Cuban Chicken Fricassee (Fricase de Pollo)

cuban chicken fricassee served with white rice on a black plate

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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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Marinate time 4

Course dinner, Main Course

Cuisine Cuban

Servings servings

Equipment

Instant-read thermometer*

Ingredients

8-10 Chicken thighs
2 cups Mojo Marinade*
¼ cup Olive oil*
1 White Onion (medium) diced
1 Green Bell Pepper diced
4 Garlic cloves minced
¾ cup Dry White Wine
16 oz Tomato sauce*
1 tsp Oregano* dried
¼ cup Pimiento filled olives*
2 Sazon Goya packets*
2 Potatoes (small) peeled and diced
½ tsp Ground Cumin*
½` cup Peas
¼ cup Water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Marinade chicken pieces in mojo overnight or at least 4 hours.
Once marinated, remove the skinless chicken pieces from the marinade. Pat dry on paper towels.
Sprinkle salt on each side of the chicken.
Heat oil in a pot, over medium-high heat.
Brown the chicken in batches (about 2-3 minutes per side). Use tongs to remove the chicken and place them on a plate.
Add the onions and green bell pepper to the pan and saute until translucent on medium heat.
Then add in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add wine 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 stir.
Return the chicken to the pot, and arrange them in the sauce so they are not overlapping.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
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.
Add the potatoes. Cover the pan and cook for another 10-20 minutes till the potatoes are fork tender.
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 chicken is cooked when its internal temp reaches 165F.
Stir in the peas before serving.

Video

Notes

TIPS

This delicious Cuban chicken fricassee recipe is best made with dark meat, bone-in chicken. Dark meat is will not dry out with the cooking time, plus the bone adds a ton of flavor.
If you prefer to use chicken breast in this recipe, use bone-in so they don’t dry out too much.
Make sure to pat the chicken DRY before adding it to hot oil. If you put them in wet, they will splatter like crazy and they will steam instead of browning.
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.

STORING

The best way to enjoy Cuban Chicken Fricassee is to eat it while it's still hot and fresh. However, the leftovers taste pretty amazing too!

Store the 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.

Keyword cuban chicken fricassee, cuban comfort food, fricase de pollo

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