Nigerian Chicken Stew (Red Tomato Stew)

Spicy and aromatic Nigerian Chicken Stew made with roma tomatoes, red bell peppers, and seasoned chicken. A very classic and popular dish from Nigeria that can be eaten with many things.

The time has finally come! I’m sharing one of the most popular recipes to come out of Nigeria, and something that I’ve been eating since practically coming out of the womb. Stews and soups make up a large portion of Nigerian (and African) cuisine and stew, as it’s commonly called, is the main ingredient in many Nigerian recipes like Jollof rice, coconut rice, beans, etc.

I always make sure to have a pot of stew in my refrigerator, so whenever I prepare Nigerian chicken stew I make sure to make a large amount because it freezes very well!  Come to think of it, almost every Nigerian household I have been to always has a pot of stew either freshly prepared or in the fridge because it can be eaten with so many things!

The main ingredients in Nigerian Chicken Stew are roma (or plum) tomatoes, red bell peppers, tomato paste, and habanero peppers. When it comes to the protein, you can use anything that you like! For this recipe I am only using chicken because I don’t eat red meat a lot. Growing up my mum would make stew with both chicken and beef, or goat meat and this is actually the most common way it’s served. Feel free to use whatever you’d like! My mum also makes a version with fresh fish.

A couple things to note when making this dish:

1. Tomatoes– You can use fresh or tinned tomatoes. In this recipe I used both. A lot of people don’t like the way tinned tomatoes taste so they only use fresh. If you use fresh tomatoes you’re going to need to use tomato paste so that you can really get that tomato flavor and red color. I include tomato paste anyway 🙂
2. Chicken, Beef, etc.– For this recipe I am only using chicken, and I cook the chicken BEFORE it goes into the stew. I never put raw meat or chicken to cook into the stew, and while I suppose you can more flavor goes into the stew when you cook it beforehand. I like to season my chicken pieces, fry it in oil until it turns golden brown, and then finish cooking it in the oven. I also won’t add the chicken until about 10-15 minutes before the stew finishes cooking that way the chicken doesn’t melt, or fall a part in the stew. You want intact pieces of meat or chicken.
3. It is super important to cook or fry the tomato mixture until it’s reduced in more than half of it’s size and is a deep red color because you want to make sure you get rid of the bitterness of the tomatoes. If you don’t fry the mixture long enough you’ll get a sour taste. A good way to know its ready is when the color is a deep red and the oil rises back up over the mixture.

You can use this stew to eat with parboiled white rice, beans, yam… the list goes on! I love to eat my stew with white rice, sauteed spinach, and a boiled egg. Check out the recipe below!