Brunswick Stew

Follow step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions to make our delicious, and hearty, Brunswick Stew. We’re combining Chicken, Pork BBQ, and some of our favorite vegetables, to make this stew from scratch.  Brunswick Stew is a traditional side dish served in barbecue restaurants throughout the South, but it’s great as a main course of its very own.  Just add saltine crackers or bread.  Printable recipe included.

Brunswick Stew Recipe:

Let me just start out by saying this recipe is MY version of Brunswick Stew.  You’ll literally find hundreds, if not thousands, of ways to prepare Brunswick Stew, if you start searching for a recipe.  It seems there is pretty much no right or wrong way to make it.  It just depends on who you ask.

Let me also say that both Brunswick, Georgia -and- Brunswick, Virginia, lay claim to being the home of Brunswick Stew.  Well, we also have a Brunswick, North Carolina, but they haven’t gotten into the foray just yet.  So, I’ll not try to convince you that this is a North Carolina original, other than the fact that I was born and raised here in North Carolina.

The only thing that is really consistent about good Brunswick Stew, is that it’s tomato based and THICK.  It’s different from vegetable soup in that it contains meat, and it’s always made thicker than soup.  Quite often, it’s made from leftovers, which is probably why there isn’t any one recipe that is considered to be the original, or authentic.

Brunswick Stew is often served as a side dish at many of the barbecue restaurants throughout the South.  The recipe probably varies at each and everyone of them, but as mentioned, it’s always thick and hearty.  You can even order it by itself if that’s your preference.  Served with Hushpuppies, Saltine Crackers, or just plain Sunbeam Bread, it will warm you up real good on a cold winter day.

Back in our own restaurant days, we would save leftover vegetables at the end of the day and freeze them.  As long as they hadn’t been over cooked by then, they would be stored in a large container as a base for making soup or stew later.  Leftover fried chicken, could be picked off the bones and frozen as well.  And of course, pork barbecue often ended up being saved for including in the recipe.

Because of what you had on hand, on the day you decided to make Brunswick Stew, the ingredient list was often different from one batch to the next.  But, you knew what went in “your” Brunswick Stew, so you tried to make it the same.

My cousin Curtis, cooks up a great big pot of Brunswick Stew at his home once or twice a year.  It’s his own special recipe, (which he has YET to share with me) and invites family and friends over for an evening of food and fellowship, usually outdoors around a big fire.  He has a long wooden paddle that he stirs that great big pot with, and lets “his” Stew cook for hours, until it’s just right.

So, I’m going to share with you the way that I like to make it here at home.  Most of the time I’m using frozen vegetables, and I pretty much always make it the same.  I like it with beans, corn, and potatoes, along with chicken and pork barbecue.  It freezes well, so I make up a big pot, enjoy some for supper, then freeze the rest for later.  I do hope you’ll like it.

I highly suggest you just take our basic recipe, and make it your own, by adding the vegetables you have and like.  Just remember, it’s got to be tomato based, and it HAS to be thick, not like soup. Ready to give it a try?  Alright then, Let’s Get Cooking!

Brunswick Stew:  You’ll need these ingredients.

I know it looks like a lot of stuff, but you’ll only need a small part of the vegetables shown.  Save the rest for later.

Most packaged whole chickens, come with a packet of “giblets” packed inside the bird.  This includes various parts like the heart, liver, gizzard, and neck.  Don’t throw them away.  They make great “Giblet Gravy,” or can be used when making chicken stock.  If you don’t intend to use them right away, label and freeze them for later.  Either way, just make sure you remove them from the chicken.

Rinse the chicken, inside and out, under cold running water.  Be sure to look the chicken over good for any pin feathers that might not have been removed when the bird was processed.  They usually pull out pretty easily.  Be sure to check the neck cavity and rinse that out.

You could cut up the chicken at this point if desired.  I just pulled out the enameled canning pot and placed the whole chicken inside.  Any large pot will work.  Cover the bird with water and place it on the stove.

I start out on High heat and let the water come up to a rolling boil.  Then, I reduce the heat down to Medium and let the bird cook at a low boil for about one hour, or until it’s done, checking it about every 15 minutes or so.  You want to make sure you have enough water in the pot to cover it and keep it submerged while it cooks.  You might also want to turn it after about 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot when its done, and place it in a colander to let it cool.  Once it cools enough to handle, we’ll pick the meat off the bones, but for now, lets get to work on the vegetables.

