Chicken Bog Recipe

We're cooking up a big pot of Carolina comfort food in the Chili Pepper Madness kitchen today, my friends.

Chicken bog is one of those dishes that sounds strange until you taste it, and then you get exactly why an entire South Carolina town throws a festival for it every October. Pulled chicken, smoked sausage, and rice, all of it simmered together in a rich broth until the rice goes soft and creamy and the whole pot smells like somebody's grandmother has been cooking all day long.

I make my broth from a whole chicken for old school, traditional flavor, and it makes a big difference in the final dish. If you're short on time, I've included a shortcut using rotisserie chicken and store bought stock that still tastes terrific. Both versions are in the recipe card.

This makes a lot of food, which is the whole point. The dish was created as a way to feed farm crews and church suppers and whole neighborhoods, so it scales beautifully and the leftovers reheat better than most.

Let's talk about how to make chicken bog, shall we?

What is Chicken Bog?

Chicken bog is a South Carolina Lowcountry one-pot dish of pulled chicken, smoked sausage, and rice cooked together in seasoned chicken broth until the rice is soft and soupy. It comes from Horry County in the northeast corner of the state, and it's the signature dish of the Pee Dee region.

The name refers to the texture. The chicken sits "bogged down" in broth and loose rice, wetter than a pilaf and looser than a casserole. Some people say the name comes from the low, swampy ground where the dish took hold.

Traditional bog keeps the ingredient list short - chicken, smoked sausage, rice, onion, salt, and a heavy hand with black pepper. It's essentially a chicken and rice soup at heart, though shares similarities to other regional rice dishes, like jambalaya, chicken perloo or perlo, pilaf, and even Italian risotto.

Where Chicken Bog Comes From

Chicken bog is Horry County food, plain and simple. The dish traces back to the farm kitchens and plantation cookfires of northeastern South Carolina, where cooks simmered chicken, sausage, and rice together in huge black iron kettles over open fire.

It was created to feed crowds. Tobacco crews, harvest hands, church gatherings, political rallies. South Carolina was the country's leading rice producer from the 1700s until the Civil War. Rice was the cheap, and bog was the perfect way to use the abundance.

The small town of Loris, South Carolina claims it as their own, and there is no argument. Since 1979, Loris has hosted the annual Bog-Off Festival on the third Saturday in October, a cooking competition that has grown into one of the biggest events on the Grand Strand. In 2023, Horry County put up a historical marker in front of the Loris Library declaring the area the home of chicken bog.

If you want the full Carolina experience, this is the dish.

Chicken Bog vs. Perlo vs. Jambalaya

These three dishes are fairly similar, and people mix them up all the time. Here's how they differ.

Chicken bog is the wettest of the three. The rice absorbs a lot of broth but stays loose and a little soupy, closer to a thick porridge than a rice pilaf. Chicken and smoked sausage, minimal seasoning, plenty of black pepper.

Chicken perlo (also spelled perloo, perleau, or pilau) is a bit drier, more common in Georgetown County. Same core ingredients, but the rice is cooked up separately and fluffy. If you've made bog and it came out too dry, you made perlo.

Jambalaya is Louisiana, not Carolina. It usually includes tomato in the Creole version, incorporates the trinity of onion, celery, and bell pepper, and gets seasoned hard with cayenne, thyme, and paprika. Jambalaya is spicy by design. Bog is peppery, not hot.

I've got a Jambalaya recipe if you'd like to compare, or this more traditional jambalaya recipe without tomato.

How Spicy is Chicken Bog? (And How to Spice it Up)

Traditional chicken bog is not a hot dish, but it is a peppery one. Black pepper is the signature seasoning here. I use a full teaspoon of coarse ground and often more.

That said, this is Chili Pepper Madness, and there's plenty of room to bring a touch of heat to make it your own. Here are my recommendations:

• Use a hot andouille instead of a mild smoked sausage. This is the easiest change and the most authentic, since sausage is a big part of the dish regardless.
• Add chilies at the base. Cook a chopped jalapeño or serrano along with the onion and bell peppers.
• Stir a teaspoon of cayenne stirred in with the paprika. It will add a nice warmth in the background.
• Serve hot sauce at the table. A vinegary Carolina-style hot sauce is traditional, and it lets everybody season their own bowl.

