Green Bay Booyah Recipe

This Green Bay Booyah recipe is a loud shout-out to my Wisconsin people!

I'm not from Green Bay, but I did grow up in Waupaca, which is just under an hour away. My sister lived in Green Bay for quite a few years and my Dad had a shop there. And I've eaten a lot of Green Bay Booyah in my time.

Just writing this post and typing up the recipe makes me homesick. I moved from Wisconsin when I was 20 years old and set my sights on Southern CA. I lived there for 16 years and am now in Northern VA.

But as amazing a place as So Cal was for a girl in her twenties, Wisconsin will always have my heart. (Yes, I'm getting a little teary-eyed).

I can always tell if someone I meet is from the midwest. We're almost always down-to-earth, friendly people. People who cherish family and tradition. People who love to Booyah.

What does Booyah mean?

For me (and a lot of midwesterners), Booyah is more than just the name of a recipe. It stands for tradition, being good neighbors, and lots of beer and great times. It means a little hard work for a lot of payoff.

Here's the Wikipedia definition:

"Booyah (also spelled booya) is a thick stew, believed to have originated in Belgium, and made throughout the Upper Midwestern United States. Booyah can require up to two days and multiple cooks to prepare; it is cooked in specially designed "booyah kettles" and usually meant to serve hundreds or even thousands of people. The name can also refer to a social event surrounding the meal."

Booyah can be a noun or a verb. You can make Green Bay Booyah but you can also Booyah. As in, "When are we going to Booyah this year?"

Making Green Bay Booyah is traditionally a two-day event. It can be managed in one day, but you'll have to get up before the crack of dawn to make that happen, and the stew (soup? stoup?) still won't be ready until at least around 5 pm.

You'll know you're at a true Booyah if everyone knows when the stew is done depending on how drunk the chef has gotten. Beer is traditionally consumed through almost the entire booyah-making process, so this is usually pretty accurate!

Who invented Booyah?

There's no clear answer as to who invented Booyah. Some people say it was a school teacher in Green Bay who needed to raise money to buy books for his students. He cooked a huge pot of soup and sold it by the bowl. A journalist asked him what the name of his soup was and the teacher answered "bouillon). When the journalist asked him to spell it, he answered "B-O-O-Y-A-H". That's how it was printed in the paper and what it's been called ever since.

The other well-known claim comes from a native Green Bay resident who says her grandfather made the first kettle of Green Bay Booyah. He was 12 years old and wanted to replicate his mom's chicken soup. So he butchered a chicken and roasted it all night. He decided to forgo her dumplings and used what the family had grown in their garden instead.

What's the main ingredient of a Booyah?

Although there are likely hundreds of variations of Green Bay Booyah recipes in existence, the main ingredient is always the same: roasted chicken. Oxtail and beef are also added, along with the bones for a rich flavor and silky mouthfeel.

Vegetables like peas, carrots, cabbage, rutabaga, potatoes, celery, and onions are also a big component. And it all adds up to the most comforting comfort food you'll ever have.

Green Bay Booyah Recipe - a stovetop version

I realize that for true Booyahers, there is no scaled-down version of this recipe. You either Booyah or you don't.

Still, as sacrilegious as it seems even to me, it's been far too long since I'd had any, so I decided to create a recipe I could make in my kitchen. It still takes time to make, but it's truly a labor of love and well worth the effort.

Besides, if the well-known Green Bay restaurant Kroll's can serve it on their menu, I figure I can, too.

Continue to Content

Green Bay Booyah Recipe

Yield: 12 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Once you've had Green Bay Booyah, you'll be making this feed-a-crowd recipe every fall and winter. You can also scale the recipe up to as many servings as you like, pick up a Booyah kettle and throw a traditional Booyah!

4.6 Stars (50 Reviews)

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ghee or canola oil, divided
• 3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs
• 3 pounds bone-in beef short ribs
• 1 pound pork shoulder
• 9 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 large carrots, chopped
• 4 cups shredded green cabbage
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained (or regular diced tomatoes)
• ½ medium rutabaga (approximately ¾ pound), peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 pound red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1–2 teaspoons coarse salt, or to taste
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste

Instructions

1. Sauté the vegetables: Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons of ghee or canola oil, followed by the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook for approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.
2. Brown the meat: Increase the heat to medium-high and add the remaining tablespoon of ghee or oil. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, brown the chicken thighs, beef short ribs, and pork shoulder on all sides. Transfer each batch to a plate as it finishes. Browning adds extra flavor, but you can skip this step for a more traditional preparation.
3. Simmer the meat: Return all the meat and any accumulated juices to the Dutch oven. Add the chicken broth, whole garlic cloves, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer gently for approximately 2 hours, or until the meat is tender and easily pulls away from the bones.
4. Shred the meat: Carefully remove the meat from the pot and let it cool slightly until safe to handle. Discard the bones, skin, and excess fat. Shred or cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.
5. Add the vegetables: Remove and discard the garlic cloves and bay leaves. Return the shredded meat and sautéed onion, celery, and carrot mixture to the pot. Add the cabbage, diced tomatoes with their juices, rutabaga, and potatoes. Stir to combine.
6. Continue simmering: Bring the stew back to a gentle simmer and cook for approximately 30 minutes, or until the potatoes and rutabaga are fork-tender.
7. Add the peas: Stir in the frozen peas and cook for another 2–3 minutes, until heated through.
8. Season and serve: Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt, the black pepper, and the freshly squeezed lemon juice. Taste and adjust with additional salt, pepper, or lemon juice as needed. Remove from heat and serve hot.

Notes

• This is a large-batch recipe. Use a Dutch oven large enough to accommodate the meat, broth, and vegetables without overcrowding. If your pot isn't large enough, divide the recipe between two pots.

• Cook the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. The beef short ribs and pork shoulder should be fork-tender and easy to pull apart before removing the bones and shredding the meat. If necessary, continue simmering until the meat reaches the desired tenderness.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 797Total Fat: 52gSaturated Fat: 19gUnsaturated Fat: 32gCholesterol: 295mgSodium: 1042mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 5gSugar: 7gProtein: 69g

This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix.

Looking for more hearty soup recipes?

• Lobster Bisque with Old Bay Oyster Crackers
• Lentil Soup Recipe with Parmesan and Smoked Sausage
• Chicken Tortilla Soup with Hatch Chiles
• Loaded Potato Soup (super simple, no need to peel or even drain your potatoes!)
• Avgolemono Soup
• 6-Ingredient Italian Sausage Stew

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Kristy Bernardo

Kristy Bernardo is a recipe developer, five-time cookbook author, and founder of The Wicked Noodle. A former personal chef and cooking instructor with Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park) boot-camp training and IACP membership, she creates approachable home-cooked recipes.

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