Jamaican Brown Stew Pork (Also Works for Chicken & Beef)
If you’re looking for an easy and delicious weekend day dinner I’ve got you! This recipe for Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken is pretty hard to mess up and even better – only needs 5 steps!
First off, if you’re not familiar, brown stew is a method of cooking in Jamaica (and the greater Caribbean) that simply involves searing (or browning) your meat on the outside then adding aromatics, herbs, vegetables and water and allowing that meat to braise for at least 40 minutes until tender. The result is a stew packed with vibrant and comforting Caribbean flavors best enjoyed over classic Jamaican rice & peas or even plain rice or mashed potatoes!
The brown stew method of cooking can be applied to almost any type of meat however this recipe and method will have the best results with beef, pork or chicken.
tips for success
- Marinate your protein. As with any stew or braised dish, you will have the best results if you allow your meat to marinate in the base seasoning for at least an hour. Not only that but we will add ginger in our marinade and this helps to function as a natural tenderizer which is especially useful if you opt for making pork or beef.
- Opt for a homemade browning sauce. Browning is added in this recipe not only for deepening the hue of the stew but also for flavor. Browning is simply a deeply caramelized sugar and you can easily make your own by heating brown sugar over medium-high heat until it is a very deep brown. That’s it! Store bought is fine but homemade truly tastes better as it tends to be sweeter and less bitter. Since the brown sugar will lose some water as it is being heated, you will need twice as much brown sugar as the amount of browning called for in this recipe (so 2 tablespooons).
- Use corresponding meat stock (or vegetable stock) for braising. Typically you will see Jamaicans add water for braising after the meat is seared. Does this work? Yes! Can we make it better? Absolutely! Opting for a stock reinforces the flavors of our stew even more and we are able to pack in that much more flavor!
Equipment
- 1 dutch oven
- 1 medium bowl
- kitchen twine
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken (or pork or beef)
- 2 1/2 – 3 cups chicken stock use vegetable or corresponding meat stock based on your choice of protein
- 3/4 cup green seasoning
- 1/2 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2 medium plum tomatoes chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 2 stalks green onion chopped
- 1 TBSP browning
- 12 sprigs thyme
- 2 TBSP ginger minced
- 1 tsp whole allspice
- 2-4 TBSP high heat oil for searing
Instructions
- After trimming and cleaning your chicken, add along with green seasoning, ginger & browning to a bowl. If marinating, cover with plastic wrap (or lid) and allow to marinate for at least an hour.
- Add oil to dutch oven and over high heat, cook until seared on all sides.Note: you are not thoroughly cooking your chicken at this step – only searing it.
- Add allspice, thyme, onions, tomatoes, green onion and enough chicken stock to cover chicken to the dutch oven and turn heat down to medium (the stew should be gently bubbling).
- Cover and allow to braise for 45 minutes to an hour until the chicken is tender.
- Add chopped carrots in the last 5 minutes of braising so as not to overcook.
- Enjoy with rice & peas and fried plantains or your choice of sides!
Brown Stew is my favorite! This one checks allllll the boxes. Delicious!