How to Make Chicken Bog

MAKE THE CHICKEN BROTH

Make a homemade chicken broth by adding the chicken to a large stock pot with vegetables (onion, celery, carrot, leek, and garlic), herbs and spices (parsley, thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns), and just enough water to cover it.

Boil, then simmer the whole pot to cook the chicken and develop the broth.

Shred the meat from the chicken and throw away the bones, then strain the chicken broth.

FOR THE CHICKEN BOG

Heat the oil in the same large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and cook the onion and peppers, then the garlic, paprika, and andouille.

Stir in the rice for a minute or so to lightly brown.

Stir in some of the chicken stock, the shredded chicken, and salt and pepper to taste. Keep extra chicken broth on hand as needed.

Simmer the pot for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the rice is cooked through.

Stir the Chicken bog to separate any rice. For wetter or soupier rice, stir in extra chicken stock until you reach a consistency you prefer.

Serve it into bowls with fresh chopped parsley or green onions and enjoy.

Boom! Done! Your chicken bog is ready to serve. Easy enough to make, isn't it? Doesn't it look wonderful? All that chicken and rice, so much flavor. I'm ready to dig into a bowl! The perfect one pot meal!

Slow Cooker Chicken Bog

There is one rule when making chicken bog in the crockpot: the rice goes in at the end. It will turn to mush if you add it at the start.

• Brown the sliced andouille in a skillet, then add it to the slow cooker with the scrapings.
• Add bone-in chicken thighs or leg quarters, chopped onion, bell pepper, garlic, paprika, bay leaf, salt, and plenty of black pepper. Pour in 4 cups chicken broth.
• Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours, or HIGH for 3 hours, until the chicken pulls apart easily. Set aside.
• Remove the chicken, shred it, and discard the bones and skin.
• Stir in 2 cups rinsed long grain rice and 1 more cup of broth. Cook on HIGH for 45-60 minutes, until the rice is tender.
• Return the shredded chicken, stir, and let it sit 10 minutes off the heat. Finish with parsley or green onion.

Serving Chicken Bog

You can serve this as a main rice dish, almost like a risotto, or loose and soupy like a chicken and rice soup. Just adjust the broth while you're plating.

The traditional Carolina plate is bog with snap beans, soft white dinner rolls, and sweet tea or Pepsi.

Other things that go beautifully with it:

• Buttermilk biscuits or drop biscuits for sopping up the broth
• Collard greens or turnip greens
• Coleslaw for something cold and crunchy against all that richness
• Cornbread, of course
• Hot sauce and chopped green onions on the table so everybody can finish their own bowl

Storage & Leftovers

Chicken bog will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator in a sealed container. The rice keeps absorbing liquid as it sits, so it firms up considerably. Loosen it with a little broth when you reheat.

Can you freeze chicken bog? Yes, for 2-3 months in a sealed container. The rice softens some, so I add a splash of fresh broth when reheating to bring it back. Reheat gently on the stove top to enjoy again.

That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy this chicken bog recipe. Let me know if you make it. I'd love to hear how it turned out for you, and if you decided to spice it up!

More Southern Rice Dishes You'll Love

• Jambalaya
• Jambalaya Soup
• Dirty Rice
• Red Beans and Rice

More Southern One-Pot Comfort Food

• Booyah
• Brunswick Stew
• Burgoo
• Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
• Alabama Swamp Soup
• She Crab Soup

Chicken Bog FAQ

What kind of rice is best for chicken bog?

Long grain white rice is the standard, and Carolina Gold is the traditional choice if you can find it. Medium grain works. Arborio makes a creamier, risotto-style bog. Brown rice works but needs more liquid and about twice the cooking time.

Can I make chicken bog with yellow rice?

Yes, and plenty of Carolina cooks do. A packaged yellow rice mix will add turmeric or saffron color and its own seasoning, so cut back on your salt and skip the bouillon cube. It's not traditional but it tastes great.

Can I use rotisserie chicken?

Absolutely, and it's a great quick version. Pull the meat, use good store bought stock, and skip straight to the second half of the recipe. Toss the carcass in the pot with the stock for 20 minutes first if you want extra body.

Is chicken bog spicy?

Not traditionally. It's heavily peppered with black pepper but not hot. See the heat section above for how to spice it up if you want to.