Nigerian tomato stew is a favourite in every Nigerian home and there’s nothing as tasty and simple as white rice and tomato stew. I have always loved tomato stew and white rice as we fondly call it in Nigeria. I love making my own stew but I also enjoy tasting stew made by other people, it’s always amazing how stew can have different unique flavors and tastes when prepared by different people even with the same ingredients. Stew is very versatile as it can be served with different types of sides such as steamed rice, boiled or fried yam, plantains, potatoes, egusi soup, okra soup and even bread…Yes, I love stew and fresh ‘out of the oven bread’.
So how did I make my chicken tomato stew. (This is the same stew recipe I use when cooking stew with other protein like cow meat, turkey, goat meat etc., )
Here’s the Nigerian Tomato Stew Video Recipe (Text Recipe is Below)
NIGERIAN TOMATO STEW RECIPE
Serves: 5 -10
Recipe level: Medium
Preparation time: 40 mins
Cook time: 40 – 45mins
Total time: 1 hrs 20 mins to 1 hr 25mins
Meal type: Stew, Sauce, Side Dish
Meal time: Lunch or Dinner
Country/Region: Nigeria
INGREDIENTS
For Nigerian Tomato Stew
- 6 large fresh tomatoes
- 1 small size canned/tinned tomato paste/puree (optional)
- 2 large onions
- 1 large red bell pepper/tatashe
- 2 scotch bonnet peppers/atarodo
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1/2 tablespoon dry thyme
- 2 seasoning cubes, knorr or maggi
- Salt, to taste
- Knorr cubes
- 1/2 to 1 cup vegetable oil
- Meat stock (I used the stock from the chicken)
For Chicken
- 4- chicken pieces (you can use beef , lamb, goat, turkey etc)
- 1 small onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1-hot pepper
- 2 seasoning cubes
- 1 teaspoon curry
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- Salt, to taste
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METHOD
Cooking Nigerian tomato stew involves 3 major steps, I have arranged the recipe in that order:
- Precooking the tomato blend
- Parboiling the meat, in this case chicken
- Frying and cooking the stew
STEP 1- REDUCING TOMATO BLEND
- Wash,chop and blend with a little water the tomatoes, bell pepper or tatashe, hot peppers, garlic, ginger and 2 onions. Try blending small quantities at a time so that the mixture blends properly and that you don’t overwork your blender
- Pour your blended tomato mix into a medium pot; cook and reduce mixture by 2/3. (This process of cooking down the tomato mixture does 2 things; it reduces the acidity of the tomatoes thus reducing the cooking time in final stewing step; it helps the stew fry better by cooking off the water. This can also be achieved by just sieving the tomato blend and draining out the water)
STEP 2- PARBOILING MEAT
- Pre cook your chicken or meat pieces with the spices, herbs, and seasoning of your choice. (Do not completely cook the meat pieces because you will complete the cooking process in the final stewing step)
STEP 3- STEWING
- Heat up oil in a medium pot on medium heat; add 1 sliced onion and fry for about 3-5 minutes. Let the onions brown a bit, you don’t want them to burn cause it will give your stew a burnt taste.
- Add and fry tomato paste for 2 – 3 minutes; pour in reduced tomato mixture and fry for about 10 mins before you pour your beef/chicken stock. (I poured in about 1/2 cup of my chicken stock. I usually prefer my stew thick, but you could pour more stock if you want your stew to be lees thick and more watery)
- Add meat pieces, seasoning cubes, curry, thyme, and some salt
- Cook at low-medium heat and stir at short intervals till the oil has completely separated from the tomato blend. Taste the stew to make sure that the raw tomato taste is gone then turn off the heat. (With time and experience, you will know that the tomato blend is well fried from the aroma alone.)
Serve with your carb of choice and enjoy!
If you make this recipe, snap a pic and hashtag it #kaunakitchen — We love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter!
