Cuban Chicken Fricassee (Fricase de Pollo)

Cuban Chicken Fricassee

Cuban chicken fricassee or Fricase de Pollo is a hearty chicken stew cooked in a robust tomato sauce. This typical Cuban dish is easy and inexpensive to make and is one of the best Cuban comfort food!

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If you’re looking for a flavorful and easy chicken dish to add to your repertoire, look no further than fricassee.

A fricassee is a classic French dish that is made with chicken and vegetables. It’s perfect for a quick weeknight meal. This Cuban style chicken fricassee features Latin flavors like cumin and garlic, and it’s sure to please everyone at your table.

This is a decadently rich dish requires meat to be sautéed and simmered before being served with its own sauce. The chicken is soft and flavorful since it is cooked slowly.

This delicious chicken fricassee recipe can also be made in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker in no time.

This fricassee is an affordable meal that is great for a large crowd. It’s quick and inexpensive to cook this hearty winter dish, making it ideal for family gatherings and holiday dinners.

So next time you need a dinner idea, give this delicious fricassee recipe a try!

Why I Love this Recipe

• It is the ultimate comfort food. The chicken falls off the bone and almost melts in your mouth!
• This popular Cuban dish is very easy and beginner friendly.
• It is made with simple and inexpensive ingredients.
• One pot type of dish making it easy to clean up.
• Hearty meal loaded with good ingredients like peas and potatoes.

What is a Fricassee?

A fricassee is essentially a cooking technique that originated in France. The meat is sliced into bits and pan-fried until golden brown. It is then slow-cooked in a sauce prepared with its own stock.

Basically, French comfort food at its finest.

Fricassee is popular around the globe. Many countries have embraced and modified this technique of cooking to accommodate local products and palates.

Fricassee is a technique or a cooking method and not a recipe. So it is used to make a variety of meats, including veal, lamb, rabbit, fish, and shellfish. In vegetarian fricassee meals, mushrooms (or other vegetables) replace meat.

Cuban Chicken Fricassee

The Cuban chicken fricassee or “ Fricase de Pollo Cubano ”, is a traditional Cuban meal. It is a type of chicken stew where the dish is cooked until the chicken almost falls off the bone.

Fricase de Pollo is best made with bone-in dark-meat chicken. The dark flesh will not dry out during cooking, and the bone offers a lot of flavor.

Cuban fricassee, unlike conventional French fricassee, is tomato-based and cooked with dry white wine. Dark meat chicken is cooked in a rich tomato based sauce with peas, potatoes and olives.

The Cuban version uses traditional Cuban spices like cumin, garlic, and Sazon Goya.

Main Ingredients and Alternatives

Chicken: Bone-in, dark meat pieces work best. I used skinless, bone-in chicken thighs. You can also use a mix of chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs.

Use what you have! Just keep in mind that if you use chicken breasts, you will have to adjust the cooking time. Also, white meat will not be as moist as dark meat.

Mojo marinade*: It is a citrus marinade made with sour oranges (or sour orange juice), garlic, spices, and olive oil.

Olive oil*: We are not cooking at a very high temperature so olive oil works well. But you can use any other vegetable oil as well.

Spices (Dry seasonings): Salt (we use kosher salt), cumin, oregano, and black pepper. They flavor the fricassee sauce. Some Cuban recipes also add bay leaves.

White Onion, Green bell pepper, tomato sauce*, and Garlic cloves: This is the base of most Cuban dishes. It is added to flavor the sauce or sofrito.

Dry white wine: If you don’t have dry cooking wine, you can use chicken stock. It is used to deglaze the pan.

Pimiento-filled green olives*: This gives the Fricase de Pollo a salty kick.

Sazon goya*: the secret ingredient that enhances the flavor and color of the dish.

Others: Potatoes, Peas, Water

Prep Work

• Dice the onions. Do a small dice, so they mostly dissolve in the sauce.
• Mince the garlic. You can also use garlic powder in its place.
• Gather and measure out the tomato sauce, white wine, water, and olives.
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-2 inch pieces. The potatoes can be prepped now or later. There is a 15-minute window before they go in the fricassee.
• Keep peeled and cut potatoes in a medium bowl covered with cold water if not using right away. This keeps them from browning too quickly. Drain the water before adding them to the pan.

How to Make the Best Chicken Fricassee

Marinate the Chicken

Marinate pieces of chicken thighs in mojo overnight for at least 4 hours or till the next day. Do this in a large bowl or in a large ziplock bag.

Once marinated, remove the skinless chicken pieces from the marinade. Pat dry on paper towels.

Make sure to pat the chicken DRY before adding it to hot oil. If you put them in wet, they will splatter and steam instead of browning. Then place chicken legs on a plate and sprinkle each side with salt.