Back in our restaurant days, we often used leftover vegetables to make the stew.  As long as they hadn’t been over cooked, they worked perfect for making Brunswick Stew.  Maybe you keep a bag in your freezer where you store leftovers.  It’s a great way to count those pennies and save on the grocery bill.

I’m just using some frozen Baby Lima Beans, since I don’t happen to have any leftovers.  Place them in a colander so you can rinse them.

Add the corn.

Rinse them under cold running water to remove any ice crystals and to help thaw them out a bit.

Place the rinsed vegetables in a large stock pot.

I like to rinse my potatoes before peeling and cutting them up.  I do this in the colander as well.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces.  Toss them into the pot with the beans and corn.

Add enough water to the vegetables to cover them by about 2 inches.

Place the pot over Medium-High heat on your stove and let it come up to a low boil.  REDUCE the heat down to Medium, and let the vegetables cook until they are tender.  The potatoes will be done before the beans and corn, but that’s OK.  Just let them cook until the beans are almost done.

Once the chicken has cooled, carefully pick the meat off the bones.  This can be a bit tedious, but it’s well worth the extra effort to pick through it carefully and make sure you remove any skin pieces and bones.  You don’t want someone to bite into a bone while enjoying your Brunswick Stew.  Shred the chicken into small bite size pieces.

I’m using some frozen Pork Barbecue leftover from one of our family pig pickings.  Back in the restaurant days, we would also freeze many of the unsold cooked meats at the end of the day.  You couldn’t just throw it away, that was your profit.  Most of the time, it ended up re-purposed in another dish, like soups, stews or pot pies.

This barbecue is already seasoned and adds some great flavor to the stew.  If you buy yours, make sure you get a good quality with some chunks of meat in it.  It will add good texture to the stew as well.

When the vegetables are about done, remove any excess liquid that you might have.  You only want just enough liquid to cover the tops of the vegetables.  Don’t throw the liquid you remove away just yet though.  We might still need it.

Add the Vinegar.

Add the Brown Sugar.

Add the Black Pepper.

Add the Salt.

Add the Butter.

Add the Hot Sauce.

If you’re thinking this is a lot of hot sauce and you might not like so much, feel free to cut back on it. I’m using Texas Pete® which is made here in North Carolina.  It’s not super hot so I can get away with adding a bit more.  Better to be safe, and start out with a little, if in doubt about what you might be using.  You can always add more as needed.  The sauce is added for flavor, not to make it hot to the taste.  Keep it kid friendly and you’ll be happy.  Actually, I ended up adding half a cup.  I don’t like spicy hot foods and this was still fine for my taste.

Add the Tomato Paste.

Add the Worcestershire Sauce.

Grab a big spoon and give it all a good stirring.

Add the chicken and bbq.

Stir it up again.

Finally, top it off with some Ketchup, then give it another stir.  Let the stew simmer over Medium heat, stirring often, until the chicken and barbecue meats are good and warm.  If its a bit dry looking, you can always add some of the cooking water that was removed earlier.  Or, you could add either more water, or maybe some chicken broth.

Brunswick Stew should be served thick, not watery like a vegetable soup.  We know the chicken and barbecue were already done when we added them to the pot, we just need to let it simmer until all the vegetables are good and tender.  Taste it to see if you think it needs anything else your family might enjoy.  That’s the thing with Brunswick Stew, you’re basically using leftovers, or what’s on hand, to make a hearty thick stew the family will enjoy.  Make it your own.

Brunswick Stew freezes well.  Let it cool completely, then place it in freezer containers and stack it in the freezer.  I froze these five containers to enjoy on the cold days ahead, but it’s good any time of the year.

Serve up a big bowl of Brunswick Stew with some saltine crackers, or a couple of slices of Sunbeam bread.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

Deboned Chicken (from 1 whole cooked chicken, 3 lb.)
One pound of Prepared Southern Pork BBQ or 3 cups pulled pork
One pound bag of frozen corn
One pound bag of frozen lima beans
4 medium russet potatoes, washed, peeled and diced
One 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
Two small cans of tomato paste
4 cups of chicken broth
1 cup barbecue sauce
1Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1-2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper