Who doesn’t enjoy a cazuela, piping hot of chicken and rice? This green version of the arroz con pollo is a twist on the typical recipe that I prepare. On most days, my recipe is more tomato and sweet pepper based, but I was having one of those days in the kitchen. You know those days, when you find yourself with ingredients at the end of the week that really need to be used up. I had three big poblano peppers and a pack of defrosted chicken thighs I had to do something with.
Every time I prepare arroz con pollo, it takes me back to that great episode of “I Love Lucy”. She was going to meet Ricky’s mom for the first time and wanted to impress her by preparing a Cuban style arroz con pollo. There are many dishes, just like this one, in Latin America that are so similar when it comes to preparing them. They all vary slightly in the ingredients, but the basics are the same. And the warm, comforting feelings of home and Mom’s or Abuela’s cooking are all the same as well.
This is a great recipe to prepare for large family dinners and it can be prepared a couple of days in advance. Although there are only two of us, I like this recipe because it’s freezer friendly and we can enjoy it another night when I don’t have time to cook.
Chicken and Rice(Arroz Con Pollo)
Ingredients
Ingredients
For Tomatillo Poblano Sauce
- 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos previously poached for 10 minutes in simmering water
- 1 roasted poblano roughly chopped
- 1 serrano sliced
- 1 fresh roma tomato quartered
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- Salt to taste
You will also need
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken thighs 6 pieces
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- Cumin
- Olive oil
- 1 cup white onion diced
- 2 roasted poblanos diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups long grain rice
- Cilantro for garnish
- Lime slices or wedges for garnish
Instructions
Directions
- In the blender, combine all of the ingredients for the tomatillo poblano sauce. Blend on high until smooth, taste for salt and set aside.
- Season the chicken on both sides with, salt, pepper, garlic and cumin to taste. In a large dutch oven style pot, preheat 4 tablespoons of olive oil to medium heat for 5 minutes. Brown and sear the chicken for 4 minutes per side and remove from pot.
- In the same pot, add the onion, poblanos and garlic. Season lightly with salt and pepper and saute for 5 minutes. Add the rice and saute for another 5 minutes, adding a little more oil if needed. Pulse the tomatillo poblano sauce in blender to mix again and then pour all the sauce into pot.
- Once it comes to a boil, add the chicken pieces back into pot making sure that most of the chicken is covered. Reduce heat, cover and continue cooking for 25 to 30 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Don't worry if the rice stick a little to the bottom of the pan. That's part of this tasty dish! Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes. Fluff rice with fork before serving. Garnish with lime slices/wedges and cilantro. Serve with warm tortillas.
Notes
Reader Interactions
Comments
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Gracias, Gracias Gary!!! Love the feedback!
What was Gary’s feedback?
Sorry Christy, some of my comments were deleted in my effort to keep up with all the spam comments that have been coming through my blog. He was thanking me for posting the recipe and loved the flavor combinations I used. 🙂
Is there a cannned or jarred substitute for the poached tomatillo? Looking to save time and if I did have the tine to poach the tomatillos how do do you do that
You peel and wash the fresh tomatillos and drop them into some simmering water for like 10-12 minutes. That’s it. There are canned tomatillos, but fresh is always best.
Got it….thank you
This is like the 2nd or 3rd recipe I’ve tried from your site and everything is just so wonderful and flavorful! I used canned tomatillos and chili pasilla (my supermarket didn’t have poblano peppers), and the recipe still came out so wonderful! Thank you for all your recipes!
This makes me soo happy Priscilla! Thank you for the feedback on the recipe. I love that you adapt the recipe and make it your own. Thank You!
I made this sauce with tomatillos from My garden and it was amazing! Thank you 🙂
Homegrown tomatillos, yummy! So happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Hola, Sonia! My third recipe I’m making from your site. I could not for the life of me find poblanos, so i googled closest peppers to poblanos and one site recommended Anaheims. So that’s what I went with. I also contemplated pasillas, but anaheim was the final answer lol. It’s still cooking so I will have to keep you posted! It smells sooooo delicous! Thank you for all of your delicious recipes. My mom passed away in October 2020, and she was always my go to for recipes and how to cook different things. She was a walking cook book. I have made it my goal now to learn more about different ingredients and recipes, and hopefully make my own 🙂
another hit! a little spicy for mine and my youngest daughters palate. my husband and my oldest daughter love spicy, so they thought it was perfect. we added some lime and flour tortillas to mask some of the hotness. still delicious! thank you!
Now you are making me hungry! Sounds delicious!
Hi Victoria, In the northeast they are called poblanos. In California and sometimes in Texas they are called pasilla. It’s very confusing. I don’t understand why they have different names. I always thought pasilla was the long skinny, almost black looking, dried chile that I use for mole. I am so happy you improvised and used the Anaheim peppers. That’s exactly what I would have done.
i’ve made this many times, and eventually I discovered that I can sub in a jar of salsa verde plus 1 c chicken broth for the homemade Tomatillo Poblano Sauce and get nearly identical results for a quick kids-have-sports-all-night dinner!
That’s awesome Becky! Any goof quality store bought salsa is a super shortcut for many Mexican recipes. It really saves time, I agree!