Pollo Guisado: Braised Chicken Stew

Pollo guisado is a chicken-based stew that takes on different forms depending on its origin. While it's commonly associated with Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, it also a staple throughout Central and South America. Most versions include juicy and moist chicken braised in its broth or tomato and flavored with onions, garlic, and herbs, but each country, or cook, adds or removes ingredients to adjust it to their personal taste and the availability of produce. Some have potatoes, others have carrots, some have both but also peas and corn. Our recipe delivers the delicious Puerto Rican version, famous for the addition of green olives and the use of the popular sofrito—also an aromatic staple in Hispanic cuisine that takes on multiples forms depending on the origin.

This recipe's fall-off-the-bone chicken will delight your family, plus it's a budget-friendly dish in which you can use any chicken cut, from breasts to wings or thighs. We recommend using bone-in pieces with the skin, as they release more flavor into the cooking liquid. The chicken's tenderness is the result of slow braising, which makes the chicken very tender, helps to reduce the sauce to a perfect texture, and concentrates the flavors.

Most of the ingredients will not be hard to come by in your average American supermarket. Some, such as culantro—known as recao for Puerto Ricans and similar to but not the same as cilantro—are worth seeking out. Culantro's flavor is more intense than cilantro and it holds up in long braises and stews, which is why it works well here. Hispanic bodegas or specialty stores might carry culantro on occasion. Serve this dish over rice and beans, white rice, or yellow rice with corn. Alternatively, fry some tostones and serve with the plantain and slices of avocado.