Pollo Guisado (Dominican Stewed Chicken)

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.