Brunswick Stew {Classic Southern Stew} Gonna Want Seconds (2024)

Brunswick stew may just be one of the best stewrecipes 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 mychicken stew. It’s so deeply layered with flavor it will knock your socks off. Believe me, this is no averageblandchicken dish.

Mypork stewis 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.

Brunswick Stew 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, butit matters.Taking the time tosauté veggiesbefore 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 usinggarlic, onions, and celery – no carrots.

Serving Recommendations

I like to serve southern Brunswick stew with mySouthern cornbread, Bisquick cornbread, Bisquick rolled biscuit, 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 issooo 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 Brunswick Stew Recipe

1. Saute onions, garlic, and celery.
2. Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, Better Than Bouillon, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, Tabasco sauce, salt, and pepper.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Add pulled pork, roasted chicken, frozen corn, and frozen lima beans.
5. Simmer.
6. Serve.

***See the full instructions below.

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’tjust 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 the articles regarding USDA’s refrigeration and freezing food storage and safety.

More Meaty Soup and Stew Recipes

• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Chicken and Rice Soup
• Beef Barley Soup
• Vegetable Beef Soup
• Goulash Soup
• Guinness Beef Stew
• Meatball Stew
• Green Chile Stew

Tried This Recipe?

Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Reader Interactions