Dominican Pollo Guisado (Stewed Chicken) Recipe
Recipe development and food photography by Zariel Grullón RDN, CDN
Copywriting by Isabel Vasquez Larson RD, LDN
Honor your culture (or embrace a new culture!) with this comforting Pollo Guisado recipe. The tender braised chicken simmered in herbs, veggies, and tomato paste will warm your tummy and your soul. Pair it with white rice, beans, and avocado for a satisfying, family-friendly dinner.
What is Pollo Guisado?
Pollo guisado is one of the most common and delicious Dominican dishes. It’s often served for lunch or dinner with white rice, beans, salad, and sometimes avocado and tostones (fried green plantains).
Essentially, it’s a braised chicken stew loaded with herbs, spices, and veggies.
The Dominican Republic isn’t the only place that loves this dish. Similar dishes exist in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and other Latin American countries.
The main ingredient in the dish is chicken! Pollo guisado is typically made using a full chicken chicken cut into pieces.
However, if you prefer to just use certain parts of the chicken (e.g. just the breast or just the thighs) you’re welcome to do so since it’s now easy to purchase your favorite cut at the grocery store.
The veggies, herbs, and spices give this dish a delicious flavor and lots of nutrition.
In fact, nutrient-dense ingredients like garlic, oregano, tomato paste, peppers, olives, and onion are staples in lots of Dominican dishes.
It’s part of why they’re so nutritious despite lots of people mistakenly believing Latin American cultural foods aren’t healthy.
What You’ll Need
First off, you’ll need to gather a few ingredients. You probably already have a bunch of these on hand, but you’ll probably need to head to the grocery store for the rest.
The ingredients you need for this recipe are:
Chicken (whole or your preferred cut)
Lime juice
Oregano
Red onion
Garlic
Vegetable oil
Granulated white sugar
Green bell or cubanela (cubanelle) peppers
Plum tomatoes
Pitted olives
Tomato paste
Fresh cilantro leaves
Salt and pepper
How to Make Dominican Pollo Guisado
1. Marinate the Chicken
To make this recipe, start by getting a large bowl. Add the chicken, lime, oregano, onions, salt, garlic and oil to the bowl. You can use most types of oil, but vegetable oil is most common for this dish.
Mix until the chicken is evenly-coated in the spices and let it all marinate for at least 15-30 minutes.
The longer you marinate it, the more flavor the chicken with absorb, so you can adjust the marinating time based on how much time you have on your hands.
2. brown the Chicken
After the chicken’s done marinating, heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the sugar if you’re using it, and wait until it browns.
Then, add the chicken. Cook the chicken has a light brown color, stirring it sporadically.
Don’t throw out the rest of the marinade. Set it aside to be used later in the recipe.
3. Braise the chicken
Once the chicken is light brown, add 2 tablespoons of water, cover and let it simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
Stir and keep adding one tablespoon of water at a time, as needed, to prevent the chicken from burning.
You want it to turn a beautiful brown color without burning.
4. Add the veggies
Next, it’s time to add in some veggies. Grab what’s left of the marinade, plus peppers, tomatoes, olives, and celery.
Add them to the pot, cover, and let it all simmer until the veggies are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
This step might also require you to keep adding water by the tablespoon and stirring as necessary to prevent burning.
5. Make the Sauce
Next, add the tomato paste and half a cup of water to the pot. Simmer over low heat to produce a light sauce, about 10 minutes.
You’re looking for the sauce to thicken, the chicken to be super tender, and the veggies to be nice and soft.
6. enjoy!
Once that happens, you’re pollo guisado is ready to go! Top it with cilantro and season with salt and pepper for serving. We suggest serving it with white rice, beans, and avocado.
Pollo Guisado Nutrition
This recipe is rich in protein, with about 15 grams per serving. That’s thanks to the chicken, a high-quality source of complete protein.
If you have heart health issues or are trying to protect your cardiovascular health, you may prefer limiting how much chicken skin you eat. It’s a source of saturated fat—a type of fat that can increase cholesterol levels.
The veggies and olives in this recipe provide fiber—a non-digestible carb that’s important for gut health, cholesterol management, and blood sugar regulation. Using the optional celery can help you get in more veggies but if you don't like celery or can't find a good bunch, don't worry about it.
On its own, this recipe is low in carbs, so we recommend serving it with white rice, beans, and avocado. These foods will add more fiber and carbohydrates for energy. You can also serve it with tostones (fried green plantains).
For more recipes and education on how to ADD nutrition to your favorite Latine cultural dishes, make peace with food, and focus on your health without dieting, join our nutrition library for only $27/month.
Pollo Guisado Dominican (Dominican Chicken Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs of chicken cut into small pieces
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
- 1 small red onion chopped into fine strips or eighths
- 1 teaspoon of salt (or more to your taste)
- 4 cloves of garlic, mashed
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- 1 teaspoon of granulated white sugar (optional)
- 2 cups of water
- 2 green bell or cubanela (cubanelle) peppers
- 4 plum tomatoes cut into quarters
- ¼ cup of pitted olives (optional)
- ½ cup of chopped celery (optional)
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- Small bunch of fresh cilantro leaves
- ¼ teaspoon of pepper
Instructions
- Season the chicken: in a large bowl place the chicken with the lime, oregano, onions, salt, garlic and oil. Mix to combine and let marinate for 15-30 minutes.
- Brown the 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, about 10 minutes, adding water by the tablespoon and stirring as it becomes necessary.
- Make sauce: Add the tomato paste and half a cup of water, simmer over low heat to produce a light sauce, about 10 minutes. The vegetables will be very soft, the sauce a bit thick, and the chicken fall-off-the-bone tender.
- Serve: Add fresh cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve alongside your favorite sides and enjoy.
Notes
This recipe was adapted from the food blog Dominican Cooking.
The prep time may be longer or shorter depending on how long you choose to marinate the chicken.
This recipe is rich in protein, with about 15 grams per serving.
Plus, the veggies and olives provide fiber to support gut health, cholesterol management, and blood sugar regulation. Using the optional celery can help you get in more veggies but if you don't like celery or can't find a good bunch, don't worry about it.
On its own, this recipe is low in carbs. We recommend serving it with white rice, beans, and avocado. You can also serve it with tostones (fried green plantains).
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