Wisconsin Booyah Is the Stew That Will Keep You Warm All Winter Long

It’s usually made in 50-serving batches, but my recipe scales it down for home cooks.

By
Ivy Manning
Ivy Manning
Ivy Manning
Ivy Manning is the author of 10 cookbooks including the best seller Instant Pot Miracle 6 Ingredients or Less. She has 2 decades of experience teaching cooking classes and writing articles for magazines and online outlets including Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, Better Homes and Gardens, Simply Recipes, and many others. 
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Published February 02, 2026
Ivy Manning
A pot of hearty stew containing assorted vegetables shredded meat and a broth with a ladle resting in the pot

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

The first time I had booyah I was geared up to go to a Green Bay Packers game in three layers of thermals, a down coat, hand warmers fitted into mittens, and two hats. With the mercury dipping towards the low teens, I questioned the wisdom of hanging around outdoors at a tailgate party hours before the game. But my dad knew a guy who was “doing a booyah,” that he promised would make all the shivering worth it. He was right.

Dad’s friend lived near Lambeau Field and a few times a year he made a giant cauldron of chicken and vegetable stew in his backyard for 50 or so of his closest friends. The steaming hot soup-meets-stew called booyah had an incredibly rich, meaty broth and tons of vegetables, and was served in giant thrift store coffee mugs with oyster crackers on top.

Over the years I’ve tried booyah at church picnics, Halloween fêtes, dive bars, a kegger in college, and at home. I don’t feed 50 people often, so I tinkered and tested until I arrived at a small-batch booyah that you can whip up in the comfort of your home. It’s ideal for chilly nights when it’s dark by 4 p.m. and you need a steaming bowl of protein-rich goodness.

What is Booyah?

There are as many recipes for and theories on where booyah comes from as there are booyah chefs (called “booyah kings”). Versions exist in Minnesota and the upper peninsula of Michigan, but the booyah I know and love comes from Green Bay and lower Door County peninsula in Wisconsin. Booyah is thought to have been developed in the mid 19th century by Walloons, immigrants from a region of what is now Belgium with their own language and customs.

Booyah is traditionally made in giant cauldrons or purpose-made kettles and cooked over wood or propane fires. It’s served at tailgate parties, church functions, fundraisers, and harvest festivals. Booyah is so beloved in the area that it’s a permanent fixture at restaurants like The Booyah Shed, The Rite Place, and Kroll’s West.

A bowl of soup containing meat vegetables and broth with a spoon

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Key Ingredients In Booyah

Bone-in chicken is always used as the base, with beef and sometimes pork added. Some booyah cooks use boneless chuck or pork shoulder for ease. I prefer bone-in cuts like oxtail, meaty beef bones, or short ribs, which give the soup a richer consistency and flavor. Some families add a smoked turkey drumstick or ham hock to replicate the flavor of cooking over a hardwood fire.

Booyah is traditionally served as part of Kermis, the autumn harvest festival, so seasonal fall veggies like carrots, potatoes, cabbage, green beans, yellow wax beans, and tomatoes star in the stew. Modern cooks often add frozen veggies like corn and peas for convenience.

The seasonings in booyah are always very simple and every booyah cook adds their own family secrets. I opt for poultry seasoning as the sage and black pepper add to the cozy fall feels of the soup. There is room for creativity, but the flavor of booyah is all about the rich meaty broth and fresh vegetables.

Tips for Making Booyah

  • Once the meat is added back to the stew towards the end of cooking, be careful not to boil it vigorously. This can cause the chicken to become stringy and tough.
  • To make this in one day, after straining the broth, use a gravy separator to remove as much of the liquid fat from the broth as possible. Proceed as directed.
  • The finished soup can be held over very low heat or transferred to a slow cooker and held on warm for hours, so it’s perfect for tailgating and watch parties.
  • Booyah tastes even better two to three days after making it, so look forward to leftovers!
Bowls of Wisconsin booyah stew with vegetables and meat

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

More Meaty Stews To Warm You Up

Small-Batch Wisconsin Booyah

Prep Time 45 mins
Cook Time 2 hrs 45 mins
Broth Chilling Time 4 hrs
Total Time 7 hrs 30 mins
Servings 8 to 12 servings
Yield 4 quarts
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Ingredients

  • 2 pounds oxtails, meaty soup bones, or bone-in short ribs

  • 2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

  • 2 teaspoons salt

  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

  • 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided

  • 1 large yellow onion, one half cut into quarters, the other half chopped

  • 4 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon roasted chicken base

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 4 large carrots, cut into 1/2-inch slices

  • 4 celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch slices

  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juice

  • 10 ounces gold or red new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice

  • 2 cups shredded green cabbage, roughly chopped into shorter shreds

  • 1 cup chopped green beans or frozen peas

  • Oyster crackers, for serving

Method

  1. Brown the meat:

    Season the oxtails and chicken with the salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the oxtails and brown on all sides, 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

    Add the chicken, skin-side down and cook until browned, 8 minutes. Turn and brown the second side, 5 minutes. Transfer to the plate with the oxtails.

  2. Make the broth:

    Pour off the fat in the pan but leave the brown bits stuck to the bottom. Return the oxtails and any accumulated juices on the plate to the pot (you’ll add the chicken later). Add 8 cups of water, the quartered onion, chicken broth base, poultry seasoning, and bay leaf. Bring to a vigorous simmer over high heat.

    Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer gently for 1 hour. Add the browned chicken and cook until the meat is very tender (a fork will twist easily when inserted into the oxtail meat), about 1 hour longer.

  3. Shred the meat and strain the broth:

    Transfer the oxtails and chicken to a plate and refrigerate until cool enough to handle, 30 minutes. Meanwhile, strain the broth through a fine strainer into a large bowl, discarding any solids. 


    Pull the meat from the oxtails, and discard the fat and bones. Shred the chicken into large chunks, discarding the skin and bones. Refrigerate the meat and broth separately once they have cooled, preferably overnight but at least until the fat that floats to the top of the broth has solidified, 4 hours.

  4. Sauté the aromatics:

    Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots, and celery and sauté until the onions are translucent, 5 minutes.

  5. Simmer the soup:

    Add the meat broth, tomatoes with juice, and potatoes and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are just tender when pierced with a fork, 20 to 25 minutes.

  6. Add the meat and remaining vegetables:

    Add the beef and chicken meat, cabbage, and green beans or peas and cook on low heat, stirring gently once or twice, until the green beans are tender, 10 minutes. Do not simmer vigorously or stir too much or the chicken will fall apart and get stringy. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and serve with oyster crackers.

    Cool leftovers completely and then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost completely in the refrigerator and reheat gently on the stove over low heat or in the microwave until piping hot.

    Love the recipe? Leave us stars and a comment below!

    Three bowls of stew with vegetables and meat served in bowls with spoons alongside a pot

    Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
283 Calories
15g Fat
12g Carbs
25g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories 283
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g 20%
Saturated Fat 5g 24%
Cholesterol 107mg 36%
Sodium 698mg 30%
Total Carbohydrate 12g 4%
Dietary Fiber 3g 11%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 25g
Vitamin C 19mg 93%
Calcium 63mg 5%
Iron 2mg 11%
Potassium 631mg 13%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.