Arroz con Pollo
After an indulgent weekend in Granada, I needed to make a hearty dish full of veggies to set me back on track. Arroz con Pollo, is essentially the Spanish translation for chicken with rice. It’s a typical Spanish and Latin American dish. From looking online there is lots of variations but most include peppers, olives, chicken thighs & saffron. I wanted to add in some extra vegetables so I also included tomatoes in mine. You can leave out the tomato sauce, if you wish and add extra chicken stock to the same volume as the tomatoes and add summer vegetables such as peas and parsley and it would be super tasty too. It’s very similar to paella, just without seafood. I wanted to make mine leaner so I opted for chicken breasts, which are definitely not traditional, but being honest, meat on the bone grosses me a little out and they had no boneless chicken thighs in the supermarket.
While this is by no means an “authentic” arroz con pollo, it has the main flavours and ingredients and is a wholesome, filling & delicious meal that is super easy to make in under 45 minutes that will serve a generous 4-5 portions.
Ingredients
600g chicken breast (sliced to roughly the same thickness) / chicken thighs with skins and bone removed
1 large onion diced fine
5 cloves garlic chopped fine
1 large red bell pepper, quartered & sliced into thin strips
3 tsp dried oregano
1 heaped tsp chilli powder
10-15 cherry tomatoes, halved
100g olives, stones removed
1 glass white wine (about 75ml)
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
500ml passata
400ml chicken stock
pinch of saffron
300g short grain rice
2 tbsp olive oil
Method
In a large pot / skillet heat up your oil over a medium heat & sauté your onion and pepper for 5 minutes until the onion is translucent and peppers start to soften.
If using chicken breasts, slice the breast lengthways so that you don’t have a “thicker”. Your chicken breasts should look like “mini chicken fillets” as opposed to diced chicken that you would use for stir fry or a curry. You want the pieces to be large, but thin so that they cook quickly in the sauce. Once cut, set aside.
If using chicken thighs only**, you want them to get a good golden colour so get a separate pan nice and hot and brown on both sides until almost cooked through, about 4 mins each side. Set aside until needed on a plate with some kitchen roll. De-glaze your pan with a few tablespoons of white wine and scrape the lovely chicken fat flavour from the bottom of the pan and throw it into your other pot with the onion & pepper.
Add your chopped garlic along with the oregano & chilli powder until garlic is aromatic (if the onion is starting to brown this is ok).
De-glaze your pan with the white wine and using your wooden spoon scrape all the onion/garlic bits that have started to stick to the bottom of the pan as this will give good flavour. Cook down for about 3-4 minutes on a low heat until the alcohol has been cooked off.
Add in your chopped olives and fresh tomatoes at this point and stir together with the saffron strands.
Add in your liquids: stock, tin of tomatoes and passata. Add in your rice and raw chicken breasts (or nearly cooked chicken thighs). Reduce to a very low heat. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Cook on the lowest heat for approximately 30 minutes covering the pot with a lid (stirring after 15minutes, to make sure that the rice is not sticking).
Once the rice & chicken are cooked through and the liquid is absorbed, your dish is ready. This dish is great re-heated too for up to 3 days.
Calories per serving (if using chicken breasts) for 5 people = 586 per portion
