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
Hi Christy! It’s been a snowy week up here in southern New Jersey, so I just made this stew today; the hubby and I loved it! This is very much like my dear departed mother-in-law’s chicken vegetable soup. She added a can of condensed tomato soup instead of canned tomatoes, but the flavor is very similar and it made me think of her. What sweet memories!
I have to tell you, Christy, I bought your “Come Home To Supper” book for both myself and for my friend Kim. She told me that her family ( hubby and three kids, ages 12, 9 and 6) told her to thank ‘Mrs. Carson’ for the cookbook! She has made several recipes and her family loved them. So, now I am paying the thanks forward to you. She loved the easy preparation and the fact that you don’t call for a lot of fancy ingredients. I invited her to go on your website, too. Now, if I could just get MY copy of your book back from my mother, I would be in good shape. I had a feeling the day I lent t to her, I wouldn’t get it back anytime soon….sigh! Something tells me I’d better order myself another copy… Have a great rest of the weekend.
LOL, I am so glad to hear that everyone is enjoying the cookbook so much!!
Christy,
I have tried a number of your recipes and loved EVERY one of them! I made this chicken stew the other night(it is a lot like what my family calls Brunswick Stew) and my father (very picky) absolutely loved it! I can’t wait to pick up your cook books!
I am so glad you liked it Kim!!! I hope you enjoy the cookbook!!
I also would like to know if the tomatoes and corn should be drained. Also, how many boneless skinless chicken breasts should I use? I’m thinking 3-4? This sounds delicious! I can’t wait to make it. Love your website and all of your recipes.
No, they do not have to be drained, but if you prefer to drain them that is ok too. This is a very forgiving recipe.
I have made this delicious stew many times after finding the recipe in your first cookbook. Everyone loves it!
Chicken stew is an “Alabama” staple. It is made for fund raisers,family reunions, and any other gathering. Our family wants it for our annual Christmas day meal. They start asking way before the holidays, “Is Papa Gene making chicken stew this year?” However the one thing that makes ours special is the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we eat with it. We make creamy and crunchy and everyone who has ever eaten stew with us soon becomes a fan. Try it, you will like it!!!!
Hahaha! Peggy, I love this. It’s the quirky things that make our families special, isn’t it!
Haha, growing up in Florence, AL my late momma always served hers with peanut butter and syrup sandwiches. Heat creamy peanut butter in a double boiler until thinned out a bit, then add in Golden Eagle syrup to taste (start with 1/4 to 1/3 the volume of your peanut butter, I think). Stir and let simmer a bit, then spoon onto a slice of toasted bread then cover with another piece of toast. Cut into triangles and serve warm, alongside your stew. Sounds weird, but this stuff is like crack it’s so delicious…especially when it’s cold out! I moved to Boston 10 years ago, and always crave chicken stew and these sandwiches when winter hits. People here think I’m nuts, but it tastes like home to me. 🙂
I just made this for dinner and I made homemade dumplings with it; it was delicious and was quite filling! I also added mixed vegetables, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, rosemary and red pepper flakes for a little additional seasoning. I am not a big fan of tomatoes (I used canned crushed tomatoes) so I was a little skeptical where I was making it, but it was still quite good and very flavorful. I think that the next time I will make it without the tomatoes and see how that turns out. But it did make a huge pot, and my family loved it. Thanks for posting this recipe!
If we sub chicken breasts, how many or how many pounds? Thanks!