Liberian Chicken Gravy Recipe (2024)

I made several modifications: I used boneless skinless thighs, Better than Bouillon paste instead of the bouillon cube and to make the stock, and cooked for 25 minutes in a 400 degree oven. That said, it was fantastic. Heat with one habanero was perfect. I used 4 thighs which was a little skimpy: will use more next time.

I followed the recipe precisely and it came out bland and very oily. You need to discard most of the chicken fat before cooking the onion mixture. My habaneros were starting to get soft so they may have lost their punch, but there wasn’t enough of the seasoning mix to really coat the chicken. Next time I want spicy chicken, I will make a piri piri recipe instead.

Re @Adele M — The “MSG MYTH” has been debunked. Unless you happen to have an actual allergy or serious sensitivity to it, MSG is now shown to be fine in moderation, like most spices and flavorings. Doesn’t have long-term effects either. Eaten by spoonful on its own, may cause a mild headache, but definitely not the scary thing I was raised to believe. Read up, free yourself! :) (But as I said, if you have a particular sensitivity, avoid it.) Also wanted to let other readers know.

For the record, Liberians love oily, spicy food. The “base” for most Liberian recipes is pounded hot pepper (sometimes with onion), Maggi cube (or Vita), and some kind of oil - yellow oil, red oil (palm oil), and/or rendered fat from meat or poultry. For this recipe (which is very similar to the classic Liberian Chicken that you can order at the Royal Grand Hotel in Liberia’s capitol, Monrovia), I doubled the habañeros, minced (not blended) the veggies, and used leg quarters. Came out great!

I just finished preparing and eating this. FOUR stars. The only change was I used jalapeño peppers rather than habaneros. Why? I didn’t read the recipe closely enough and bought the jalapeños. My friends tell me that I like spicy food. Could this have been spicier? Yes. Did it need to be spicier? No.

I like it hot but husband doesn't so I added a tin of coconut milk first time I made it - about 20 minutes before the end. I know it completely changes the dish but we liked it so much that it has become standard. I also add fresh tomatoes if I have some that need using. Family now demand this whenever they visit. Oh and sometimes I use a whole free-range chicken (roasted for about 40 minutes in the oven before adding to the other ingredients and jointing before serving).

I have a question, can this be done on stove top or all needs to be "baked?" It sounds delish I can't wait to try!

Didn't have tomato paste so used a can of diced tomatoes. Didn't have habanero so used a single arbol chili. No bullion cube either. Tripled the onion powder, garlic, cayenne. Cooked it down a bit before putting in the oven, had a nice bit of sauce left at the end. Very good. Crispy bits on the chicken, a little spicy, lots of flavor.

I might replace the habeneros and tomato paste with about 4 T sambal oelek

Really delicious. Used one Jamaican hot pepper and put 4 table spoons of agave syrup in the sauce with cut-up potatoes. Will definitely cook again!

Do not keep for 5 minutes on high. Maybe medium high.

This was excellent. The only modifications I made were: 1) double the spice amounts in Step 1 for the rub; 2) only used 1 habanero instead of 2 as stated in the recipe. This had excellent flavor and spice/heat. I think 2 habaneros would have been too much, even for heat lovers like us. Fantastic.

Very good! I used scotch bonnet instead of habanero pepper. I found this gave it a very unique flavour, pretty spicy but so good.

delicious! I used 6 bone-in thighs, double the amount of spice (as others recommended), and 50% more paste and broth. Seeded and deveined the habaneros to reduce the heat. Do not have 'seasoned salt' with MSG, so added 1/2 tsp of MSG powder, and 1/2 tsp of salt instead.

For the record, Liberians love oily, spicy food. The “base” for most Liberian recipes is pounded hot pepper (sometimes with onion), Maggi cube (or Vita), and some kind of oil - yellow oil, red oil (palm oil), and/or rendered fat from meat or poultry. For this recipe (which is very similar to the classic Liberian Chicken that you can order at the Royal Grand Hotel in Liberia’s capitol, Monrovia), I doubled the habañeros, minced (not blended) the veggies, and used leg quarters. Came out great!

I made this per the recipe. I moved it into my FA Good category. Make it. It’s good. If you don’t like spicy, omit the habaneros, or only use one.

I doubled the spice rub for four large bone-in chicken thighs. Dish turned out perfect—great spice and flavor.

For 6 large thighs, doubled the quantity of spice rub and used it all. Fiery hot: the second habanero was probably superfluous -- if I make this again I will omit it, or at least remove the seeds. That said, an interesting dish.

This would also be good with kielbasa sausage