Nigerian Chicken Stew

Nigerian chicken stew with a richly cooked tomato-pepper sauce, where blended peppers simmer until darkened and oil floats to the top. Bone-in chicken is pre-fried until golden, then simmered until tender and coated in the deep red-orange sauce, perfect over steamed rice.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Marinating 30

Total Time 1 50

Servings: 6 servings

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: African

Calories: 780

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

Chicken and marinade

3 lb chicken pieces, bone-in Bone-in pieces for best flavor and texture.
0.5 onion Use half for grating into the marinade; keep remaining onion for blending.
1 tsp thyme Use in the marinade.
1 tsp curry powder Use in the marinade.
2 bouillon cubes Use in the marinade (or use stock powder as an alternative).
1 cup vegetable oil Part used for frying/oven-baking and part for frying the sauce (split as needed).
0.25 salt and pepper to taste Season to taste for the marinade and stew.

Stew base (tomato-pepper sauce)

2 can (14 oz each) plum tomatoes Blend until smooth.
3 red bell peppers Roughly chopped before blending.
2 scotch bonnet or habanero peppers Adjust to heat preference; blend with peppers.
4 cloves garlic Minced and used in the stew (or mix into the blended sauce).
fresh parsley For serving.
steamed rice For serving.

Equipment

1 large pot
1 Dutch oven

Method

Marinate the chicken

Grate half the onion and mix with thyme, curry powder, bouillon, salt, and pepper, then rub over the chicken pieces. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes.

Brown the chicken

Fry or oven-bake the marinated chicken until golden and mostly cooked through, then set aside. Let it rest briefly while you make the sauce.

Blend the pepper-tomato base

Blend plum tomatoes, red bell peppers, scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, and remaining onion until smooth. If using garlic, blend it in or stir it in right after blending.

Cook the sauce until deeply dark and oily

Heat 1/2 cup oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, then carefully fry the blended pepper sauce. Stir frequently and cook 30-40 minutes, until oil floats on top and the sauce is deeply cooked and darkened.

Simmer and finish

Add the fried chicken to the pot and coat it in the sauce. Simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is tender and the sauce clings to it.

Serve

Season once more with salt and pepper if needed, then serve over steamed rice with fresh parsley. Garnish and serve hot.

Notes

Pro tip: keep stirring during the 30-40 minute sauce fry so it darkens without scorching, and adjust scotch bonnet/habanero to control heat. Store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 4 days; freeze up to 3 months. For a lower-fat option, bake or air-fry the chicken instead of frying and reduce added oil slightly, keeping the sauce simmer time the same for depth.