Brunswick stew may just be one of the best stew recipes of all time. It’s almost like a smoky barbecue-flavored blitz full of roasted chicken, succulent pulled pork, and tender veggies all in a savory barbecue broth.
This stuff is so good you’ll need a bigger spoon! This is true southern cooking at its finest.
My family adores stew! If you’re looking for more delicious stew recipes, consider my chicken stew. It’s so deeply layered with flavor it will knock your socks off. Believe me, this is no average bland chicken dish.
My pork stew is loaded with succulent pork chunks, bacon, and all the right veggies. The gravy is thick and velvety, just like stew gravy should be. My cowboy stew is a huge family favorite and has gone viral on Pinterest for over 5 years! And don’t miss my classic, stovetop beef stew recipe!
What is Southern Brunswick Stew?
Brunswick stew is a classic Southern thick stew made with a tomato base, enhanced with a good barbecue sauce then loaded with smoked meat, generally pork and often chicken, lima beans and veggies.
History Of Traditional Brunswick Stew
This is a subject often debated. Some claim it was invented in the city of Brunswick, Georgia, while others claim it was created in Brunswick county, Virginia. Read more about the debate here. Wherever it was founded, it was originally created by hunters as a means to utilize the small game they caught like squirrel, rabbit, and or opossum.
Today those game animals are replaced with chicken and the tomato base remains the same.
Ingredients
- Butter: A flavorful fat to saute the aromatics.
- Onion: Sauteeing will bring out it’s sweetness.
- Garlic: Sauteeing will make this mellow and sweet.
- Celery: Adds a subtle flavor to the broth.
- Diced Tomatoes: Don’t drain, add all the liquid with the tomatoes. Essential to the broth.
- Chicken Broth: A good chicken broth is a foundation for this stew.
- Worcestershire: Adds a unique tangy, savory, umami flavor.
- Liquid Smoke: This is an all-natural ingredient and adds in an incredible natural smoky flavor.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Adds just the right amount of tang to balance the sweetness of the barbecue sauce.
- Tabasco Sauce: You can use any hot sauce you like or omit it altogether.
- Barbecue Sauce: I use a commercial bbq sauce for convenience.
- Salt: I use simple table salt.
- Pepper: I like to grind mine straight from a pepper mill.
- Better Than Bouillon: Chicken flavored Better Than Bouillon is a concentrated flavor paste that’s easy to measure and so much tastier than those salty cubes.
- Pulled Pork: Whenever I make my famous crockpot pulled pork, I always get a roast large enough so that I have leftovers for this stew. If you don’t happen to have leftovers, you can oven-roast a pork tenderloin and shred that up instead.
- Roasted chicken: Depending on the amount of time I have, I either make a homemade roast chicken or pick up a rotisserie chicken from Costco.
- Lima Beans: Aka butter beans, are an absolute must in this stew. Their rich buttery texture mixes nicely with the other veggies already in the pot.
- Corn: Rounds out the vegetables and compliments the sweetness.
Tips
- Pot: Part of the beauty of Brunswick stew recipes is preparing them in a Dutch oven. This simple piece of kitchen equipment performs so many different tasks that can make your stew Ah-ma-zing! BUT if you don’t have a Dutch oven you can use a deep soup pot made of heavier-gauge metal.
- Saute: Be sure to sauté your garlic, onions, and celery until soft. I know everything’s going into the same pot, but it matters. Taking the time to sauté veggies before adding them to a dish brings out their sweeter more mellow side. This is a great article that explains all the science behind the reasons for sautéing aromatics.
- Mock Mirepoix: Technically, a Mirepoix is onions, celery, and carrots sautéed in butter. For this recipe, we’re using garlic, onions, and celery – no carrots.
Serving Recommendations
I like to serve southern Brunswick stew with my Southern cornbread, Bisquick biscuit recipe, or my easy beer bread (that needs only 6 ingredients to make a perfect loaf)! All are equally delicious for dunking in the stew. And really, how fun is dunking?!
