Brown Stew Chicken

Name: Brown Stew Chicken
Total time: 2 h 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: caribbean
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons browning sauce, such as Grace; 2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; 1 teaspoon sweet paprika; 1 teaspoon chile powder; 1 teaspoon allspice powder; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 4 whole bone-in, skinless chicken legs (about 3 pounds); Kosher salt and black pepper; 2 whole scallions, halved crosswise; 4 fresh thyme sprigs; 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed; 1 medium onion, sliced; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 3 Roma tomatoes, washed and quartered; 3 medium carrots, sliced 1/2-inch thick on a bias; 1 quart chicken stock, plus more as needed; 3 dried bay leaves; Rice, roti or naan, for serving

By Millie Peartree

Total Time: 45 minutes, plus at least 2 hours’ marinating
Rating: 4(333)
Notes: Read community notes

Popular in many Caribbean households, this chicken dish gets its deep rich color from store-bought browning sauce, like Grace, which is made from a combination of concentrated vegetables, seasonings and caramelized sugar. The browning sauce is used in the marinade, where it’s bolstered by brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and warm spices. The chicken is braised and cooked low with sweet vegetables, like carrots and onions, and yields a thick gravy that’s just as delicious spooned over rice or paired with cabbage.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

For the Marinade

2tablespoons browning sauce, such as Grace
2tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
1tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1teaspoon sweet paprika
1teaspoon chile powder
1teaspoon allspice powder
1teaspoon garlic powder

For the Chicken

4whole bone-in, skinless chicken legs (about 3 pounds)
Kosher salt and black pepper
2whole scallions, halved crosswise
4fresh thyme sprigs
2tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
1medium onion, sliced
4garlic cloves, minced
1tablespoon tomato paste
3Roma tomatoes, washed and quartered
3medium carrots, sliced ½-inch thick on a bias
1quart chicken stock, plus more as needed
3dried bay leaves
Rice, roti or naan, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Make the marinade: Add all marinade ingredients to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Step 2
Prepare the chicken: Season the chicken with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Place chicken, scallions and thyme in the bowl with the marinade and mix to combine. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. (Any longer will change the texture of the chicken.) Remove chicken from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before starting to cook.
Step 3
Heat a shallow Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add sliced onions, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic to pan, cook for 30 seconds or until tender, stirring to keep the garlic from scorching. Using a pair of tongs or spoon, remove onions and garlic from the pan. Place in a medium bowl and set aside.
Step 4
If needed, add more oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add chicken to the pan, letting the excess marinade drip back into the bowl, and reserving the scallions and thyme sprigs. Working in batches, sear chicken on both sides until dark brown, adjusting the heat if necessary to avoid burning the marinade, about 3 to 4 minutes total. Discard excess marinade.
Step 5
Return onions to pan. Add tomato paste and stir. Place quartered tomatoes and sliced carrots in the pan. Slowly pour in chicken stock to nearly cover. (Add more as needed.) Using your spatula, scrape off the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add bay leaves and the reserved thyme and scallions from the marinade.
Step 6
Bring to a rolling simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove thyme stems and bay leaf, and discard. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve with rice, roti or naan bread.

Ratings

4 out of 5

333 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Julie3 years ago

What exactly is browning sauce??

Amy3 years ago

Tasted good. Used Kitchen Bouquet. Added 2x the spices; 1st as directed in marinade, & extra/2nd set just before adding chicken stock. full quart of stock created a lot of broth, so added corn starch to slightly thicken then shredded chicken to make it more of a soup; for stew, would make with less stock. Flavors were good, but lacked balance; felt it needed some additional acid to season- either dash of cider vinegar or lemon/lime juice. also next time will add minced habanero w/onion for heat

Rebecca3 years ago

Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet can be substituted for Grace’s browning sauce.

Teri3 years ago

Caribbean browning is not made with vegetables and seasonings, but only caramelized sugar. It is also used in baking. Given the inclusion of onions and carrots in this recipe, the substitution should not be problematic, but important to be mindful of in other recipes, like cakes!

Joan P2 years ago

burnt sugar. I make my own by caramelizing a cup of sugar in a pot. Put a cup of sugar in pot on low heat, slowly with wooden spoon stir until sugar is melted and almost black but not burnt. Remove from heat and immediately add a cup of room temperature water. It will store forever.