- FOR NIGERIAN TOMATO STEW
- 6 large fresh tomatoes
- 1 small size canned/tinned tomato paste/puree (optional)
- 2 large onions
- 1 large red bell pepper/tatashe
- 2 scotch bonnet peppers/atarodo
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- ½ tablespoon dry thyme
- 2 seasoning cubes, knorr or maggi
- Salt, to taste
- Knorr cubes
- ½ to 1 cup vegetable oil
- Meat stock (I used the stock from the chicken)
- FOR CHICKEN
- 4- chicken pieces (you can use beef, lamb, goat, turkey etc)
- 1 small onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1-hot pepper
- 2 seasoning cubes
- 1 teaspoon curry
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- Salt, to taste
- Cooking Nigerian tomato stew involves 3 major steps, I have arranged the recipe in that order:
- Precooking the tomato blend
- Parboiling the meat, in this case chicken
- Frying and cooking the stew
- STEP 1- REDUCING TOMATO BLEND
- Wash,chop and blend with a little water the tomatoes, bell pepper or tatashe, hot peppers, garlic, ginger and 2 onions. Try blending small quantities at a time so that the mixture blends properly and that you don't overwork your blender
- Pour your blended tomato mix into a medium pot; cook and reduce mixture by ⅔. (This process of cooking down the tomato mixture does 2 things; it reduces the acidity of the tomatoes thus reducing the cooking time in final stewing step; it helps the stew fry better by cooking off the water. This can also be achieved by just sieving the tomato blend and draining out the water)
- STEP 2- PARBOILING MEAT
- Pre cook your chicken or meat pieces with the spices, herbs, and seasoning of your choice. (Do not completely cook the meat pieces because you will complete the cooking process in the final stewing step)
- STEP 3- STEWING
- Heat up oil in a medium pot on medium heat; add 1 sliced onion and fry for about 3-5 minutes. Let the onions brown a bit, you don't want them to burn cause it will give your stew a burnt taste.
- Add and fry tomato paste for 2 - 3 minutes; pour in reduced tomato mixture and fry for about 10 mins before you pour your beef/chicken stock. (I poured in about ½ cup of my chicken stock. I usually prefer my stew thick, but you could pour more stock if you want your stew to be lees thick and more watery)
- Add meat pieces, seasoning cubes, curry, thyme, and some salt
- Cook at low-medium heat and stir at short intervals till the oil has completely separated from the tomato blend. Taste the stew to make sure that the raw tomato taste is gone then turn off the heat. (With time and experience, you will know that the tomato blend is well fried from the aroma alone.)
Going to try this sometime.
If i had to do without some of the ingredients which ones are the most important to have in this receipe
Hi Mima,
for the stew:
Must have ingredients include:
Fresh tomatoes
Fresh onions
Oil (it can be vegetable,olive,or coconut oil)
Seasoning cube of your choice (knorr cubes are common in Nigeria)
Dry pepper like cayenne or paprika just to give your stew extra flavor and colour
Water or Meat broth/stock e.g. chicken or beef
Salt
Optional ingredients
Bell peppers/Tatashe
Canned/Tin tomato paste
Palm oil
Scotch bonnet peppers
Curry
Thyme
You can season your beef,chicken or fish as you like. Use whatever spices you prefer.
I hope this answers your question properly.
Doesn’t look too difficult… Will definitely try it.
Yes Espe,I will be waiting, so please let me know how it goes and It would be nice to have it at Saturday practice 🙂
This really helps, special thanks to Kaunakitchen
Hi Favour.So glad you found it useful.You should take pictures and we will upload them on the blog next time;)
This recipe came out very helpful; Thanks alot I had my stew ready in 30 minutes.
Hi Pelumi, thank you for your feedback.I’m so happy the recipe worked out well for you. What method did you use; did you parboil the blended tomato or just drain the water using a sieve?
i will surely tell my wife to try this.
Yay Prince, I’m sure she will find the steps easy to follow.Let me know how it goes.
Out of all the sites I have looked on fo4 this recipe, yours was the easiest for me to follow. Thank you so much! My Nigerian husband loved it.
Thanks a lot TJ. So happy to hear your husband enjoyed it.
Please post a recipe card as you have with some of your other recipes. I am in Nigeria for the first time and have been having this stew over everything; breakfast, lunch, and dinner!! I love it and have to make it when I get home. Thank you for sharing.
Erick…welcome to Nigeria.I hope you are enjoying your stay. I am really glad to hear that you have tried the recipe and have it everyday.I will take your recommendation and put up a recipe card for this. Thanks for your comment, very kind.
I lived in Nigeria for 6 years and this was one of my favorite dishes but didn’t learn how to make it while I was there. I’ve tried a few times here in the US and couldn’t get it exactly right, but I used your tips/recipe today, and it’s perfect! Thank you!
Hello Heather, WOW, I am so glad you found the recipe that finally worked for you. Now you don’t have to wait till you visit Nigeria again before you can have Nigerian style stew. Thank you for your feedback, it encourages me to keep working on putting out recipes that actually work for people.