Brown the Chicken

Heat oil in a large skillet, dutch oven, or pot, over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in batches (about 2-3 minutes per side) then remove from the pan and set aside.

Use another tablespoon of olive oil for the second batch, if the pan is dry. You don’t want the pieces to stick to the pan.

Remove the pot from the heat so that the oil and brown bits on the bottom of the pot do not start to smoke.

Use tongs to remove the chicken and place them on a plate. At this point, the chicken will not be cooked through.

Leave the fat in the pot. The sauce will be made in it, which will add tons of flavor.

Prepare the Sauce

Add the onions and green pepper to the pan and sauté until translucent on medium heat. Then add in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add wine (vino seco) and deglaze the pan. Simmer for just about 1-2 minutes until most of the liquid has cooked out. Then add the tomato paste, water, cumin, packet of sazon seasoning, olives, and bay leaves (optional) and stir.

Return the chicken to the pot, and arrange them in the sauce so they are not overlapping. Add salt and pepper.

When the sauce comes back to a simmer, lower the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook the chicken for 15 minutes. Stir the sauce occasionally to make sure the chicken isn’t sticking to the bottom.

Finishing Touches

Uncover the skillet, and give the chicken and sauce a quick stir. Add the potatoes. Cover the pan and cook for another 10-20 minutes.

Simmer the sauce but do not boil. Keep it on low heat if you need to and give the skillet a quick shake occasionally to move the ingredients around.

The potatoes should be fork tender and the chicken at least 165°F. Use an instant-read thermometer* to take the internal temperature of a couple of the larger pieces to be safe. Finally, stir in the peas.

Tips

Here are the tips to make the best Cuban chicken fricassee :

• This delicious Cuban chicken fricassee recipe is best made with dark meat, bone-in chicken. Dark meat will not dry out, plus the bone adds a ton of flavor.
• If you prefer to use chicken breast in this recipe, use chicken breast attached to the bone so they don’t dry out too much.
• Deglaze the pan with chicken broth* if you don’t have white wine.
• The cooking time in this traditional Cuban recipe should get the chicken to at least 165°F but use an instant-read thermometer to verify. Take the internal temperature of the largest piece at its thickest part without touching the bone.

Serving Cuban Chicken Fricassee

Fricase de Pollo or Cuban chicken fricassee is usually served with white rice. It is also common to pair it with potatoes in a Cuban household. Serve it over mashed potatoes or steamed baby potatoes.

This stewed chicken is also good on its own if you want to skip the rice. It will be great with a warm baguette or whole-grain bread dipped into the sauce. It will soak up the scrumptious juices.

The Cuban chicken fricassee can also be served with fried plantains, buttered noodles, or gnocchi.

Storing Cuban Chicken Fricassee

Store the Cuban chicken fricassee leftovers in an airtight container. It will be good for 3-4 days in the refrigerator and about 1 month in the freezer.

Thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Type of Potatoes to use for Chicken Fricassee

Chicken fricassee works with any kind of potatoes. Yukon golds are great for stews because they hold their form.

Russet potatoes will also work but they are prone to falling apart if cooked too long. They will also thicken the fricassee stew. Russet potatoes soak up the liquid and release starch so it would need a little extra liquid.

Chicken Fricassee in the Slow Cooker

You can make Cuban chicken fricassee in a slow cooker or crockpot. I would still recommend that you marinate and brown the chicken over the stovetop before moving it to the crockpot.

Once the chicken is browned, place it in the crockpot with the rest of the ingredients. Cook on high for 2-1/2 hours, or low for 5 hours.

The sauce made in the slow cooker will not be as cohesive as on the stovetop. The sauce, however, will still be delicious.

Commonly Asked Questions

Should I use skinless or skin-on chicken legs or thighs?

I prefer using skinless chicken legs and thighs for this recipe. If you decide to use skin-on chicken then make sure to crisp up the skin well during the browning process.

What is the origin of chicken fricassee

The Chicken fricassee is often described as “halfway between a sauté and a stew”. It is typically a French dish with a creamy white sauce.

What is the difference between a fricassee and a blanquette?

“Fricassee” is a French culinary technique. “Banquette” is a French stew made of meat, typically veal, and white sauce. A blanquette is cooked with the stock and vegetables. The sauce is thickened with an egg and cream liaison at the end. In contrast, in the fricassee, the stew made with pieces of meat that have been browned in butter. It is then served in a sauce flavored with the cooking stock.

LOOKING FOR MORE COMFORT FOODS?

Here are some of my favorite ones, that I am sure you would love:

• Texas Roadhouse Chili
• Sopa de Tortilla
• Chicken Salan

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