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
Are the corn and tomatoes drained??
It is -11 below here in Minnesota and I am making this stew for my family tonight! Thanks so much!
I make this once a week now for my boyfriend who loves any kind of stew! He enjoyed it so much the first time I made it that he ate the entire batch in 2 days! I had a bowl or 2 myself but he demolished the rest. I was going to freeze the leftovers but there were none. I am making this today and hopefully will have someleft to freeze. It’s just like my Mamaws and that says a lot! Much love from Alabama! Xoxo
I’m about to try your recipe so I will be back to let you know how it works out.
This looks amazing!! I was looking for a chicken soup/stew recipe I could cook in my Polish pottery in the oven – I will adapt this recipe and let you know how it turns out!! Would love your thoughts on how to do that, though – any ideas, anyone? Other than adding the smashed potatoes at the very end of the somewhat slow cooking time (probably 40 min @ 375, then down to 300 for about 90 min).
How could I cook this in the crock pot?
I make chicken stew in the crockpot often! I cook my chicken in the crockpot overnight, sometimes I use a mix of breast & thighs, sometimes a whole chicken. I season it when I put it in. In the morning take the chicken out of the broth and debone if necessary and shred.
To the chicken broth, add a can of tomato paste, 1-2 diced onions, 1-2 cans of crushed or diced tomatoes, (I use 2 cans) 6-8 cubed potatoes, (skin on or off, whichever you prefer), & add your shredded chicken back in. I add a little salt & lots of pepper. If it can cook all day, I cook it on low, if not I cook it on high, it’s usually done in about 3-4 hours, check your potatoes, when they’re done, add 2 cans of drained corn and it’ll be ready in few minutes. I’ve never added sugar to mine but will try it next time. If you don’t have enough broth, just add some water or broth.
I made this a few weeks ago and hubby and I loved it, but “picky” kids did not 🙁 They think it was the tomato. I’m thinking about making it again without the tomato and wondered if you have tried it that way and what the outcome was. I really need something that is both good for us and economical and would love to make this work without the tomato 🙂
The recipe I’ve used for years is like this. Love it!!!I don’t like the texture of tomatoes so I use tomatoe sauce and tomato paste instead of crushed tomatoes:) I also add canned cut green beans at the end ( so they don’t get mushy)
I use tomato sauce instead of tomatoes