Traditional Wisconsin Booyah
It might have a funny name, but this traditional Wisconsin booyah recipe is a scaled down version of the original, made with chicken and beef. It’s hearty, filling and perfect for a small crowd. Serve it with oyster crackers for an authentic experience. Makes about 8 quarts.
What is traditional Wisconsin booyah?
I’m super excited about this booyah recipe. It’s third recipe in my new Supper Clubs series, in which I’m sharing traditional Wisconsin recipes without dairy.
Eventually I’ll get to cheese curds, but for now, this naturally dairy free booyah will keep your warm for the rest of the long, frozen-tundra winter.
It’s a slow-cooked – not in an actual slow cooker, but actually cooked slowly – meat and vegetable soup that’s usually made in a large vat, over an open fire.
Booyah is especially common around the Green Bay area, where it’s served at church picnics, backyard parties and school fundraisers. There are a few other areas in the Midwest that make it, but it’s not even that common in different regions in Wisconsin.
From what I can tell from my internet research (that’s also backed up by my knowledge of the region), booyah seems to come from Belgian origins.
I may also have gotten its name from the Flemish word for bouillon, but the jury’s out on that fact because there just isn’t enough information out there.
Either way, this is not a quick and easy recipe. It’s healthy. It’s delicious, but booyah is definitely a labor of love.
If you like this recipe, you have to try this pumpkin beer cheese soup, and this buffalo chicken chili and this dairy free clam chowder.
More traditional Wisconsin recipes: brandy old fashioned / relish tray / beer brats / blue moon ice cream / grasshopper pie
Ingredients:
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
- Ingredient – Normally booyah is made with several types of meat. Chicken and beef are the most common, but there are definitely variations using pork and other cuts of meat. I decided to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs and beef stew meat. I got a ton of flavor from the darker, tougher meats, but I skipped the de-boning and chopping steps. You can easily make this with only chicken, or only beef, just double the amount of one and omit the other.
- Ingredient – There are a ton of vegetables in traditional booyah. From a mirepoix to frozen corn and peas, there are all sorts of variations out there, but I think the one ingredient that helps give booyah it’s distinctive flavor is cabbage. To cut down on prep time, I only chopped the onion, carrot and celery. I even used coleslaw mix for my cabbage and saved a ton of time.
The following is a detailed overview of the recipe steps with added tips and tricks for recipe success. For a simplified and printable version, including ingredient amounts and more formal instructions, see the recipe card below.
How do you make booyah?
Normally, booyah is made in giant vats over an outdoor fire, but that’s a little unrealistic for us. So we’re doing it on the stovetop in a large stockpot.
To make this recipe, you will need at least an 8-quart pot, and even that will be pretty full. I would even recommend a 10-quart stockpot, if you have the option. If you don’t have a pot this large, you could cut the recipe in half, just to be safe.
Brown the meat. Heat your pot to medium-high. Add the olive oil, both of your booyah meats, and onion. Brown the meat as well as you can. The pot will be crowded, so don’t worry if you miss some spots.
Simmer the meat. Add salt & pepper with 4 cups of water to the pot. Put the cover on and bring it to a boil (high heat). Reduce the heat to low and simmer, for 2 hours. Don’t remove the cover, and don’t bother stirring it.
It will do all the work itself. When you stir the booyah after two hours of simmering, the meat should easily shred and break up on it’s own. If you need to give it a little help, now is the time to do it.
Simmer a little longer. After two hours, remove the cover and add the remaining ingredients. Put the cover back on and simmer for another 2 hours.
Serve with oyster crackers. Remove the bay leaves and serve the soup with oyster crackers.
More soup favorites. minestrone soup / asparagus soup / beef barley soup / easy chicken tortilla soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs boneless, skinless
- 1 pound beef stew meat
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
- 1 heaping tablespoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 4 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups sliced celery
- 1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
- 2 – 2 1/2 pounds chopped potatoes
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups frozen cut green beans
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 4 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
- Oyster crackers for serving
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, heat olive oil to medium-high. Add chicken, stew meat, and onion. Let the meat brown, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
- Add salt, pepper and water. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
- Cover the pot and reduce heat. Simmer for two hours. Break up/shred meat, if needed.
