This super flavorful Ethiopian Chicken Stew with bell pepper and baby spinach will fill your house with an amazing aroma as the delicious sauce simmers on the stove top. One bite of the tender flavorful berbere-spiced chicken and you will be in love with this dish!
Serve over your favorite rice or grain or with freshly made injera bread.
Soooo, you know that house we put an offer on that I mentioned in my other post? The inspection found so many problems with the house that I don't even know how that house is still standing. So we are continuing our house search. Alas.
This delicious Ethiopian Chicken Stew was a good way to drown our house sorrows!
Ethiopian food is one of my favorite cuisines because of its hearty, delicious spicy flavors, so I wanted to cook something that I find very comforting. This Ethiopian Chicken Stew is very flavorful with a lovely heat coming from the Ethiopian spice mixture called berbere.
Berbere is pretty spicy, so definitely start on the conservative side and add just a little bit. You can always stir more in later as the stew is cooking!
More ethnic spiced chicken recipes: Dukkah Chicken Breast
Why you should make this stew
It is so nice to have a comforting, aromatic dish simmering on the stove during the colder weather. This stew is tasty, hearty, healthy, and super easy to make. It's spicy, in a warming and comforting way.
This chicken stew requires prepping just a small handful of ingredients and then simmers on the stove for almost an hour as the house fills with a wonderful aroma.
Related recipe: 25 Minute Chickpea Chorizo Stew
Is this an authentic Ethiopian chicken recipe?
Not exactly. This is "Ethiopian-inspired." It is very similar to the kinds of spicy stewed meats you get at an Ethiopian restaurant.
Related recipe: Beef Stew
What to serve with this chicken stew:
In a restaurant, Ethiopian stews would typically be served over injera bread, which is a type of thin pancake / crepe made from fermented teff flour. The injera bread soaks up the saucy goodness and is absolutely wonderful. Here is a good recipe for injera.
But if you don't want to make injera and can't find any Ethiopian restaurants around you to pick some up, just serve as you would any stew:
- on its own
- over rice
- over quinoa
- over amaranth (this is how we ate it!)
To make this Ethiopian-inspired chicken stew...
You start by sauteing diced onion and grated ginger in some butter. You can certainly use olive oil instead if you want to go a bit healthier.
Then you add the chicken, potatoes, and berbere seasoning and stir everything together to coat all the ingredients with seasoning.
Then you add chicken broth and let the whole thing simmer until the chicken is so tender it falls apart and the broth thickens into a stew.
At this point, you have the option of adding diced bell pepper and baby spinach. I like to add this at the end to give this Ethiopian chicken stew more nutrients and vitamins.
This recipe is pretty amazing because it is a super healthy dinner dish that is the ultimate comfort food, but also super delicious!
Looking for other healthy comfort food recipes? Try these reader favorites:
- Easy chicken mole
- Instant Pot white chicken chili
- Moroccan chicken pumpkin stew
- Chicken and sweet potato soup with black beans
- Honey mustard chicken thighs
- Oven baked BBQ chicken
- Lentil butternut quash soup
- Sweet potato leek soup
- Mozzarella and spinach stuffed chicken with roasted tomatoes and balsamic glaze
- Chicken and peppers skillet
- Sweet and sour cabbage stir fry with pork
Looking for other Ethiopian-inspired recipes? Try these two vegetarian ones.. so healthy and flavorful!
- Ethiopian chickpeas
- Ayib Begomen - Ethiopian spiced cottage cheese over tender, buttery sauteed collard greens
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Ethiopian Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 1 large yellow onion - , diced into ~1/2 inch pieces
- 1 inch piece ginger - , peeled and grated
- 4 tablespoons butter - or olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breast or thighs - , cut into 1 inch pieces (I used breast meat)
- 1 large potato - , diced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 3 teaspoons berbere seasoning - (or less to taste, it's spicy!!)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 large bell pepper - , seeds removed and diced
- 2 handfuls baby spinach - (about 2 oz)
- Optional: cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large soup pot or skillet with high sides (or heat olive oil if using olive oil). Add the diced onion and grated ginger and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add the chicken, diced potato, and berbere seasoning, stir to coat. Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer without a cover for about 40 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced.
- Add the diced bell pepper, stir, and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. Add in the baby spinach, stir, and remove from heat.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and serve over rice, amaranth, quinoa, or bulgur, or with pieces of fresh injera.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.
Laurie Rasor
Friday 23rd of July 2021
Have A Good Day
Amy
Wednesday 20th of November 2019
Hello! I use Penzeys Berbere, and I might be a wimp, but I actually only use about a TEASPOON and a half. This is absolutely delicious. Can you confirm the spice measurement, so my friend and I can decide if we are just spice babies?
Kate
Thursday 21st of November 2019
Oh my gosh, it should totally be 3 teaspoons! I am so sorry! I updated the recipe. But yea even 3 teaspoons can be pretty spicy. Use half at first. You can always stir more in at the end (give it a taste AFTER the chicken is fully cooked lol), and then add paprika or berbere depending on if you want more flavor or spice.
You're not spice babies!
Judith
Monday 8th of April 2019
You can find any spices needed at Penzey’s.com. Or visit one of their three stores in Minneapolis-St Paul. Lovely berbere and anything else you can think of.
Christine
Wednesday 7th of December 2016
Hi Kate - I wanted to let you know that I made this dish tonight and it was awesome! I love Ethiopian food and it's a little hard to find in small town Minnesota. I had purchased some berbere from a food coop awhile ago and was happy to use it!
Lucy @ Globe Scoffers
Friday 1st of July 2016
This looks delicious!
Kate
Monday 4th of July 2016
Thank you, Lucy!