Jollof Stew With Beef and Chicken Recipe For The Everyday Cook (2024)

I have been getting tons of requests to show how I prepare my Jollof stew recipe. And I decided now’s the perfect time to introduce this delicacy.

Since I posted my Jollof rice recipe a couple of months ago, a lot of you seemed to be interested in how I prepare the Jollof stew with beef and chicken. So I decided to make a post about it.

I’m super sorry if this post is coming late. Each time I prepare this dish, I usually forget to take pictures of it to show you guys on the blog. Thankfully, I remembered today, so here you go.

Honestly, I prepare this chicken stew each time I’m lazy to cook. Because it’s super easy to make. I personally love to eat mine with white rice. But some days, I’d eat it with pasta.

I love it so much and I’m very sure you all will love it as well. Do try it out with pasta if you can, I promise, those combinations taste delicious.

Also Check Out: Crockpot Beef Stew For Two

Ingredients for Nigerian Jollof Stew

• Chicken drumsticks: Their bones help make the stew’s broth richer.
• Beef: Beef adds another type of meat to the stew, making it heartier and more flavorful. I used beef chuck for this recipe.
• Red onions: These are used to give a good basic flavor to the stew, which is common in many recipes. You will need some for blending the pepper mixture, and some for cooking the meat.
• Red bell peppers: I love to use a lot of red bell peppers in my Jollof recipes because they add a nice color and a sweet taste to the stew, making it more appealing.
• Crayfish: If you don’t already know by now, Crayfish is sort of my thing. It gives a unique seafood flavor to the stew, making it taste even better.
• Water: Water is needed to help cook the meat and form the broth of the stew.
• Maggi cubes: I swear by these cubes. If you don’t have them, order them now and thank me later. These cubes are like a quick shortcut to making the stew taste great with lots of flavors.
• Salt: To taste.
• Cayenne pepper: Adds a kick to the stew, which is perfect for those who love a bit of heat.
• Habanero peppers: These peppers are another way to add some spice to the stew, and you can adjust how many you use based on how spicy you like your food.
• Bay leaves: Bay leaves add a subtle herby flavor to the stew, making it taste more complex.
• Curry powder: Curry powder gives this Jollof stew a delicious flavor, making it more savory.
• Thyme: Thyme adds a classic herby taste, which goes well with the meat in the stew. However, oregano works well if you don’t have thyme on hand
• Tomatoes: I used fresh tomatoes for this recipe, but canned diced tomatoes will also work.
• Tomato paste: This helps thicken the stew and intensifies the tomato flavor, making the stew richer and tastier.

How To Make The Perfect Beef Stew

The first step to making the perfect Jollof Stew is prepping the meat before anything else. You will have to extract the stock and then fully cook the meat. I like to bake my meat to cut down on the oil, but if frying is your thing, go for it!

Follow these steps to make the perfect Jollof Stew:

Step 1: Prepping the Meat

To do this, Grab a medium-sized pot and put it on medium heat. Toss in the beef, chicken, some chopped onions, curry powder, thyme, Maggi cubes, salt, and cayenne pepper. Pour water into the pot, let it come to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer until the chicken isn’t pink inside anymore.

Once that’s done, take the meat out of the pot but save the liquid in the pot for later. Now, warm up your oven to 350°F, for the rest of the world, this temperature will be 180°C.

Put the beef and chicken on a baking tray, and bake them until they get a bit brown.

Step 3: Preparing the Jollof Stew

Now, take the tomatoes, red bell peppers, habanero peppers, and red onions, and blend them up until they’re smooth, then set it aside. Grab another medium-sized pot, warm about 4 tablespoons of oil over medium heat, toss in the diced red onion and cook it until it gets clear. Stir in the tomato paste, and cook it for about 15 minutes, but keep stirring so it doesn’t stick and burn.

Now, add the blended veggies, the blended crayfish, Maggi cube, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, curry powder, and thyme into the pot. Give it a good stir and let it cook for about 30 minutes, but keep stirring now and then to prevent burning. Now, pour in the liquid you saved from the meat earlier, add more salt if you need to, stir it well, and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

Step 3: Bringing it all together

Now, toss the baked chicken and beef into the sauce and mix it up well so the meat gets coated with the sauce. Once it’s all mixed up, transfer it to a serving dish. Serve it hot and enjoy your tasty Jollof Beef and Chicken Stew with some rice, bread, or whatever you like!

Tips for making the Best Jollof Stew

If you don’t have beef for this recipe, no need to worry. As long as you have chicken stock, it should taste the same. The most important thing is to ensure your tomato mixture gets enough time frying in the oil to reduce the raw, tangy flavor. Because if you don’t give it the additional time to cook, it will have that taste.

I also recommend using fewer tomatoes and more peppers to prevent this.

Regarding the beef and chicken, I suggest baking it in the oven while you make the sauce. However, you can fry it if you prefer. But I personally prefer baking it. It saves a lot of time and effort in the kitchen.