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Puerto Rican Chicken Stew - Pollo Guisado

Published: Aug 31, 2016 Β· Modified: Mar 21, 2017 by Igor Β· This post may contain affiliate links Β· 31 Comments

Packed with veggies and mushrooms, this Puerto Rican Chicken Stew (Pollo Guisado) makes a great weeknight dinner. The taste and smell of this stew is ridiculous! Caribbean flavors in your kitchen!

This traditional Puerto Rican Chicken Stew (Pollo Guisado) is easy and quick to make. Perfect as a weeknight dinner! | cookingtheglobe.com

In the last post I dipped my feet into the world of Puerto Rican food and I enjoyed it a lot. Their famous Sofrito (a vegetable base added to numerous Caribbean dishes) was the first Puerto Rican thing I have ever made in my whole life. I call it a flavor bomb - the combination of cilantro, bell peppers, garlic, and onion is fantastic! However, Sofrito itself is a not a dish - it's the flavor enhancer added to stews, soups, everywhere. Therefore, it's logical that after making this "flavor bomb" I had to show you one of the ways to use it.

This traditional Puerto Rican Chicken Stew (Pollo Guisado) is easy and quick to make. Perfect as a weeknight dinner! | cookingtheglobe.com

Meet a flavor packed Puerto Rican Chicken Stew, called Pollo Guisado. It's not actually a name, just a translation of "Chicken Stew" from Spanish. The idea to make this famous Caribbean dish came to me right after I stuffed my freezer with a few ice cube trays full of Sofrito. I love freezing various sauces (like Pesto for example), they come in handy when you want to bring more aroma to the dish you cook real quick.

This traditional Puerto Rican Chicken Stew (Pollo Guisado) is easy and quick to make. Perfect as a weeknight dinner! | cookingtheglobe.com

Like with Sofrito, I adapted the recipe for this Puerto Rican Chicken Stew from a β€œPuerto Rican Cuisine in America” by Oswald Rivera. I made a few changes though: increased the amount of Sofrito, added mushrooms to the recipe, and also used the ready chicken pieces instead of buying the whole bird and cutting it. Hi everyone, I am Igor and I am lazy as hell. My fridge offered me some chicken breast that day, but you can use boneless chicken thighs or whatever you like.

This traditional Puerto Rican Chicken Stew (Pollo Guisado) is easy and quick to make. Perfect as a weeknight dinner! | cookingtheglobe.com

Pollo Guisado was really good. Or should I say fantastic! I guess Sofrito is that secret ingredient, which adds the special touch and rises this flavorful stew to another level. No doubt about it. All other ingredients are also on point here. I am surely repeating this divine Puerto Rican dish in the nearest future and recommend it to you, my dear readers! This traditional Puerto Rican Chicken Stew (Pollo Guisado) is easy and quick to make. Perfect as a weeknight dinner! | cookingtheglobe.com

Puerto Rican Chicken Stew - Pollo Guisado

CookingTheGlobe
This comforting and filling chicken stew comes from Puerto Rico, and it's amazing. Chicken, veggies, mushrooms, all combined to create a Caribbean feast in your kitchen!
4.84 from 12 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 40 minutes mins
Total Time 45 minutes mins
Cuisine Puerto Rican
Servings 4 people
Calories 511 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lb (900g) boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs , cut into pieces
  • 2 cloves garlic , peeled and minced
  • β…› teaspoon pepper
  • salt , to taste
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons Olive oil
  • 3 cups water
  • 3 medium potatoes , halved and quartered
  • 1 small onion , thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons Sofrito
  • 8 oz (240g) mushrooms
  • 1 8 oz (240g) can tomato sauce
  • 10 black olives
  • 1 bay leave
  • 3 sprigs fresh parsley , chopped

Instructions
 

  • Rub the chicken pieces with the garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano.
  • In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and place the chicken pieces. Brown on all sides and remove from the pot.
  • Add 3 cups water, potatoes, onion, sofrito, mushrooms, tomato sauce, olives, bay leaf, and bring to a boil.
  • Add the chicken back to the pot, reduce the heat, and cook, covered, for about 35-45 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
  • Sprinkle some parsley over the top and serve. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 511kcal
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Comments

  1. Hector

    November 18, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    Looks good. Next time you make this, try it with some plain white rice. That's how we normally eat pollo guisado in Puerto Rico. Glad to see the food of my people has made it all the way to your corner of the globe. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Igor

      November 24, 2016 at 8:26 pm

      Thanks for the advice, Hector! It's always nice to hear from local people πŸ™‚ I will surely make more Puerto Rican recipes for the blog in the future πŸ™‚

      Reply
  2. Marilee Reuter

    July 17, 2017 at 1:00 am

    5 stars
    Made this again tonight! We have had it at least 6 times. Love it! I also like to add the frozen Sofrito cubes to my chili. Nice flavor!

    Reply
    • Igor

      July 17, 2017 at 6:58 am

      Marilee, your comment made my day πŸ™‚ I am so happy you liked it!

      Reply
  3. ANA Maria Espada

    August 03, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    5 stars
    POLLO GUISADO ,White rice and a piece of avacodo was a favorite of mine as a child made with luv from my grandma so happy to see it on ur web page brings back sooo many Memories I make this for my gran kids now never have any left overs. And I always have sofrito in my freezer that is used in soups, beans,stews and so much more

    Reply
    • Igor

      August 17, 2017 at 5:12 am

      Thanks for the comment, Ana! I understand why your grand kids love this. Pollo Guisado is amazing! So many flavors πŸ™‚

      Reply
  4. Dwayne Johnson

    January 23, 2022 at 7:02 pm

    5 stars
    Just followed al the steps and ingredients. My whole house is smell delicious. . I've been taste testing. And it is so good πŸ‘. Thanks

    Reply
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