Woohoo! So happy to share with you this classic Dominican Stewed Chicken recipe which we call Pollo Guisado in Spanish. I shared a similar version of this recipe with all white meat, which is how I cook it most of the time because I have a ton of white meat lovers at my house but I always prefer this one, a combination of dark and white meat using a whole chicken. I love how dark meat absorbs so much flavor from seasonings, also having the choices of drumsticks, wings and thighs, and I love me a good thigh!!!
What makes Dominican Stewed Chicken different?
We use sugar! Yes! Sugar helps give that golden color to the chicken because when you put sugar in hot oil, it caramelizes and the color it gives the chicken is amazing!
This is the way that I grew up cooking Pollo Guisado and honestly one of the most amazingly tasting chicken I have ever had in my life. Its the recipe I cook for all my non-Dominican friends because I know they will be super impressed, so much so, that it is the top requested dish when they are coming to visit. So that goes to tell you something!
Tip for making sure you get the best flavor out of this Pollo Guisado
Refrigeration time is key after seasoning. Minimum of 6 hours but for optimal flavor, do this overnight, heck even 24 hours is good. Trust me on that one!
Sides that go perfect with Pollo Guisado
White Rice
Moro Rice
Black Bean Veggie Rice
Black Bean Cilantro Saffron Rice
Dominican Stewed Chicken (Pollo Guisado)
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken or combination of dark and white pieces
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tbs salt
- 1 tbs Goya adobo
- 1 tsp ground organo
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 packet powdered chicken bouillon I used half a packet
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 green pepper sliced
- 1/2 red pepper sliced
- 1/2 large red onion sliced
- 1/4 cup Mazola corn oil
- 1 tbs granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 tsp tomato paste
- 2 tbs Goya salad olives or Mazanillo olives, chopped
- 2 tbs chopped cilantro divided in half
Instructions
- Chop up the whole chicken if using a whole one.
- Remove the skin off the chicken, except for the wings and drumette. Also remove some of the little pieces of fat but not too much of it, we want some to provide some chicken fat to our sauce.
- Once you have prepped the chicken, place the chicken in a bowl and add water to it.
- Add lime juice and massage into the chicken for about a minute. Drain the water but do not rinse.
- Now, let's season the chicken.
- In that same bowl, add the salt, adobo, adobo, oregano, chicken bullion and soy sauce. Stir well.
- Refrigerate for 6 hours minimum but overnight is preferred to obtain maximum flavor.
- Once ready to cook, slice the peppers, onions. Finely chop the cilantro and salad olives.
- Add the peppers, onions and 1 tbs of the chopped cilantro to the chicken and its marinade. Mix well.
- In a large skillet or deep pan, add the corn oil over high heat.
- Immediately add the sugar to the center of the pan.
- One you notice the sugar is beginning to caramelize, turning a deep brown and smoking, add the first piece of chicken right on top the that sugar and move to the side. Leaving the peppers and onions in the liquid seasoning. Continue the same process with the rest of the pieces until you have them all in.
- Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. In the meantime, add 1/2 cup water to that seasoning with the peppers and onions in it.
- Turn the chicken over. It may look like it is burnt but it's just the caramelized sugar doing it's job. That sugar will eventually distribute to the rest of the chicken and give it great color.
- Add about 3 tbs of the seasoned water to the pan and lower heat to medium low.
- You will add seasoned water to the chicken every 5 minutes or so for 30 minutes. add more water to the seasoning, if you run low.
- After 30 minutes, add the peppers, onions, tomato paste and olives. Stir well and let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and making sure it doesn't dry out too soon. If it does, then it is done. Watch my video for reference.
- Once chicken is done, sprinkle with the rest of the cilantro and enjoy!
- Serve with white rice for a more classic Dominican experience.
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