Caribbean Stewed Chicken With Butter Beans
Caribbean Stewed Chicken With Butter Beans is a sort of hybrid of Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken and traditional Caribbean Stew Chicken, except we are adding butter beans (lima beans) to the mix to change up the overall texture of the dish. It also does what Caribbean cooking has typically been very good at doing: stretching a dish to feed more people.
Like the Stewed Chicken With Red Beans I did a few years back, this dish is packed with deep and rich Caribbean flavours. It is also a dish close to my heart, as it was one of the first dishes I learned to make on my own after moving to Canada over 30 years ago.
There are a few important things to pay attention to when making this Caribbean Stewed Chicken With Butter Beans, especially developing the brown sugar properly before adding the seasoned chicken. That is what gives the chicken the beautiful deep colour we associate with a good stew chicken. The butter beans then absorb that rich, flavourful gravy, giving the finished dish a wonderful texture while helping stretch the meal.
This recipe makes a full-size batch using 4 lbs of chicken, so it is ideal when you are feeding family or a group. And should you like this dish, may I recommend making the Stewed Chicken With Pigeon Peas I shared a while back as well.
Shopping Made Easy
• Chicken legs and thighs are available at most standard grocery stores, while Caribbean markets are also a good place to find them.
• Look for chadon beni at Caribbean or West Indian markets if your regular grocery store does not carry it.
• Pimento peppers are commonly available at Caribbean and international grocery stores.
• Scotch bonnet peppers are usually available at Caribbean, West Indian, and international grocery stores.
• Butter beans are sold canned at most supermarkets and may also be labelled as lima beans.
• Coconut cream can usually be found in the international or Caribbean section of larger grocery stores.
• Fresh thyme, parsley, scallions, ginger, garlic, onions, and cherry tomatoes are generally easy to find at a standard supermarket.
Cooking Notes From the Kitchen
• Washing chicken with lemon juice and cool water is part of the deep-rooted Caribbean tradition I followed when making this dish. If you have read the reports about washing chicken and are not comfortable doing so, do what works for you.
• Lime juice or 1/2 cup of white vinegar can also be used for the washing step.
• I recommend marinating the chicken for at least 2 hours. Overnight will give you better results.
• The brown sugar is the critical step in this recipe. It should go frothy and then develop into a deep amber colour before you add the seasoned chicken.
• Should the sugar go black, it will ruin the stewed chicken by making it bitter. Shut off the stove, allow the pot to cool completely, wash and dry it, and start over.
• Be warned that the sugar can also make your kitchen a bit smoky, so you will want to vent it properly, or it may trigger your smoke detector.
• The chicken will release its own natural juices while covered, and those juices become part of the flavourful base of the stew.
• I recommend rinsing the butter beans to remove the brine they were packaged in before adding them to the pot.
• When you burn off the liquid after uncovering the pot, the goal is to get that deep, delicious-looking colour a good stew chicken is supposed to have. This also heightens the overall flavour of the dish.
• Keep in mind that the gravy will continue to thicken once the dish cools and from the residual heat of the pot.
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Caribbean Stewed Chicken With Butter Beans
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken legs/thighs
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3/4 tablespoon salt adjust to taste
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 pimento peppers sliced
- 5 cloves garlic crushed
- 1/2 Scotch bonnet pepper sliced
- 6-8 cherry tomatoes chopped
- 6-8 leaves chadon beni
- 3 tablespoons parsley chopped, divided
- 1 tablespoon ginger grated
- 2 scallions chopped, divided
- 6 sprigs thyme divided
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons golden brown sugar
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons coconut cream
- 1 can Butter beans 540 ml / 19 oz (lima beans)
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into serving-sized pieces, and in keeping with deep-rooted Caribbean traditions, wash it after removing the skin and most of the fat with lemon juice and cool water. Lime juice or 1/2 cup of white vinegar will also work. Caution: If you read the reports about washing chicken and you are not comfortable doing so, do not.
- Drain the chicken and season with the salt, onion, pimento peppers, garlic, Scotch bonnet pepper, cherry tomatoes, chadon beni, 1/2 of the parsley, ginger, 1/2 of the scallions, 1/2 of the thyme leaves, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Mix well to combine, and marinate for at least 2 hours. Overnight will give you better results. As a little fella growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, the scent of the seasoned chicken was definetly one of my faves.
- In this step, I'll ask you to follow along in the video below, as it's the critical step in the recipe. Heat a heavy pot over medium-high heat, add the oil followed by the brown sugar, and stir. It will go frothy, then turn a deep amber in colour. This is when you'd add the seasoned chicken to the pot and stir to coat.
- Should the sugar go black, shut off the stove, allow the pot to cool completely, wash, dry, and start over. A common question I get when people see me start with sugar is whether the finished dish will be sweet. I can guarantee you that once you follow the steps I outlined, it won't.
- Should the sugar go black, it will ruin the stewed chicken by making it bitter. Be warned also, that your kitchen may go a bit smoky, so you'll want to vent it properly, or it will trigger your smoke detector.
- Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 6 minutes. The chicken will sprout its own natural juices.
- In the interim, pour the water into the same bowl you marinated the chicken in to pick up remnants, and set aside. I’d also recommend rinsing the butter beans to remove the brine it was packaged in as well.
- Uncover the pot, raise the heat to medium-high, and burn off the liquid. The goal is to get that deep, delicious-looking colour a good stew chicken is supposed to have. This also heightens the overall flavour of the dish.
- After 3-4 minutes, you should start seeing the oil that we started with, and the chicken pieces will have a lovely amber-golden colour.
- Add the water to the pot and bring to a boil. As it starts simmering, add the coconut cream, along with the remaining thyme, sprigs and everything.
- Cook for another 4-6 minutes uncovered, rolling. Then add the butter beans and cook until they’ve absorbed the rich, flavourful gravy base. In about 5-6 minutes, the chicken should be fully cooked, the gravy should be a bit thicker, and the beans packed with flavour.
- Top with the remaining scallion and parsley. Taste and adjust the salt to your liking, and adjust the sauce or gravy’s consistency to your liking, keeping in mind that it will thicken further once cool and with the residual heat of the pot.
- Should you like this dish, may I recommend making the Stewed Chicken With Potatoes I shared a while back, and it would be nice if you could share your thoughts in the comment section below if you made this Stewed Chicken With Butter Beans.
