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You are here: Home / Stew / Jamaican Curry Chicken Stew with Rum and Mango

Jamaican Curry Chicken Stew with Rum and Mango

January 6, 2019 Updated May 20, 2020 by Lisa 16 Comments This post may contain affiliate links

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Bowl of Jamaican curried chicken stew

This dish is my ode to Jamaica. A bright, flavorful curry chicken stew with chicken thighs, butternut squash and carrots, simmered in coconut milk and curry spices, with rum mango. This is a stew I love to make all year round.

Jamaican Curried Chicken with shredded chicken and cubes of butternut squash simmered in coconut curry broth, with rum and mango.

Imagine you are floating in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean, relaxing to the rhythm of Reggae music and sipping an ice cold fruity rum drink. The whole beautiful day lies ahead of you, with nothing to do but enjoy your surroundings - the turquoise sea, swaying palm trees, a good book, something bright and spicy for dinner... That's how I would describe Jamaica. It's one of my family's favorite vacation destinations.

Food has its own special way of transporting us to far away places, and this curried chicken stew with rum and mango takes me right to Jamaica.

In Jamaica you're more likely to find curry goat on the menu than curry chicken. It's one of the most popular dishes on the island. In fact, when I was searching through cookbooks for ideas, it was a tempting curry goat with rum and mango that inspired this curry chicken stew recipe. Goats are I wasn't sure goat would be readily available to all of my followers so I decided to go more mainstream and make it with chicken thighs.

All the ingredients in this dish are readily available year-round. So when you want a little Island flavor on your table, this curry chicken stew will do the trick.  in my opinion we can always use a little flavor of the Caribbean in our lives!

aromatics

HOW TO MAKE JAMAICAN CURRY CHICKEN STEW

The flavor base for the stew is created by sautéing a generous amount of aromatic vegetables: onion, garlic and ginger, along with one hot and fruity Scotch Bonnet Chili.

STEP ONE: Season boneless, skinless chicken thighs with salt and pepper and brown them in the same pot you'll use for the stew. Set the thighs aside and brown the aromatic vegetables: onions, garlic, ginger and chili pepper.

chicken

STEP TWO: Return the chicken to the pot with the aromatics. Add carrots, squash, chicken broth, coconut milk, rum, dry spices and fresh thyme. Your prep work is done. Set the pot in a preheated 350º oven for 35 minutes. 

A pot of Jamaican Curried Chicken Stew with Rum and Mango

STEP THREE: When the stew comes out of the oven, shred the chicken and return it to the pot and stir in the fresh cubed mango.

mango

STEP FOUR: Serve your curry chicken stew with fluffy rice to soak up all the delicious juices. Have fun with the toppings. I suggest including plenty of chopped scallions and crushed peanuts. And you can't go wrong with adding toasted coconut flakes.

colorful Jamaican curry chicken stew with carrots, butternut squash and mango, in a white bowl with small bowls on the side of chopped peanuts and chopped scallions

Other Delicious Chicken Stews to Try

  • Guatemalan Green Chicken Stew
  • Peanut Stew with Chicken from Ghana
  • Korean Chicken Stew with Gochujang Sauce
  • Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes
  • Easy Curried Butternut Squash
  • Lentil and Chicken Stew

colorful Jamaican curry chicken stew with carrots, butternut squash and mango, in a white bowl with small bowls on the side of chopped peanuts and chopped scallions

Here's the Jamaican Curry Chicken Stew recipe. If you try this recipe I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think.

Print

Jamaican Curry Chicken Stew with Rum and Mango

Jamaican Curried Chicken Stew with Rum and Mango by Panning The Globe
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

Delicious curry chicken stew with lots of veggies and a curry-coconut-rum broth. A fantastic one pot dinner.

Adapted from a recipe in Caribbean Potluck

  • Author: Lisa
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
  • Yield: 6-8 1x
  • Category: Stew
  • Method: braise
  • Cuisine: Jamaican

Ingredients

Scale
  • 12-14 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)
  • Coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper
  • Olive oil for sautéing
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 ½ tablespoons finely minced garlic (about 8 large cloves)
  • 2 tablespoons peeled and finely minced ginger root (about a 2 inch piece)
  • 1 Scotch bonnet chili, seeds removed (unless you love a lot of fire) and finely chopped (or substitute 1 Habanero Chili or a jalapeño, if you can find the other two)
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
  • ¼ cup white rum
  • 4 cups low salt chicken broth (I recommend Swanson's)
  • 4 cups 1-inch cubes of butternut squash (from ½ large squash or 1 small squash)
  • 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cups diced fresh mango (1 large mango or two small - if you have left over mango you can sprinkle it on top as a garnish)
  • Garnish and Accompaniment Ideas:
  • ¾ cup peanuts, roughly chopped
  • Chopped mango
  • 1 bunch scallions (6-7), trimmed and thinly sliced
  • ½ cup toasted coconut flakes

Instructions

Heat oven to 350ºF.

