This Caribbean Chicken Stew is a rich, warmly spiced stew that thickens beautifully over time, creating a hearty, deeply satisfying meal. {Includes vegetarian-friendly directions for “Mixed Table” preparation}
It seems that I am on a Caribbean kick. I wanted to make a hearty stew that would go with my Caribbean Mango Salad – and one that would work for a recipe redo I have in mind for later this week. After a little digging, I found this delicious-sounding recipe for Caribbean Chicken Stew created by Melanie over at A Beautiful Bite. But as most foodies will tell you, it’s awfully difficult to follow a recipe exactly when you are feeling creative, so here is my take on Melanie’s recipe; which is, in turn, her adaptation of Trinidadian Chicken Stew from Giada De Laurentiis, of the Food Network’s “Giada at Home.” (How’s that for a little recipe lineage, huh?) But you gotta give credit where it’s due, so there you go!
I made some significant changes to Melanie’s recipe and also adapted it so that it can be prepared for Mixed Tables, but I think the heart and soul of the original is still in there. The result is a rich, warmly spiced stew that thickens beautifully over time, so that twenty minutes after the picture above was taken, my stew was… well, a lot more “stewy” looking, with a hearty gravy coating the vegetables and easing into all the little crevasses in the chicken. I Love what the marinade does for the chicken too, and grilling the meat first gave it the most wonderful crispiness. Between the delicious outcome and the relative ease of preparation, this may very well become one of my new favorites.
Caribbean Chicken Stew
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 cup cilantro chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tbs. brown sugar
- 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and minced
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt Greek or regular
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 5-6 turns freshly ground pepper
Chicken (or Vegetarian) Stew
- 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 2 tbs. tomato paste ketchup will work here
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
- ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1 large sweet potato peeled and cubed'
- 2 medium white potatoes
- 1 large yam peeled and cubed
- 1 lb. baby carrots or 1 lb of carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 plantain sliced in thick rounds (I am not a fan of plantains, so I won't be adding them, but use them if you like them.)
- 3 – 4 pounds of skinless bone-in chicken (I used legs & thighs.) Mixed tables: adjust amount accordingly. For example, if one fourth of the people you are feeding are vegetarians, you only need 2-3 pounds of chicken.
Instructions
Marinating the Chicken:
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Combine cilantro, garlic, brown sugar, chopped pepper, yogurt, oil and salt and pepper in a blender and process until almost smooth. If you use Greek yogurt, you may need to add a little water to give it enough liquid to process.
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Pour marinade into a large Ziploc bag. Put the chicken pieces in the bag and toss everything around thoroughly to coat all the chicken pieces. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour, and as long as twenty-four hours.
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Mixed Tables only: Before you pour the marinade into the bag, set aside about 2 tablespoons to flavor your vegetarian portion later.
Making the Stew
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Preheat oven to 375°.
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Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown chicken pieces. Remove and set aside. Mixed Tables only: Brown your chicken in a separate pan. I used a grilling pan to get those lovely grill marks.
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In Dutch oven, sauté onion until translucent in whatever is left in the bottom after browning chicken. Mixed tables: Sauté onions in about a tablespoon of olive oil instead.
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To the onions in the Dutch oven, add coconut milk, tomato paste, water, minced fresh ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cook for a few minutes more. Mixed tables only: Take a portion of the sautéed onion mixture out and put it into a small casserole dish. For example if you want ¼ of your meal to be vegetarian-friendly, take out ¼ of the onion mixture, etc. Stir in the 1-2 tbs. of reserved marinade, to taste. The flavors will mellow significantly during cooking.
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Place chicken pieces back in Dutch oven on top of sauce. ( MIxed tables: Feel free to add your favorite faux meat here on your veggie portion if you're into that kind of thing. )
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Put the cubed vegetables on top of the chicken. (You may want to put the potatoes in after the whole thing has cooked for about half an hour to keep them from getting too mushy.) Mixed Tables only: Put the appropriate amount of vegetables in the casserole and mix with the sautéed onion mixture. Drizzle the entire mixture all with just a little additional olive oil.
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Salt and pepper generously.
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Cover tightly and cook in oven for 75-90 minutes.
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Serve over rice.
P.S. I just got a new camera, and I can’t stop taking pictures with it!
I wonder what mangoes would do to this stew. It sounds really yummy!
You really *do* love your mangoes, don’t you,Crystal!?! (We do too!) I think if you added them to the stew, they would probably cook down and add some sweetness to the stew “sauce,” but I don’t think you would get mango bites unless you added them toward the end. We served this up with my Caribbean Mango Salad from the other day and they complemented one another really well.
Yum, sounds delicious!!! I’ve only made chicken a handful of times , recently, since I was vegetarian and vegan for 13 years and just don’t like it that much unless it has great flavor and extra healthy fats added! I made a chocolate chicken mole in the slow cooker the other day from The Paleo Foodie cookbook, it was soooo good. This recipe sounds like something I’d like, too!! Lots of spices, different/exotic flavor. Will have to remember this one!
Great photos! I love the extra detail of the grill marks!
My boyfriend and I were just talking about how we need to change up our chicken recipe. This sounds like our solution. Looks scrumptious – thanks for sharing!
What an amazing looking recipe! Adding this to Pinterest now, and hopefully making it soon!
After meeting you at the PDX Bloggers event, I kept meaning to reach out to you! I’m so glad I made my way back to your site after joining the post feed group 🙂
What a great post – and I’m so glad you posted a veggie option! I’ve been looking for some new veggie meals to work into my menus and almost forgot you had experience with that from your family. Goes to show I need to keep in touch better!
This yes is a great recipe with chicken! I have a meeting tomorrow with friends and now I know what to do for dinner. Great tips.