For something fresh and crunchy, I love my KFC coleslaw. This recipe is sooo delicious! Don’t take my word for it, check out all the reader comments! I promise you’ll want to put this recipe on your permanent side dish rotation. 🥰
How To Make The Best Brunswick Stew Recipe
- Saute onions, garlic, and celery.
- Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, Better Than Bouillon, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, Tabasco sauce, salt, and pepper.
- Bring to a boil.
- Add pulled pork, roasted chicken, frozen corn, frozen lima beans. Simmer.
- Serve.
How to Store and Make Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? You can store this recipe for up to 4 days in the fridge when stored properly. Be sure to let your stew cool completely and seal it well before tossing it in the fridge.
- This will keep just fine in an airtight container. This is one of those awesome recipes where the flavor continues to develop as it sits, and the ingredients mingle. If you need space in the fridge, it’ll store well in gallon-sized Ziplocs as well.
- Can You Freeze This? Yes, you can! Just be sure to let the stew cool completely before preparing it for the freezer. Store in an airtight container. I like to store this in quart-sized resealable bags, frozen flat, for best storage.
- Make-Ahead Tips: Prepping isn’t just about throwing something in the freezer, I get it. There are a few things you can do to make things easier on yourself when you know you’re gonna’ be making Brunswick stew. You can chop your onions, garlic, and celery ahead of time and store them together.
- The meat can also be pulled/shredded and stored until Brunswick stew time. If you wanted to, you could technically pre-mix the liquid ingredients so they’re ready to go when you are. The frozen veggies can just stay frozen until you need them.
- Food Safety: Here are an article regarding USDA’s refrigeration and freezing food storage and safety.
More Meaty Soup Recipes
Brunswick Stew
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with liquid
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons chicken flavor Better Than Bouillon
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pound pulled pork, shredded into bite size pieces and any pan drippings
- 1 roasted chicken, meat removed and shredded into bite size pieces
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
- 16 ounces frozen lima beans
Instructions
- In a large Dutch Oven set over medium heat, melt butter (4 tablespoons) and saute onions (1 large), garlic (4 cloves), and celery (2 stalks) until soft, about 4-5 minutes
- Add the diced tomatoes (1 can) with their liquid, chicken broth (4 cups), Better Than Bouillon (2 tablespoons), Worcestershire (2 tablespoons), liquid smoke (1 tablespoon), barbecue sauce (1 cup), apple cider vinegar (2 tablespoons), Tabasco sauce (1 teaspoon), salt (1/2 teaspoon), and pepper (1/2 teaspoon) then bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook over medium-low for 30 minutes.
- Add pulled pork (1 pound), roasted chicken (1), frozen corn (1 1/2 cups), and frozen lima beans (16 ounces), and adjust the heat to bring the stew back to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 30-45 minutes or until stew is nice and thick
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- Pot: Part of the beauty of Brunswick stew recipes is preparing them in a Dutch oven. This simple piece of kitchen equipment performs so many different tasks that can make your stew Ah-ma-zing! BUT if you don’t have a Dutch oven you can use a deep soup pot made of heavier-gauge metal.
- Saute: Be sure to sauté your garlic, onions, and celery until soft. I know everything’s going into the same pot, but it matters. Taking the time to sauté veggies before adding them to a dish brings out their sweeter more mellow side. This is a great article that explains all the science behind the reasons for sautéing aromatics.
- Mock Mirepoix: Technically, a Mirepoix is onions, celery, and carrots sautéed in butter. For this recipe, we’re using garlic, onions, and celery – no carrots.
Unfortunately the examples of Brunswick Stew I am most familiar with are not so tempting in appearance as yours is. Now that I think of it, they didn’t taste much better. There is a church not so far from my home that is famous for its October barbecue, a big event featuring politicians and selling both pit cooked BBQ and Brunswick Stew, desserts and all the other trappings common to church events. It’s held outside because it’s so big, and usually it’s chilly weather. The Brunswick Stew, however, is a strange thick pink mess that has been stirred way too much and seasoned too little. Nothing stands out in it. I’ve seen the same thing elsewhere, and I have to think that the stew made in the old days with some squirrel and rabbit included, and more broth, would have been lots better. Visible lima beans, such as you have!