  1. Sprinkle chicken generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat, in a large, oven-ready pot or dutch oven, with a lid. Brown chicken in batches, 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer pieces to a plate as they are browned.
  2. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pot and sauté the onion, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and chili pepper. Cook, stirring, for a minute or so, until they become fragrant. Add the curry powder and allspice. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or so to toast the spices. Add the coconut milk and rum. Cook for a minute or so, stirring, to loosen any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the chicken back to the pot, along with the 4 cups broth, squash, carrots, thyme sprigs and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer. Turn off heat. Cover pot and transfer to the preheated oven. Cook for 35 minutes.
  3. Final Prep: Remove stew from the oven. Pull out the chicken pieces a few at a time - transferring them to a plate and shredding them by pulling them apart with two forks. Return shredded chicken to the pot. Add the cubed mango. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with rice and your choice of toppings.

Keywords: one-pot curried chicken stew with butternut squash and mango

[First published Oct 2014. Updated Jan 2019 with added nutritional information and tweaks to the written post]

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Chicken, Entertaining, Jamaica, Lunch and Brunch, main course, North America, Stew Tagged With: curry, gluten-free

Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Maddison

    November 15, 2021 at 11:11 am

    I cannot drink alcohol- do you have any suggestions for a substitute or will it be delicious without it.?

    Reply
    • Lisa

      November 15, 2021 at 11:21 am

      There's only 1/4 cup of rum in this stew so I do think it would still be delicious without. But if you want, you can use 1/4 cup of pineapple juice as a substitute. I bet that would be tasty! I hope you like the stew!

      Reply
  2. Stephen Ward

    August 10, 2021 at 8:36 am

    Absolutely delicious! I keep receiving compliments even from those who think they do not like curry.

    I made a few minor changes as one does with recipes - I didn't have any coconut milk, used dried mangos instead of fresh, used home made chicken broth, and threw in different types of vegetables (i.e. mushrooms as I am not a fan of cooked squash) but everything else was the same and looking forward to making again!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Geraldine Foyer

    December 30, 2019 at 1:55 pm

    I would have never guessed that rum and mango make such a great curry. I made this out of curiosity because the flavors seemed so strange, but it was excellent!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  4. Dave K

    February 26, 2017 at 8:50 pm

    I made this for dinner tonight... it is absolutely delicious! Really wonderful flavors and really no heat. I did remove the seeds from the habanero pepper I used so I got the flavor without a lot of heat. The coconut adds a wonderful "caribbean" feel to the dish. I served it over imported Indian basmati rice (and yes, it made a difference!) and garnished with scallion.

    This one is going to be a family favorite. I'll be taking it for lunch tomorrow too!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Lisa

      February 27, 2017 at 8:16 am

      I'm really happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed the stew Dave! Thanks for your note!!

      Reply
  5. Hadan

    April 18, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    Would dark rum work well with this? Thanks for the great recipe

    Reply
    • Lisa

      April 20, 2016 at 11:18 am

      I bet dark rum would work - it would give the stew a richer flavor. Please let me know how it turns out if you try it.

      Reply
      • Hadan

        May 21, 2016 at 12:53 pm

        It turned out very well. Have used dark rum before for my jerk chicken marinade and it works very nicely with the stew too. Enjoying your website!

  6. Coleen

    April 24, 2015 at 10:26 pm

    JAMAICAN CURRIED CHICKEN STEW with RUM and MANGO looks and sounds fantastic.

    Reply
  7. margaret szerlip

    November 01, 2014 at 5:14 pm

    Lisa, Gordon is making this for dinner tonight per my request:)

    Reply
  8. Cartol at Wild Goose Tea

    October 30, 2014 at 6:31 pm

    Wow----it's odd because I was just looking up Jamaican recipes and really didn't see one that caught me eye. Well I am caught now. Wonderful.

    Reply
    • Lisa Goldfinger

      October 31, 2014 at 7:08 am

      Thanks Carol 🙂

      Reply
  9. Carrie Gately

    October 27, 2014 at 8:29 pm

    Oh my gosh those photos look so delicious!... love that there are no potatoes or noodles... sounds so healthy and hearty! Thanks Lisa:)

    Reply
    • Lisa Goldfinger

      October 28, 2014 at 12:49 pm

      Thanks Carrie!

      Reply
  10. Rachel (Rachel's Kitchen NZ)

    October 26, 2014 at 2:10 pm

    An interesting dish, Lisa, must look out for that book - I love Jamaican flavours.

    Reply

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