African Chicken Stew is made with tomatoes that are cooked down until the taste is mellow. It is so flavorful and perfect served over hot fluffy rice!

I am pretty much excited about every recipe I put on here. But this recipe, this African Chicken Stew recipe, this recipe right here has me so excited. It is so flavorful and I can not wait to show you guys how I make it.

I just love my job. I love to show you that you can make mind-blowing delicious food in your kitchen.

I have a thing for tomato-based stews. In fact, growing up in Cameroon, what we often referred to as stew was a tomato-based dish with chicken, beef, or fish.

And we mostly had our stew with rice. Rice and Stew is an iconic dish in a lot of West and Central African countries.

There’s just something about that rich red/orange tomato stew dancing over hot fluffy rice. This stew is so flavorful with the combination of herbs and spices used.

This African Chicken Stew was a recurring Christmas dish while growing up. It is the one dish we HAD to have every Christmas.

Ingredients For African Chicken Stew

Here is a run-down of the ingredients you need for African Chicken Stew. Be sure to check out the full recipe below for the specific measurements of each ingredient.

1. Chicken. Typically whole “hard” chicken is used to make African chicken stew. The chicken used is tougher than conventional chicken in America. I get hard chicken from African or Asian stores. If regular American chicken is all you’ve got, you can still try this recipe. You’ll just have to cook it for a shorter time and with less water.

2. Tomatoes. Fresh ripe tomatoes are used for African chicken stew. The riper the tomatoes, the tastier the stew. Roma tomatoes are the perfect tomatoes to use here because they are not as acidic as other kinds of tomatoes.

3. Oil. Vegetable oil or any neutral-tasting oil would work here.

4. Onions. For flavor.

5. Herbs. Herbs like basil, celery, and parsley add a lot of flavor to this stew.

6. Garlic and ginger. These are two of my favorite ingredients and for good reason. They really improve the taste of this stew.

7. White pepper. Because white pepper and chicken go so well together. But you could use black pepper in a pinch.

8. Maggi seasoning cubes. These are a hallmark of West African cuisine. But you could substitute them with chicken bouillon powder.

9. Salt. For flavor.

10. Curry powder. This is an optional ingredient for me. The stew will taste great with or without it.

11. Tomato paste. This combines with fresh tomatoes to thicken the stew. Tomato paste can be replaced with double the quantity of tomato sauce.

I should note here that another ingredient you could add is habanero or scotch bonnet pepper to make the stew hot. In fact, a lot of Africans love it that way. However, I omit it because my kids can’t tolerate that level of heat *yet*.

How To Cook African Chicken Stew

Here is a run-down of how to make African chicken stew. Be sure to check out the full recipe below for more detailed directions.

1. Chop chicken into desired pieces. Season the chicken with a seasoning blend made of ginger, garlic, and herbs. Also add salt, Maggi, white pepper, and onions to the chicken.

2. Add water to the chicken and cook until done.

3. Drain the chicken and place it in the oven to broil.

4. Heat up oil and saute onions. Add freshly blended tomatoes and cook down until tomatoes shrink. Add tomato paste and cook down.

5. Add ginger, garlic, and herbs and cook to release their flavor. Add stock from the cooked chicken and curry powder. Add water to desired thickness.

6. Add broiled chicken back to the pot and let it simmer in the stew. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

7. Serve African Chicken Stew with white rice, sweet fried plantains, and a salad.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which country in Africa is this recipe from?

I grew up in Cameroon, which is in West and Central Africa. This recipe is informed by how I experienced Chicken Stew in my country of origin. However, very similar chicken stew is made in other West and Central African countries like Ghana, Congo, Togo, and Nigeria.

I should note here that chicken stew looks a lot different in other parts of Africa like North Africa or South Africa.

2. Can I reduce the quantity of oil used?

Yes, you can reduce the quantity of oil used BUT it is important that you start with the one cup of oil the recipe calls for.

That’s because you need enough oil to help cook down the tomatoes. Once the stew is done you can then skim off the excess oil with a spoon.

Also, you could make this stew with a healthier oil like avocado oil or light olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is not ideal because it has a strong taste which might interfere with the flavors in the stew.

Watch How To Make African Chicken Stew

Here is a video on how to make African Chicken Stew. Watch me walk you through the steps involved. And please subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss any of my videos.

More Chicken Recipes You Might Love

• Coconut Chicken Curry
• Chicken CEO
• Chicken Stir Fry

More African Dinner Recipes To Try

• Nigerian Beef Stew
• Jollof Rice With Chicken
• African Okra Soup
• African Chicken Peanut Stew
• Vitumbua – East African Coconut Rice Pancakes