Brunswick Stew
Brunswick Stew is a classic southern dish full of delicious smoked pork, veggies, and a savory barbecue broth. It’s the perfect way to warm up on a chilly fall day, or just when you’re craving a taste of the south!
Have you ever had Brunswick Stew before? If not, I promise, you are in for a treat! It’s a perfect one pot meal that uses smoked pork (or chicken), and combines it with a savory barbecue sauce broth and plenty of veggies. It’s the perfect way to warm up as the leaves start changing and the colder days and nights start to sweep in.
I know I’ve mentioned to y’all before about how I get pretty homesick out here in Hawaii. Of course we have beautiful surroundings and perfect weather, but when you haven’t seen your family in a year and a half…well, sometimes sunshine and palm trees just aren’t enough.
I really start to miss home this time of year, when the weather is changing (at least on the mainland, it is!) and all of the fun holidays are coming up. Sometimes you need just a little taste of home, and this Brunswick Stew is all that and a bag of chips, y’all. With every bite, it just fills me with warmth and makes me feel like I’m back home in sweet Georgia. 🙂
My husband made our smoked pork on his Big Green Egg, which I swear he loves more than me. 😉 He smoked a ten pound pork butt for our daughter’s first birthday party, and we had plenty left over. I love when that happens because then I get to make this Brunswick Stew! I made cornbread muffins to go along with our stew, and a big pitcher of sweet tea. The perfect southern meal to kick those homesick blues.
Give it a try if you’ve never had it before! I bet you’ll love it. 🙂
Recipe: Brunswick Stew
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoon butter
- 3 cloves garlic,, minced
- 1 large yellow onion,, finely chopped
- 1 (15 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes (undrained)
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce, (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
- 2 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds smoked pulled pork, (or chicken)
- 8 oz. frozen corn
- 8 oz. frozen lima beans
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once melted, add the garlic and onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes, chicken stock, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire, brown sugar, cayenne, smoked pork, lima beans, corn and salt and pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
I use this recipe and add potatoes…Just doesn’t seem like stew without them…And you can adjust sweetness with different BBQ sauce! So good!!!!!!
Excellent – made this with some leftover pulled pork I’d smoked. My wife LOVES Brunswick stew, but is extremely particular about it – she only likes 2 local versions – a local BBQ place & our butcher shop here in Cartersville, GA (on that note hello from GA!) Anyway, I figured I’d try making her some, but I had no clue how to put it together.. thankfully I found this recipe & it was a hit! She dipped into it twice before it even finished. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Hahaha. I just started laughing when I read your review. I’m from Cartersville too. Mind me asking what BBQ place and butcher shop you were talking about? I’m assuming you mean Findley’s butcher shop as I think it’s the only one in town. I also made this recipe with some leftover pork and chicken I smoked.
I’m down in Rockmart and I’m interested too.
He may have meant Walker’s Meats. Walker’s Brunswick stew is awesome and famous here across parts of the south.
I’m from Cartersville as well! Lol!! I’m also interested in what BBQ place has good brunswick stew. I can’t find any I like so I’m making this recipe tomorrow! I can’t wait! 😋🤤
Omg this is SOOO good. Tried it tonight. About to sneak another helping.
I used this recipe and it turned out great.. My boyfriend has been wanting this for a while.. Thank you for sharing your recipe!!
I’ve used a similar recipe for years and no matter what meat you use (I use chicken & pork) from an old bbq restaurant in Atlanta. They used their leftovers & scraps of bbq meats and it was always perfect! BTW, I’d be arrested here in TN if I used ANY beans!! It’s the “Brunswick Tri-fecta”…Onions, tomatoes & corn, as the old cook used to say. 😋
My husband is OBSESSED with brunswick stew, but I’ve only ever seen it in restaurants. Can’t wait to try making this for him!
Oooh this might be the first soup I can get my husband to eat!
This sounds delicious! I’m definitely saving this recipe to make. I would make it any time of the year too.
I had never heard of Brunswick Stew before but it definitely looks up my husband’s alley! I will have to make this for the fam sometime soon.
Ohhhh this looks good! I wish I could eat it for dinner right now.
Great recipe..have made a couple of times with chicken and pork and also do 1/2 sweet baby rays and 1/2 carolina. My husband told e when they ise to make stew, secret ingredient was adding instant potatoes to thicken it up some..have done so and definitely thickens up some for a great consistency. Would suggest 1/2 of a package and give some time as it does thicken up.
Grew up in GA making this in huge batches (we would freeze) in a 35gal cast iron pot on open fire/coals (stirred with a large hickory paddle). Very similar recipe, though we used less sugar based BBQ sauce & used tomato paste/sauce/cider vinegar for the balance. As for meats, this was a Fall ‘clean out the freezer’ effort, so rabbit, venison, quail, chicken, smoked pork, beef, etc… made its way in. The best batches had the most variety of meats!
My husband and I loved it!
This was really good. The only change I made was to add some leftover sliced beef sausage links. I would have given it 5 stars, but it was a little too sweet for me. Next time, I may do half of your sauce and half of another type. My husband loved it! I do too!
I followed your recipe and it was wonderful. Don’t listen to everyone that says don’t use pork. This is good! Marc
I use chicken. I like to use rotisserie chicken best because it’s very moist, seasoned and inexpensive in time and money. I do mine in a crockpot. Six/eight hours on low, adding more chicken, lima beans, canned diced tomatoes and creamed corn as needed. It allows the flavors to blend. I do not use BBQ sauce, but I might try it with Scotts, a vinegar-based BBQ sauce (NC style). As always, the next day is best for flavor. Oh yeah, if you’re not going to freeze the leftovers, add diced/cut-up potatoes. Yum.
This looked like a great recipe. I followed it exactly. Even using Sweet Baby Rays. In the end, it was entirely too sweet. I did everything I could to tone down the sweetness, but nothing worked. The BBQ sauce is too overpowering.
I use this recipe but do 1/2 sweet and 1/2 Carolina to cut the sweetness! I also use pork, chicken and beef in mine. It is delicious!
Can you find the canned pork and chicken to use in this? I can’t seem to find it anymore and it was real goo!
Bought local Smoked pulled pork, and used their sauce (vinegar based) so sweeteness overload was not present.
Hi Tracy,
I have a similar recipe I use but I do put potatoes in mine and I used Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce once because that’s my favorite bbq sauce on other things but not in this. Like you said, it was way too sweet. I added a cup & half of White Vinegar and a little more salt to take away some of that sweetness and then it was perfect.