African Chicken Stew is made with tomatoes that are cooked until they are soft. So flavorful and perfect served over hot fluffier rice!
This African Chicken Stew was a repeated Christmas dish growing up. This is the one dish we MUST have every Christmas.
Ingredients For African Chicken Stew
Here are the ingredients you need for the African Chicken Stew. Be sure to check out the full recipe below for the specific measurements of each ingredient.
Chicken. Usually a whole "firm" chicken is used to make African chicken soup. The chicken used is tougher than conventional chicken in America. I get hard cock from African or Asian stores. If you only have plain American chicken, you can still try this recipe. You just need to cook it in less time and with less water.
Tomatoes. Fresh ripe tomatoes are used for African chicken soup. The riper the tomatoes, the tastier the stew will be. Roma tomatoes are the perfect tomato to use here because they are not as acidic as other types of tomatoes.
Oil. Vegetable oil or any neutral-tasting oil will work here.
Onions. For taste.
Herbs. Herbs like basil, celery and parsley add a lot of flavor to this stew.
Garlic and ginger. These are two of my favorite ingredients and for good reason. They really enhance the taste of this stew.
7 . White pepper. Because white pepper and chicken go very well together. But you can use black pepper in a pinch.
Maggi spice cubes. This is a hallmark of West African cuisine. But you can replace it with chicken stock powder.
Salt. For taste.
Curry powder. This is an optional ingredient for me. The stew will taste great with or without it.
Tomato paste. This is combined with fresh tomatoes to thicken the stew. Tomato paste can be replaced with double the amount of tomato sauce.
And we mostly eat stew with rice. Rice and Stew is an iconic dish in many West and Central African countries.
There's just something about the rich red/orange tomato soup dancing over the creamy hot rice. This stew is so flavorful with the combination of herbs and spices used.
This African Chicken Stew was a repeated Christmas dish growing up. This is the one dish we MUST have every Christmas.
Ingredients For African Chicken Stew
Here are the ingredients you need for the African Chicken Stew. Be sure to check out the full recipe below for the specific measurements of each ingredient.
Chicken. Usually a whole "firm" chicken is used to make African chicken soup. The chicken used is tougher than conventional chicken in America.
Tomatoes. Fresh ripe tomatoes are used for African chicken soup. The riper the tomatoes, the tastier the stew will be. Roma tomatoes are the perfect tomato to use here because they are not as acidic as other types of tomatoes.
Oil. Vegetable oil or any neutral-tasting oil will work here.
Onion. For taste.
Herbs. Herbs like basil, celery and parsley add a lot of flavor to this stew.
Garlic and ginger. These are two of my favorite ingredients and for good reason. They really enhance the taste of this stew.
7 . White pepper. Because white pepper and chicken go very well together. But you can use black pepper in a pinch.
Maggi spice cubes. This is a hallmark of West African cuisine. But you can replace it with chicken stock powder.
Salt. For taste.
Curry powder. This is an optional ingredient for me. The stew will taste great with or without it.
Tomato paste. This is combined with fresh tomatoes to thicken the stew. Tomato paste can be replaced with double the amount of tomato sauce.
I should note here that another ingredient you can add is habanero or scotch bonnet pepper to give the stew some heat. In fact, many Africans like it that way. However, I ignored it because my kids can't tolerate that level of heat yet.
How to Cook African Chicken Stew
The following is how to make African chicken stew. Be sure to check out the full recipe below for more detailed instructions.
Cut the chicken according to taste. Season the chicken with the seasoning mix made from ginger, garlic and spices. Also add salt, maggi, white pepper and onions to the chicken.
Add water to the chicken and cook until cooked.
Drain the chicken and put it in the oven to bake.
Heat the oil and sauté the onions. Add freshly blended tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are reduced. Add tomato paste and cook.
Add ginger, garlic and herbs and cook to release their flavours. Add the broth from the cooked chicken and curry powder. Add water to the desired consistency.
Add the roast chicken back to the pot and let it simmer in the stew. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Serve African Chicken Stew with white rice , sweet fried bananas and salad.
What country in Africa does this recipe come from?
I grew up in Cameroon, namely in West and Central Africa. This recipe is informed by how I experienced Chicken Stew in my home country. However, very similar chicken stews are made in other West and Central African countries such as Ghana, Congo, Togo and Nigeria.