bed. I cooked it all night on low. Then in the morning, I removed the chicken and set it aside to cool a bit. Added in all other ingredients and gave it a good stir and let it cook on low a few hours. During that time, as soon as my chicken was cool enough to handle I shredded it and added that in, too.
It will be done in about 4 hours on low, half that if on high, but you can easily just put it on low and let it cook all day til supper 🙂
Christy, I grew up in Lauderdale County, and “Chicken Stews” were always prepared at holidays (even 4th of July) at schools and sold as money makers for the school. I can remember my daddy going to Wilson School and helping prepare huge pots. (I think they cooked it in big old iron pots like they used in the “old days.” People from the community would bring gallon jars to fill and eat on holidays. Such happy memories!
Oh WOW!! What great memories!!