Easy Brunswick Stew Recipe with Pulled Pork and Chicken
With fall just around the corner, I’m making my favorite Easy Brunswick Stew recipe and sharing all of the homegrown yumminess that’s added!
There may still be warm days here in South Carolina, but once fall approaches, I’m ready for a pot of homemade Brunswick stew! This easy Southern recipe combines smoky pulled pork, tender rotisserie chicken, and plenty of vegetables, including okra, carrots, and corn from my garden.
It’s also a wonderful way to use leftover barbecue and vegetables tucked away in the freezer. Add a skillet of warm cornbread, and you’ve got a hearty, comforting meal for a cool fall evening.
What is Brunswick Stew?
Brunswick stew is a Southern favorite with a bit of a disputed history. Both Brunswick County, Virginia, and Brunswick, Georgia, claim to be the birthplace of this hearty stew, and folks on both sides have strong opinions about whose version is the original!
As for me, I’m not choosing sides in that debate. I’m choosing what’s growing in my garden! My version combines smoky pulled pork, tender chicken, and a generous helping of garden vegetables for a comforting bowl of Southern goodness.
Why You’ll Love this Easy Brunswick Stew
Brunswick Stew is a comforting and hearty stew perfect for fall weather. You will love how easy it is to make using leftover pulled pork, rotisserie chicken, and fresh vegetables (or frozen!) from the garden. The smoky flavors from the pulled pork adds heartiness to the stew. The acidity from the tomato base combined with the brown sugar and starchy vegetables round out the delicious flavors.
Ingredients for Brunswick Stew
You will find differing opinions about what goes in to the Brunswick Stew pot, I like being flexible and using what my garden provides. However, this recipe serves as a reliable starting point that you can adjust as needed.
- Meat: Smoke pulled pork, rotisserie chicken, smoked ham
- Garden Vegetables: Okra, carrots, lima beans, corn, onions and garlic
- Broth and Seasonings: Chicken broth, fire-roasted tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
Keep in mind that my recipe calls for seasoned pull pork that adds a barbecue flavor to the stew without adding barbecue sauce, but you can certainly add some if you wish!
Also, depending on the amount of seasonings on your meat, be judicious when adding salt. You can always add more if you need it, but you can’t take it out!
Meats for Brunswick Stew
Whenever Bob cooks a Boston butt on the Big Green Egg, I freeze the leftover shredded pork in quart-size plastic storage bags. They are good for up to a year in the freezer, and the quart size bag is a perfect portion for Brunswick stew.
Another time saver is using a rotisserie chicken. I like to buy one or two, remove the meat and freeze for homemade soups and stews. Sometimes, my husband will cook a whole chicken on the Big Green Egg and I will freeze that as well.
Vegetables to make my own version of Easy Brunswick Stew:
- onion
- garlic
- carrots
- okra
- lima beans
- corn
Seasonings and Additional Ingredients
Both meats had a strong BBQ flavor already, so I don’t typically add BBQ sauce like a lot of traditional Brunswick stew recipes require. I do add a some extra ingredients to thicken up and flavor the broth, though.
- chicken broth
- 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
- ketchup
- Worcestershire sauce
- brown sugar
How to Make Brunswick Stew
My method for making Brunswick stew is pretty straightforward:
- Sauté onions and garlic in your Dutch oven.
- Add the vegetables, meat, broth, tomatoes, and seasonings.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes.
There’s something about cooking in a hefty cast iron pot when making soups and stews. I love my Le Creuset Dutch Oven and use it all the time! It’s expensive, but it’s a true work horse in my kitchen.
Easy Brunswick Stew
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded pulled pork
- 1 cup chopped rotisserie chicken
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 cup frozen/fresh sliced carrots
- 1 cup frozen lima beans
- 1 cup frozen/fresh corn
- 1 cup frozen/fresh sliced okra
- 15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Drizzle olive oil in cast iron dutch oven. Sauté diced onion over medium heat until translucent and lightly golden.
- Add minced garlic and stir for one more minute.
- Add remaining ingredients and more broth if necessary to cover completely.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer for 30 minutes.
- Serve with warm bread.
Notes
Using Fresh or Frozen Vegetables
One of my favorite things about Brunswick stew is that I can use vegetables straight from the garden or pull out some of my summer harvest from the freezer. By the time fall arrives, I usually have bags of okra, corn, and other vegetables tucked away, just waiting for a recipe like this one.
Fresh vegetables are wonderful when they’re in season. Fresh corn adds sweetness, carrots bring a little color, and okra gives the stew that classic Southern touch.
Frozen vegetables work just as well in Brunswick stew! In fact, they’re one of my favorite shortcuts. There’s no need to thaw frozen corn, lima beans, or sliced okra before adding them to the pot. Just stir them into the stew and allow everything to simmer until the vegetables are tender and heated through.
Read Growing Okra: A Garden to Table Guide for Fresh Summer Cooking to learn how to grow this reliable sturdy vegetable.
Ginger with Roots Tip!
If you’re growing okra, don’t worry when the plants produce more pods than you can eat! Harvest the pods while they’re young and tender, then freeze the extras for soups and stews later in the year. Okra also helps give Brunswick stew a little body as it cooks.
Read Harvesting Carrots: Easy to Grow! for tips and suggestions to grow this classic root vegetable.
So many ingredients came from my kitchen garden! This is the magic of gardening. Read all about it in From Garden to Table: Homemade Recipes Using Fresh Herbs, Fruits and Vegetables.
Tips and Variations
How your meat is seasoned will affect the flavor of your finished Brunswick stew. Taste it periodically to adjust your additional seasonings. Salt is a big variable and should me added only as needed.
We have experimented with additional meats over the years and have found that a whole ham on the Big Green Egg shreds like a Boston butt and adds a very unique flavor.
Experiment with different proportions and work with what you have on hand. Sometimes my garden produces an abundance of okra, other years it’s corn.
Try adding potatoes if you want a thicker heartier stew.
What to Serve with Brunswick Stew
Our favorite way to eat Brunswick stew is with corn bread! I make mine with a little bit of added sugar and honey before baking-so yummy!
You could also serve with crusty french bread or dinner rolls.
How to Store Brunswick Stew
This recipe makes a enough stew to feed several people, but if you end up with leftovers, you can store in the fridge for 3-4 days. I usually just put the whole Dutch oven in the fridge and reheat on the stovetop later. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave.
To freeze Brunswick stew leftovers, use a freezer storage bag with air removed and sealed tightly. Lay flat on a cookie sheet until frozen for easier storage and thawing. Store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
For more soups and stews read 10 Soups Recipes for Fall and How to Make Vegetable Soups.
Need some fall football game appetizers? Try 5 Quick and Easy Appetizers Ready to Go!
