[Recipe + Video] Pollo Guisado (Dominican Chicken)

Pollo Guisado - Recipe & Video (Braised Chicken): one of the most popular dishes in Dominican cuisine. Easy to prepare and very rich this is a treat you cannot miss.

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Dominican, Latino

Keyword braised, chicken, guisado, pollo

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 242kcal

Author Clara Gonzalez

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken [0.9 kg], cut into small pieces
Juice of 1 lime
½ teaspoon oregano (dry, ground)
1 small red onion stalks cut into slices
½ cup chopped celery (optional)
1 teaspoon salt (more may be necessary)
½ teaspoon mashed garlic
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sugar (white, granulated)
2 cup water
2 green bell or cubanela (cubanelle) peppers
4 plum tomato cut into quarters
¼ cup pitted green olives (optional)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 bunch cilantro
¼ teaspoon pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground)

Instructions

Prep chicken: Cut the chicken into small pieces and place in a bowl that has a lid. Season the chicken pieces with the lime juice.
Season chicken: Mix the chicken, oregano, onion, celery, salt, and garlic. Marinate for 30 minutes.
Brown chicken: In a pot heat the oil over medium heat, add sugar, and wait until it browns.
Add the chicken (reserve all the other things in the marinade for use in a later step) and cook and stir until the meat is light brown.
Braise: Add 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring and adding water by the tablespoon as it becomes necessary to prevent it from burning.
Add vegetables: Stir in the vegetables that you had set aside from marinating the chicken, plus cubanelle pepper, tomatoes, and olives. Cover, and simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, adding water by the tablespoon and stirring as it becomes necessary.
Make sauce: Add the tomato sauce and half a cup of water, simmer over low heat to produce a light sauce. The vegetables will be very soft, the sauce a bit thick, and the chicken fall-off-the-bone tender.
Add fresh cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve: Serve with arroz blanco, a side dish (or salad), and beans. It also goes great with moro de habichuelas (Dominican rice and beans).

Video

Notes

Braising is sometimes also known as pot roasting. In this case, the chicken has to be cooked with the minimum of liquid to prevent it from sticking to the pot and burning. It's a slow-heat process.

For people on keto, or low-carb diets, skip the sugar, although this is quite low in carbs as is, the sugar is only added for color.

Nutrition