This popular Dominican dish consists of deliciously-spiced chicken thighs gently stewed with onions, peppers and tomato paste — and it was one of the first Dominican dishes I learned in order to impress Edwin.

Side note: I think the food and smells someone grew up with is so important, so I love making sure Edwin gets the taste of his mama’s house by learning some of his favorite childhood meals and incorporating them into our weekly routine.

Pollo Guisado Ingredients

You’ll be using chicken thighs, fresh veggies, soy sauce, tomato paste, and spices to create this rich stew.

Chicken thighs: Traditionally you’d use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces in Pollo Guisado, but I’m taking boneless, skinless chicken thighs and hacking them into pieces. If you want to go the traditional route, drumsticks and thighs work amazingly.

Fresh veggies: You’ll need bell peppers, onions, and garlic. You’ll chop some for the marinade, and then also have some sliced onions and peppers for a finishing touch.

Spices: I use a mixture of adobo, paprika, cumin, Dominican oregano, coriander, black pepper, and chicken bouillon powder along with the Tradicional Spice Blend from Home Beis. (If you don’t have the Tradicional Blend, you can sub Sazon.)

Soy sauce: For flavor.

Tomato paste: For richness and depth.

Lime juice: For acid.

Now that’s everything I add, but feel free to include some other ingredients, like:

Olives: Traditional Pollo Guisado also includes olives (I just omit them because Edwin doesn’t like olives — the psychopath.)
Potatoes: I sometimes serve this with potatoes, but you can also chop some up and toss them in while the chicken is stewing.

How to Make Pollo Guisado

Here’s how to make this dish:

Step 1: Marinade the chicken.

Clean and cut your chicken thighs into pieces and add them to a clean bowl. Then, add all of the spices along with the lime juice, soy sauce, chopped onions, chopped bell peppers, and crushed garlic cloves. I even toss the lime skins in there for fun.

Mix everything up, cover and let marinade for atleast 20 minutes by ideally a few hours (making sure to let the chicken come to room temperature before cooking).

Step 2: Brown the chicken.

Take a skillet with high sides and add a bit of oil. (You can also sprinkle a touch of sugar to help with the browning process, but this is optional.) Brown the chicken in batches, and then add everything back to the pot once browned. Make sure to keep the marinade bowl close by for the next step.

Step 3: Mix the tomato paste with the marinade.

Take a tablespoon of tomato paste to the bowl that the chicken was marinating in and mix it all around. Dump this on top of the browned chicken, stirring to incorporate it.

Step 4: Pour water into the chicken.

Now add some water to the marinade bowl, making sure to swirl it around in order to get all of that delicious marinade mixed in (we don’t let this go to waste!). Pour the water directly onto the chicken, making sure that the chicken is covered.

Step 5: Let the chicken stew.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and let the chicken cook, uncovered, but about an hour. Make sure to check on it and stir occasionally. If you’re losing too much water you can add a touch, and if it’s too thin you can turn the heat up slightly.

Step 6: Add sliced peppers and onions.

Now add the sliced peppers and onions, cover, and remove from the heat. Let this sit and steam together for about 5 minutes before serving.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Pollo Guisado (Dominican Stewed Chicken)

This popular Dominican dish consists of deliciously-spiced chicken thighs gently stewed with onions, peppers and tomato paste.

Prep Time1

Cook Time1 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Dominican

Keyword: dominican, dominican stewed chicken, pollo guisado, stewed chicken

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs cleaned and cut into pieces
½ red bell pepper chopped
½ onion chopped
4-5 garlic cloves crushed
1 lime juiced
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs tomato paste
2 teaspoon adobo
1 teaspoon Tradicional Spice Blend from Home Beis or sub Sazon
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon coriander
½ tsp Dominican oregano or sub regular oregano
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder

Finishing touch

½ red bell pepper sliced into strips
½ onion sliced

Instructions

Add the spices, veggies, lime juice, and soy sauce to the chicken. Cover and let marinade for up to 4 hours, making sure to remove from the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking.
Add oil to a skillet with high sides (and a touch of sugar if using). Reserve the bowl the chicken was marinating in. Brown the chicken (in batches if necessary), and then add all of the chicken back to the pot once done.
Add the tomato paste to the bowl the chicken was marinating in, stirring to break it up. Scrap the contents right on to the chicken and stir to incorporate.
Add water to the marinade bowl, stirring to get any leftover marinade into the water. Pour over the chicken until the chicken is mostly covered. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about an hour. Stir occasionally and adjust heat as needed. Make sure the marinade doesn't totally evaporate by adding water if needed, or if it's too thin you can turn the heat up slightly to thicken it.
Once an hour is up, dump the sliced peppers and onions into the stew, stirring to combine. Remove from the heat and cover, allowing this to steam for 5 minutes before serving.