Freezer-Batch Brunswick Stew with Chicken and Smoked Sausage

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A thick, smoky tomato-based Southern stew loaded with shredded chicken, browned smoked sausage, corn and butter beans. It's built specifically to freeze well — no cream, no potatoes, nothing that turns grainy or watery — so it thaws and reheats tasting like the day you made it. One pot makes eight servings, which means dinner tonight and three more dinners banked in the freezer.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 12 oz smoked sausage or kielbasa, sliced into half-moons
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 4 cups cooked shredded chicken (about 1 rotisserie chicken)
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 2 cups frozen baby lima beans (butter beans)
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high. Add the sliced smoked sausage and brown, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 6 minutes until the edges are dark and crisp.
2. Add the diced onion and cook 5 minutes until softened, scraping up the browned bits. Stir in the smoked paprika and Worcestershire sauce and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, chicken broth and barbecue sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, to concentrate the flavor.
4. Stir in the shredded chicken, frozen corn and lima beans. Return to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered 15 to 20 minutes, until the beans are tender and the stew is thick enough that a spoon leaves a brief trail. Season with the salt and plenty of black pepper.
5. Cool the stew fast so it freezes cleanly: set the pot in a sink of ice water and stir every few minutes until it is room temperature, about 20 minutes. Serve what you want tonight.
6. Ladle the rest into freezer bags or rigid containers in 2-serving portions, leaving 1 inch of headspace for expansion. Press bags flat, seal, label with the date, and freeze up to 3 months.
7. To reheat from frozen, tip a block of stew into a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of water, cover, and warm over medium-low for 15 to 20 minutes, breaking it up and stirring often, until steaming hot (165°F). From thawed (overnight in the fridge), it takes 8 to 10 minutes. In the microwave, cover and heat on 50% power for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring twice.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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