Flavors · Virgínia

Brunswick stew

Thick stew of chicken, lima beans, corn and tomato, cooked for hours in iron pots. The Virginia General Assembly points to Brunswick County as the place of origin, in a long-standing dispute with Georgia.

Traditional dish from Virgínia

Updated October 2026

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Brunswick stew — Virgínia, the United States — Brunswick stew

Brunswick stew — Virgínia, the United States

Brunswick stew is a thick stew, cooked for hours and stirred constantly in large iron pots. The base is chicken, lima beans (butter beans), corn and tomato, with potato, onion and seasonings. The thicker it is, the better: in competitions, density is one of the judges’ criteria.

In Virginia, local tradition says the dish was born in 1828 in Brunswick County in the southern part of the state. During a hunt with Creed Haskins, then a state legislator, the cook Jimmy Matthews, an enslaved man, prepared a squirrel stew with butter, bacon, onion and day-old bread. A 1997 marker from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources records that version.

Over time, chicken and vegetables replaced squirrel. In 1988 the Virginia General Assembly recognized Brunswick County as the original home of Brunswick stew, and in 2002 it created Brunswick Stew Day, celebrated each January in the Capitol grounds in Richmond with an iron pot of about 300 liters.

The city of Brunswick in Georgia also claims the origin, displaying an 1898 pot in the region and with a legislative proclamation from its state. Some attribute the stew to Indigenous peoples before the colonies. The dispute continues.

In Brunswick County, an October festival brings together teams competing for the best stew, and the winner mans the pot at Brunswick Stew Day in Richmond.

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Where it comes from

Virgínia
The Virginia General Assembly points to Brunswick County in the southern part of the state as the place of origin.

Ingredients

Chicken, lima beans (butter beans), corn, tomato, potato, onion and seasonings; formerly squirrel. Some recipes add other meats.

How it is eaten

Very hot, in a bowl, eaten with a spoon, often as a barbecue side or with bread.

When it is eaten

Community events, the October festival in Brunswick County and Brunswick Stew Day in January in Richmond.

Your questions

Questions about Brunswick stew

What goes in Brunswick stew?

Chicken, lima beans, corn, tomato, potato and onion, cooked for hours until thickened. The old recipe used squirrel.

Is Brunswick stew from Virginia or Georgia?

Both states claim the origin. Virginia points to Brunswick County in 1828; the city of Brunswick in Georgia displays an 1898 pot.

What is Brunswick Stew Day?

A day created by the Virginia General Assembly in 2002 and celebrated in January on the Capitol grounds in Richmond, with stew made in a large iron pot.

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