CYW3 years ago

I made this yesterday, using four chicken quarters, and while it was easy, it was not the taste sensation I'd hoped it would be. Served with coconut rice. I'm also wondering if the quart of stock called for is an error. I added only two cups and it was more than enough liquid to braise the chicken. A quart would have overflowed my braiser. I froze the extra; I'm sure it will come in handy for something else.

julie3 years ago

Do not use 32 ounces of broth if you want a thick gravy definitely too much liquid. The flavor was good but not exceptional I picked up the grace brand Browning liquid at the Local market and winery please D that the three ingredients listed are xanthan gum, coloring and flavoring. Not exactly as appealing as in the recipe description

PatC2 years ago

Caution!! Adding water to just off the stove caramelized sugar as Joan suggests is likely to cause the water to flash to steam and spatter burning-hot sugar over the stove causing burns. Let the sugar cool until it is no more than 180 degrees —use a probe thermometer.

Caton2 years ago

This was tasty, but as several others have observed, that’s a lot of chicken stock, and simmering it covered does nothing to achieve “a thick gravy that’s just as delicious spooned over rice or paired with cabbage.” I wound up removing the chicken once it was cooked, reducing the sauce down and thickening it with Wondra to achieve something properly unctuous.

Rose3 years ago

Delightful typo! Served=severed!

Chris L2 years ago

Joan P is right: it's basically caramelized sugar, to which you add just a little boiling water at the very end to make it stay liquid. You can also add a hint of vegetable or meat concentrate and/or a dash of salt. A great way to do this if you're feeling adventurous is to add -- just at the end, after the water but before it gets cool -- a nice dab of Marmite or Vegemite. You'll get a big umami hit without anything identifiable in the flavor.

Pietro2 months ago

You can buy sauces. But it isn't that difficult to saute 3 onion varieties, garlic, celery/leaves, leeks, carrots, green and red pepper, together sweat in oil... then add sugar and molasses with wine or apple cider - slowly stew/low simmer. Corn starch to thicken, if desired.

Susan8 months ago

The NYT recipe for Brown Stew Pork Shoulder uses equal parts brown sugar and Worcestershire as a substitute for Caribbean browning sauce. David Lebovitz uses molasses.

Just me1 year ago

This dish had a nice Caribbean flavor. Followed reader notes and only used 2 cups of chicken stock. If I made this again, I might use 1-1/2 cups. Served with coconut rice.

millerji6252 years ago

It's a crazy amount of liquid. The finished dish looks nothing like the picture. Maybe I can pour some off. The chicken itself is delicious.

steph2 years ago

I made this last night. It was pretty tasty but I added some acid (cider vinegar) and it still needed even more flavor. Lime would have been better but I didn't have any on hand. (I just got back from Belize and was hoping this would punch me in the face with flavor like it did there!) It definitely needs peppers and a ton of fresh ginger too. I would make it again with those additions.

Blair K2 years ago

Since that special Grace Browning sauce sounded so intriguing, I made sure to get my hands on some--and was surprised to read comments that suggested the flavor of the finished dish was too understated. So I added 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the marinade. I also added all the marinade at the end, rather than draining and discarding. And I cut the chicken stock to 2 cups, as others suggested. (Next time will use even less.) Also, I used chicken thighs rather than legs. With those changes: 5 stars!

Karen H2 years ago

Made this last night and my family loved it. Rather than using the full quart of broth, I added it until it almost covered the chicken. I found the sauce flavorful but still too thin, so next time I will either cook it uncovered, or do like another recipe I have for a paprika chicken, and add rice to the liquid. I will also use chicken thighs rather than whole chicken legs.

M Wickham2 years ago

I agree with the other comments and wish I’d read before I cooked this dish. It was ok, not great. I’d cut back on the allspice which dominated the other spices and the garlic. Definitely don’t use a full quart of stock. I won’t make again but will enjoy the leftovers.

James Cryer2 years ago

Browning is a natural food colouring used throughout the Caribbean to colour foods dark brown. Make your own home-made browning. Browning resembled soy sauce. Do not use too much, as it can give foods a bitter taste. caramelized Jamaican stew pork Ingredients 2 cups brown sugar 2 tbsp. water (normal tap water) 1/4 cup cold water 1 tbsp. hot water

Casper Pike2 years ago

The amount of water is much lower than three recipes I saw on line. All three added 1 cup of hot water after the sugar got dark brown.

Don S2 years ago

Have always used pickapeppa sauce.

PatC2 years ago

Caton2 years ago

Sam2 years ago

Made this as instructed by the recipe Chile powder = cayenne. Was pleasantly but not overpoweringly spicy Broth to about the level of the chicken - 2.5 cups or so? It's stew so the liquid is still pretty thin.

maura2 years ago

Deborah2 years ago

Would Kitchen Bouquet meet the definition of a browning sauce?

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