Caramelized Chicken thighs are stewed in a delicious brown sauce. This is a popular dish throughout the Caribbean Islands. A few tweaks made this the perfect low carb comfort food.
You might have noticed that I like to cook with chicken thighs. That might be because they are juicy, full of flavor, and versatile! For this Brown Stew Chicken you could use chicken thighs or legs. Either would be delicious!
This is not traditional brown stew chicken but I think it is pretty close. A few things that are different...I used swerve instead of brown sugar to caramelize my chicken and I didn't use ketchup.
Also, brown stew chicken is typically very spicy because it calls for a scotch bonnet pepper. A scotch bonnet pepper is SUPER hot to me so I opted to skip that little step. In its place I was going to add a red chili pepper but my local grocery store didn't have any. If you are not a cry baby like me, then go for the scotch bonnet.
My first order of business was taking my chicken thighs and pulling off the skin. The skin will just get flabby and that's never good!
I then dumped my chicken in a bowl with the chopped onion and red bell pepper, minced garlic, lime juice, dried thyme, soy sauce, and ginger. Then mix, mix, mix!
Let this marinate for about and hour.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, I added the swerve sweetener. The sweetener will start to melt and turn dark. At this time, I added the chicken (make sure to shake off any excess marinade) and I got that seared on both sides. Move the chicken around with some tongs to wipe up all of that caramelized sweetener.
I then removed all of the thighs from the pan and added the reserved marinade/vegetables to the pan. I let those sauté until they were tender.
I then added the tomatoes, chicken, and the broth to the pan.
Let that simmer for about 20 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through.
How to thicken brown stew chicken?
For thickening I would choose a cornstarch slurry (if not following low carb) or xanthan gum for low carb. The cornstarch needs to be mixed with cold water, poured into the sauce, and brought to a boil. I would do 2 tablespoon of cornstarch and ¼ cup of cold water. Fo the xanthan gum...sprinkle 1 teaspoon over the hot liquid and whisk until dissolved.
Most people serve this with rice or potatoes, but I would do Microwave cauliflower rice or mashed cauliflower!
This brown stew chicken was easy, flavorful, hearty, and super delicious!
Brown Stew Chicken
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Tip: Hitting your 20–30g protein per meal goal helps you stay full and supports muscle.
Ingredients
- 6 Bone in chicken thighs, skin removed
- ½ Yellow onion, diced
- 1 Red bell pepper, diced
- 1 Scotch Bonnet pepper, diced, (optional)
- 2 Cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos
- 1 teaspoon Grated ginger
- ½ teaspoon Dried thyme
- 1 Juice of 1 lime
- 3 Tablespoons sugar free granulated sweetener (see my favorite on Amazon)
- 1 14 ounce can Diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 cups Chicken broth
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the chicken thighs, onion, bell pepper, scotch bonnet, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, thyme, and lime juice. Let marinate for 1 hour.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, add the Swerve sweetener. Let it melt and caramelize for a few minutes then add in the chicken, being sure to shake off any marinade. Brown the chicken on both sides and use tongs to move the chicken around to wipe up the caramelized sweetener.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium and add in the marinade/vegetables. Sauté until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, then add the chicken back to the pan and pour in the chicken broth.
- Let the chicken simmer for 20 minutes turning halfway through. The chicken is ready when an internal thermometer reads 165F.
- Serve with mashed cauliflower or cauliflower rice.
Nutrition per serving
Nancy Buchanan says
I love finding new dishes and this Brown Stew Chicken is definitely going on my "must make" list! Since I love a little heat, I'll be adding some chile to this one - but not a scotch bonnet - too hot for me as well!!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
I'm with you -- we prefer thighs to breasts. They are so much better whether they're whole or cut up in pieces. I like your addition of the hot pepper to the dish -- we love it spicy. This is on our dinner list.