Chicken Stew With Okra and Tomatoes

By Millie Peartree

Total Time: 1 hour
Rating: 5(158)
Notes: Read community notes

Tender chicken, stewed tomatoes and spices that warm without too much heat: This stew is exactly what you want on a cold day. Okra is cooked over high heat with the holy trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery) to draw out its moisture and reduce any possibility of sliminess. Make sure to use bone-in chicken thighs: They take a little longer to cook, but they give this stew heft and flavor that you wouldn’t get from boneless. This recipe calls for ripe plum tomatoes, but if you can’t find good ones, use a 15-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes instead.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

4large bone-in chicken thighs (about 1½ pounds), skin removed
1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1tablespoon smoked paprika
1tablespoon granulated garlic
1tablespoon granulated onion
1teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
2tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1pound fresh okra, cut into ¼-inch pieces, tops discarded, or use frozen okra, thawed, drained and patted dry
½large onion, diced (1 cup)
½large bell pepper, diced (1 cup)
2large celery ribs, diced (1 cup)
1teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
2teaspoons minced garlic
3tablespoons tomato paste
½teaspoon ground cayenne
½teaspoon ground cumin
2large ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
4cups low-sodium chicken broth
1large bay leaf
⅓cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Scallions (optional), for serving
Cooked white rice (optional), for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Sprinkle chicken thighs with 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning, the paprika, granulated garlic, granulated onion, ½ teaspoon black pepper and 1 teaspoon olive oil. Massage chicken with all the seasonings then let sit until room temperature, about 20 minutes.
Step 2
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium until hot, about 5 minutes. Place the chicken thighs into the hot oil and cover. Cook until brown on one side, about 5 minutes, then flip the chicken, cover and cook until brown on the other side, another 5 minutes. (Covering the chicken helps keep it juicy.) Remove the thighs and set aside, leaving the fat and juices in the pan.
Step 3
Increase the heat to high and add the okra, the holy trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery), salt and remaining ½ teaspoon black pepper to the pan. Sauté, stirring frequently, until starting to look translucent, 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 4
Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Step 5
Add the tomato paste, cayenne, cumin and remaining 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning; stir to combine.
Step 6
Add the chopped tomatoes and chicken broth to the pan, stirring and scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan as the mixture cooks. Add chicken, bay leaf and chopped parsley.
Step 7
Stir the stew and bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat to a simmer, stirring constantly, to let the okra thicken the stew. Cover the pot, vented on one side, and let the stew simmer for 35 minutes, occasionally stirring, until chicken is tender enough that you can break off a piece with your spoon.
Step 8
Remove chicken from pot, let it cool slightly, then cut it into thick shreds, discarding bones; add the shredded chicken back to the pot and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed; discard bay leaf. Add scallions, if you like, and serve hot, by itself or with rice.

Ratings

5 out of 5

158 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Margaret1 year ago

Sauté the Trinity without the okra. Add the okra (frozen sliced okra will do just fine) and cooked just a bit, then add the tomatoes. Canned, diced tomatoes are fine unless fresh and in season. The acid in the tomatoes cuts the slime from the okra. Hard to go wrong with this wonderful combo of flavors and textures.

Allison1 year ago

This was delicious! And a very forgiving recipe. The store was out of chicken thighs, so breasts it was! Forgot to put in the okra on time (and used frozen), no worries! I also used canned whole tomatoes. Delicious and easy! Will make again.

anna1 month ago

I would recommend using baby okra which you can find frozen in Mediterranean stores. I added a couple of Chinese eggplants. Next time I am thinking of adding a couple of potatoes as well. It's a nice and versatile recipe.

Janie1 month ago

Made this as the recipe is written. Delicious and the aroma as it cooks is really great!

Amy2 months ago

Only two shakes of cayenne

sarla2 months ago

Delicious and easy. I used chicken thighs with bones and just served them whole with the stew at the end instead of shredding them and placing them back in stew as instructed in recipe. Still delicious and made for a great easy weekday dinner.

Evolving Person2 months ago

This was an excellent recipe!

Mags on the Beach4 months ago

This is a very nice recipe. It was simple to put together, tasty and looking forward to leftovers!

Haley S.5 months ago

I’m sorry I used skinless boneless; but everything else as directed. This stew is tantalizing and delicious! Yum yum yum!!

Hannah5 months ago

Very tasty, the spices complement well. I just used what I had- 2 bell peppers, full onion and a medley of tomatoes I chopped up. It has a lot of broth and adding more veggies helped it. Our kids loved it, but needed sour cream with the spice level.

Kim9 months ago

I cooked andouille sausage in the pot while the chicken was sitting for an extra kick of flavor. I used the whole onion and whole bell pepper instead of half. The bag of frozen okra was only 12 oz., and rather than buying a second I added some canned sweet corn. This may have impacted the thickness of the stew; it was still quiet soupy after the allotted cook time. I added a bit of cornstarch slurry, and it thickened perfectly. Very tasty with good spice. Would make again, even as written.

Kathie10 months ago

Loved it!

Maria1 year ago

Husband: "I would eat this every night of the week." 12 yo daughter: "It's too spicy." This stew is delicious and healthful -- the okra was a treat for us. Just calibrate the spice for your crowd. It packs a lot of heat, to the point where you can feel overfull after eating a normal-size serving. Depending on your preference, I would subtract at least 1/2 cup of broth from the 4 cups indicated, as the stew is quite soupy. It does take 2 hours, but it makes a hefty amount.

Giff1 year ago

Can this be made in an instapot

Lane1 year ago

Should be able to make this plant-based with chicken flavored seitan and cut the seasoning in half.

Jon1 year ago

It's a good-tasting recipe, but the "one hour" time estimate is absurd. If you add up every single minute count in the recipe it comes out to 70 minutes, and that's assuming (i) your stock comes to a boil instantly, (ii) your chicken cools instantly after being taken out of the pot, and (iii) all of your ingredients are chopped and sliced in advance, or can be in the 20 minutes that the chicken sits in spices at the beginning. Took me close to 2 hours from beginning to end.

Mike1 year ago

Delicious & forgiving, for sure! I used a whole roasting chicken, parted it up and made a stock while I dry-rubbed the thighs, drumsticks & wings. Didn't have any celery so just doubled up on all the other veggies. The stock isn't called for until the end & when you're making the rice. You can harvest any last bits of meat from the stock bones, toss them in with the stew while you're de-boning the fried thighs, drumsticks & wings.

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