Spice up your chicken life with this smoky, richly spiced, and easy-to-cook pollo al chilindrón (chicken with peppers). Take a quick trip to Spain with smoky ground pimentón, fresh bell peppers, Serrano ham, and brandy if you dare.
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The Story
Pollo al chilindrón, or chicken with peppers, hails from Navarra, Spain, and is a perfect example of fresh ingredients and simple technique. Serrano ham and brandy are not a hard sell, either. What I've come to love about authentic Spanish food is that it is simple. One-pot-wonders like paella, or simple tapas to pair with sherry or a sassy red wine and friends. Spanish cuisine is often a few well-chosen ingredients, prepared carefully, and without fuss.
Ingredients Matter
When tasked with cooking this dish in culinary school, I wondered about its flavor potential since the ingredients are fairly commonplace. But that's the idea behind Spanish regional cuisine: Great ingredients make great food. They leave the fancy to France. Skip the flambé if setting a fire in the kitchen makes you nervous, or you don't partake in spirits.
Substitutions
Pimentón is a smoky, savory ground spice of dried red chili peppers. In Spain you will find it in a variety of heat levels, ranging from sweet (dulcé) to hot (picante). It can be hard to find, so I often substitute it with a nice smoked paprika. Traditionally this one calls for saffron (expensive), but leaving it out won't drastically compromise your results.
The Method
In classical cooking terms, the method here is pan-searing, sometimes called pan-roasting. Regardless of the specific recipe, the technique put simply calls for:
- A screaming hot pan.
- A thin coating of oil.
- One flip (and only one) of the ingredients.
How long you cook the meat on either side is determined by size, logically. If you are nervous about undercooking chicken, buy a cheap digital thermometer to make sure it reaches 165° F inside the thickest part. After you sear the chicken wings they take a break while you sauté the vegetables. It is a nice little one-pan ditty.
On the Sauce
My favorite part about pan-searing meat or fish is the complex flavor that develops as the outside browns, leaving all those tasty bits, or fond, in the pan. Exploit the fond, friends. Add water, stock, or your favorite cooking booze and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to bring all the flavor into the sauce. This is called deglazing in classical French cuisine (a word Food Network chefs circa 2005 used with abandon).
Substitutions
What I love about pollo al chilindrón is that it is a great weeknight ditty. Chicken drumsticks and thighs make for a meatier meal, and it takes well to spice substitutions. Final chef's tip: procure more brandy than is called for in the recipe.
📖 Recipe
Pollo al Chilindrón
Wonderfully savory and smoky, this traditional Spanish tapa is a great way to spice up any bone-in cut of chicken.
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 15 to 20 chicken wings, buffalo style (or 1 to 2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless)
- 3 Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced, or a 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
- ½ of a red onion, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced small
- 1 red bell pepper, diced small
- ½ cup of brandy or white wine
- ½ cup of unsalted chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons of pimentón (smoked paprika)
- ½ cup of Serrano or similar cured ham, small dice
- Avocado or olive oil, for the pan
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- Fresh Italian parsley, chopped
- olive oil, for finishing
Instructions
- Season and sear. Season the chicken well with salt and black pepper. In a large sauté pan over medium-heat heat, cook the chicken wings in a thin layer of oil until golden brown on both sides, flipping once.
- Flambé. Add the brandy or white wine and simmer and with a lighter or by tilting the pan toward a gas burner, light the ingredients on fire (flambé). Cook over medium-high heat until the flames subside and the brandy is reduced almost completely. Remove the chicken from the pan.
- Cook the vegetables. Add the onions and peppers to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for one minute, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes, pimentón, and serrano or ham. Return the chicken to the pan.
- Simmer and serve. Simmer the dish over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Add more chicken stock if necessary to maintain a sauce-like consistency. Taste a bite of vegetables and add more salt if needed.
- Optional: Pull the chicken meat off the bones and add it back to the sauce with the peppers. Serve over toasted sourdough baguette, rice, or riced cauliflower for a less starchy dish.
Notes
In a pinch, swap in ground spices and herbs for the onion, garlic and parsley. If you don't have brandy or saffron on hand (who does), the dish is truly wonderful even without them.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Pan-Searing
- Cuisine: Spanish
- Diet: Gluten Free
Nutrition
- Serving Size: About 5 wings, or 1-2 thighs
- Calories: 937
- Sugar: 4.2 g
- Sodium: 353 mg
- Fat: 59.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Fiber: 2.6 g
- Protein: 72.5 g
Keywords: pollo al chilindron, chicken recipes, chicken dinner recipes, recipes with chicken wings, recipes with pimentón
Eddie
Turned out great with a few tweaks.
Great flavors.
There was no mention of where to add the chicken stock initially… and you never called for saffron either… just mentioned it in the notes.
Sorry to be nitpicky … it’s a fantastic dish.
- The son of a Spanish Chef ♥️
Chef Christina
No, higher compliment Eddie! I apologize for shoddy instructions, I don't really maintain this site anymore (I use Substack), but thanks for letting me know I can try and fix this one. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