- Add celery, carrots, potato, cabbage, tomatoes, frozen vegetables, bay leaves, additional water, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce
- Cover pot and simmer for an additional two hours.
- Remove bay leaves before serving with oyster crackers.
Can you freeze this soup with cabbage in it?
This recipe is missing how much additional water to add
my recipe says two cups twice, added early on and towards the end.
yes it does 4 cups
Can I use chicken broth instead of water?
Yes. I do for all 8 cups and it adds some flavor.
Hi!! What size can of tomatoes do you use?
Just a regular size can of tomatoes. I believe they were 15 oz cans.
What type of potato do you suggest for this soup?
We normally use russet potatoes, but I think you could also use Yukon gold or red potatoes as well.
The phrase “super excited” is soooo overused. Consult a Thesaurus and find some other word to convey your enthusiasm.
I was super excited when I read your comment. So super excited that I went to the blog post to see how many times the phrase super excited was used. I am super excited to let you know it was, in fact, used only once. Have a super exciting day!
BEST reply EVER!!! I’m super excited to try this recipe!!!! 🙂
I’m soooo sorry you’re soooo unhappy that you feel the need to spread it around. Thesaurus doesn’t need to be capitalized, unless you are referring to a specific thesaurus, e.g., Roget’s Thesaurus. As the French say, “Soyez prudent lorsque vous jetez de la merde que vous n’y entrez pas.”
Some people are just super excited to try to make people to be as mean and miserable as they are. I on the other hand are extremely super excited to try this recipe that you are so super excited about!
Having grown up in Green Bay and living there for forty years I cannot tell you how much I miss eating good boo yah in the summer. Church picnics is where you find the best. I am going to try this recipe here in North Carolina just to see how my neighbors respond . I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Oh that’s great to hear! I hope you love it, and I’d love to hear what you think after you try it!
Oh my. I’ll use this to refresh my boooooya memory banks. I appreciate the help, thank you very much. This is Green Bay. Love ya all!
Being Flemish is one of the 2 official languages of Belgium, the other being French, with at least 55% or more speaking Flemish, it’d be no surprise in word origin. The Walonia community runs along southern Belgium speaking Waloon, much like southern Door County once spoke it in the Namur area. Can you tell I’ve got some Belgian in me?
However Booyah has been found in Hungary, & both sides of my family are heavily immigrants from across Europe.
My husband has experienced fish boils, but not yet Booyah, guess after 30+ years he finally should.
You don’t visit Green Bay and not go to Krolls or The Rite Place and get some booyah, and a brandy old fashioned! I am from there and my brother built a cooker out of a 55 gallon drum with a stainless steel 20 gallon or so vat for cooking. My family used to have neighborhood parties every summer when I was growing up. Great times. This recipe is pretty close to his (except he stews whole chickens and an ox tail, and debones the chickens). He usually would cook overnight, and the party starts at noon. I modified this recipe to make it in ~2hrs. I added beef and chicken bone broth (32oz each), and 4 beef and chicken bouillon cubes, since I did not stew any bones. Our booyah had a tangy tomato flavor, I added 1/2 small can of tomato paste, my brother would add tomato juice to his vat. Once the beef was browned and the chicken shredded, I just tossed in all ingredients and added enough water to submerge it (and hopefully fit my 8qt pot!). Brought to hard boil, then simmer slow roll for 2 hrs or so – when the potatoes are soft it’s good to go! I wish I could add some pics of my brother’s kettle!
Thanks for sharing your family’s version! I love hearing how other people make theirs booyah, and I find it so fascinating that everyone makes it that same but different. 🙂
My family is Flemish, from the Green Bay area, since before the Republican Party. My mother’s family is Walloon and Luxembourgeoisie. My father always included elk and venison among ‘th’ingrediments’.
I’m curious if you even tried this recipe before giving it a 3 star rating?