Cuban Chicken Fricassee with Alcaparrado

Cuban Chicken Fricassee is a Cuban-style chicken stew with an incredibly delicious combination of ingredients called Alcaparrado. This hearty, flavor-packed recipe is a one-pan dinner that you can make ahead and enjoy all week.

Made in one pan, Cuban Chicken Fricassee is a comforting and deeply flavored stew.

Like most stews, the flavors need time to blend, but you can still get this dish on the table in an hour. And there are a couple of shortcuts that will get you there sooner, if time is an issue. (You can also make it ahead!)

Loaded with chicken and potatoes in a tomato-based sauce, this stew is a warming, cozy fall and winter meal.

What is Alcaparrado?

• Alcaparrado is a mix of Manzanilla olives, pimientos and capers. The blend in my stew also contains raisins, which is common in Cuban Chicken Fricassee (Fricasé de Pollo a la Cubano).
• It's known as a Spanish style of preserving olives, though it's most commonly found in Puerto Rican and Caribbean cuisines. There are different variations all over Latin America and in the Mediterranean, too.

What is Fricassee?

Fricassee usually refers to a stew made with pieces of meat or chicken that have been browned in a pan and then cooked and and served in a sauce with additional ingredients.

The Ingredients

• chicken - This stew is cooked with bone-in, skinless pieces of chicken. Fresh raw chicken should be a light pink color with white pieces of fat, little to no odor, soft and moist.
• extra virgin olive oil - Use one you love the flavor of. I like this one.
• Manzanilla-pimiento stuffed olives
• capers - Capers are unripened, pickled green flower buds of a Caper Bush. They're tart, tangy and salty.
• raisins - Black or golden.
• lime juice
• orange juice - Freshly squeezed is best.
• tomatoes - This recipe calls for canned, diced tomatoes in juice. I use these.
• peas - Frozen and thawed.
• potato - You can use almost any potato, but my favorites for this recipe are Yukon Gold, Russet or Red.
• red bell peppers - These will be roasted and they'll add a delicious smoky flavor to the stew. A good pepper should be firm, deeply colored and slightly shiny.
• red wine - Dry red wine. Use one you love because the alcohol cooks off, not the flavor.
• onion -Try to choose onions that are firm, heavy for their size and without bruises.
• fresh garlic - Look for firm heads of garlic without any soft spots or green shoots, which are an indication it's old and likely bitter. (Pro tip: If there are green shoots in garlic, cut the cloves in half and r emove them with the tip of a paring knife. The rest of the clove should still be good.)
• Kosher salt - I cook with Kosher salt because I like its larger flake size and it usually doesn't contain additives.
• black pepper - Preferably freshly ground.

(See recipe card below for quantities.)

Substitutions, Variations and Short Cuts

If I don't list an ingredient with a substitution, it means I think it's best not to substitute it.

• If you'd like to substitute the bone-in chicken for boneless, skinless thighs or breasts, go for it. Brown them per the instructions for the bone-in. (You will need about 2 ¾ to 3-pounds.)
• Manzanilla-pimiento stuffed olives and capers. These two ingredients can be substituted with jarred Alcaparrado. You should be able to find it in most grocery stores. The main difference is that the pimientos will be included in the mix, but they won't be stuffed into the olives.
• Canned tomatoes. If you'd prefer to use fresh tomatoes, be sure they're on the sweet side (in season), and use an extra cup.
• Peas. The peas can be substituted with edamame beans (unsalted, use about 1 cup) or spinach (use about 4 packed cups).
• Red bell peppers. To save time, instead of roasting the pepper yourself, you can buy jarred roasted red peppers.
• Red wine. If you want to substitute the wine you can use a combination of red wine vinegar and water (half and half), chicken or vegetable stock (low-sodium), or tomato juice (low-sodium).
• Vegetarian and vegan version. Use extra firm tofu or cauliflower, cut into approximately ½-inch slices. Brown them first in the pan, the same way you would the chicken, and shorten the oven time by about 10 minutes.

Recipe Tips

• Be sure not to skip searing (browning) the chicken. This seals in the juices, adds flavor, and shortens the cooking time in the oven.
• When you buy a whole, cut-up chicken, the skin is almost always still on. If you have any trouble removing it, pull it with a paper towel. It'll come off easily this way -- especially on the legs and wings.
• When you're searing the chicken pieces, they shouldn't be too crowded, so if they don't all fit in your pan easily, do it in two batches. (In the baking dish however, it's okay for them to be crowded.)
• If all of the chicken pieces and the sauce fit into the pan you're using, if it's oven proof, you can just bake it in that instead of the baking dish.

How to Make it

- To roast the peppers (if you haven't purchased them in a jar), place them directly on top of a high flame on the stove. Use kitchen tongs to turn them as each side chars. Remove them from the burners, place them in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let them steam for 10 minutes. Remove the plastic, and when they’re cool enough to work with, use your hands to peel off the charred skin. Then remove the stems and seeds, and cut them into bite-sized pieces.

- Preheat the oven to 400°F, adjust a rack to the center and coat the bottom of a large skillet (about 14-inch) with ¼ cup of olive oil.

- Place the pan over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Sauté, stirring every few minutes, until the onions begin to brown, about 10 minutes.

- Season both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Move the onions and garlic to the sides of the pan and add the chicken. Sauté just to brown the surface, about 1 minute per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and place it on a large plate or baking sheet and set aside.

- Add the potatoes to the pan and sauté them for about 4 minutes.

- Then add the roasted pepper, capers, olives, raisins and peas. Stir to blend and cook for a minute or so.

- Mix the citrus juices with the wine and pour the mixture into the pan along with the tomatoes. Stir to blend everything together, bring to a boil and then turn the heat to low. Simmer for about 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

- Spoon just enough sauce into the bottom of an approximately 15-inch baking dish to coat it. Than add the chicken pieces, smooth sides up. Pour the rest of the sauce into the dish, getting it mostly between the chicken pieces, and covering them slightly.

- Cover the baking dish with a lid or foil and place it in the preheated 400°F oven. Cook just until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.

- Remove the dish from the oven and let it sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

Serving Suggestions

The best dishes to serve with Cuban Chicken Fricassee are those that will soak up any extra sauce in the plate or bowl. And of course, a light salad is always a great idea. Below are a handful of delicious suggestions.

• I love serving this over a beautiful subtly flavored rice, and it's also excellent on pasta or alongside a warm loaf of bread.
• Caramelized Smashed Cauliflower is a great way to soak up the sauce and almost any creamy potato dish would be dreamy with it.

Other Cozy Chicken Recipes

• Caprese Chicken with Spinach and Orzo
• Fall Apart Dutch Oven Chicken
• Chicken Roulade with Prosciutto
• Butter Chicken with Oregano
• Baked Mango Chicken
• Sweet Potato Chicken

Making it Ahead

• Since the chicken is cooked on the bone in Cuban Chicken Fricassee, it'll be extra juicy and will be delicious for a few days.
• You can make the entire dish up to 3 days ahead. Let it cool completely, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The day you're serving it, remove it from the fridge about an hour before dinner. Heat it in a preheated 375°F oven just until it's hot, about 15 minutes.

I hope you enjoy this Cuban Chicken recipe with Alcaparrado as much as my family and I do.

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