This traditional Spanish chicken stew is called pepperoni chicken, or chicken in almond sauce, and has a unique, creamy and delicious sauce. It’s one of my favorite Spanish chicken dishes for any occasion!
If you love chicken recipes, don’t miss these Milanese chicken and Alicante roasted chicken recipes.
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introduction
I ate pepperoni chicken many times as part of a today’s menu. Also traditional restaurant versions have never impressed me; typically, it was bright yellow Dye (powdered food coloring) instead of traditional saffron. For years, I lived in ignorance of what this dish could really be!
But while I was cooking at Claudia Roden The food of SpainI she was captured by his version of pepperoni chicken, which uses chicken legs instead of offal or chicken (hen) and includes cinnamon as an ingredient. I love cinnamon in savory dishes and had to know more.
Most recipes for pepperoni chicken I am simply seasoned with saffron, salt and pepper. But the oldest recipe I’ve found includes nutmeg, cloves, and ginger it is specifically anti-cinnamon!
Cinnamon would be part of the first pepitorias or not? Maybe I’ll never know the answer! But I made Claudia’s version with cinnamon and loved every last bite. It’s definitely a keeper in my book!
ingredients
You wonder what ingredients you’ll need For pepperoni chicken? Grab these key ingredients and you’ll be ready to make this delicious Spanish Chicken in Almond Sauce!
- Chicken broth: Use the best quality stock possible! If it’s homemade, great, otherwise buy the best you can find. In a stew like this it really makes a difference.
- Wine: You can use any dry white wine (I often use Rueda or Albariño, Pinot Grigio is also good). If you use sherry, make sure it’s a dry style like fino, manzanilla, or amontillado.
- almonds: Make sure you use raw almonds that do not have the skin, as they will give the stew a bitter taste. If you can use Marcona almonds, even better!
- Saffron: This stew gets much of its flavor from saffron, so please use the real thing. If you take a shortcut here, you’ll miss the taste!
See the recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How to prepare chicken in Pepitoria
If you would like to see full ingredients and instructions, scroll to the end of the post for the printable recipe card.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. (image 1)
- Brown the chicken on both sides in olive oil. (image 2)
- Dip the diced onion in the oil and sautéed until golden, then pour white wine. (image 3)
- Add the chicken into the pan, cover with chicken broth and add cinnamon and bay leaves. (image 4)
- About halfway through cooking, turn the chicken to make sure the cooking is even on both sides. (image 5)
- While it’s boiling, cook some hard-boiled eggs AND separate the yolks and whites. Dice the whites for later. (image 6)
- Prepare the almond and garlic paste to thicken the stew. Starting from fry the garlic and almonds in olive oil. (image 7)
- Incorporate them into the boiled egg yolks and a little of the cooking liquid. (image 8)
- Add the pasta to the stew with a pinch of saffron. Stir to mix it evenly with the stew and let it flavor simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the sauce is thick and delicious! (image 9)
- Serve with garlic rice and the chopped hard-boiled egg whites and enjoy your meal! (image 10)
Recipe FAQs
Pepitoria chicken it’s a Spanish stew that doesn’t have an exact English translation, but it’s the name a chicken stew prepared with all the edible parts of a bird, or only with offal, and whose sauce includes egg yolk. Alternatively, in Spanish cuisine, it can mean “a combination of different things without order”.
Pollo en pepitoria is a Spanish chicken stew believed to be of Moorish (Arabic) origin due to the almonds and saffron on the plate. Contains chicken or hen meat and/or offal, and is thickened with egg yolk and flavored with wine, broth, garlic and aromatic herbs.
THE oldest recipe I found that (since 1763!) it includes some interesting seasonings, like nutmeg, cloves, ginger, but no cinnamon like in the modern recipe I like by Claudia Roden The food of Spain.
Quite interesting, pepperoni chicken it is made by ingredients that were all available before the colonization of the Americas. There are no new world ingredients on the plate, such as potatoes, tomatoes or peppers – a rare phenomenon nowadays!
Pollo en pepitoria was first mentioned in a 1599 cookbook by Diego Granado, The art of cooking. Its creator is unknown, but it is believed to have Moorish (Arabic) origins due to the use of almonds and saffron in the sauce.
Serve
I truly love serving pepperoni chicken with rice, which my mother-in-law always cooks with a little garlic (here in Spain there is never too much garlic). But you could also serve it with homemade fries (my husband’s choice) or any baked or mashed potato dish.
Expert advice
- I prepared it using chicken legs, but you can use any part of the chicken you prefer. If you use chicken breasts, don’t brown them too much at the beginning to avoid them drying out too much.
- If you want the saffron to become even yellower, add a few strands to the white wine about 15 minutes before adding it to the stew. It will release a more beautiful yellow color (and saffron flavor!) to the dish.
Chicken in Pepitoria (Chicken in Almond Sauce)
This delicious chicken in almond sauce recipe is called pollo en pepitoria in Spanish. It’s one of my favorite Spanish recipes!
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Portions: 4 portions
Calories: 728.34kcal
Instructions
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Cover the bottom of a large, heavy skillet with olive oil and place over medium heat.
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Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the hot pan, browning briefly on each side. Remove the meat from the pan and lower the heat.
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Add the diced onion to the oil and sauté until golden brown, about 5 minutes, then add the white wine.
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Return the chicken to the pan and cover with the chicken broth, then add the bay leaves and cinnamon. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, turning the chicken about halfway through.
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In the meantime, cook the hard-boiled eggs, then separate the yolks from the whites. Save the egg yolks for the sauce and dice the egg whites for garnishing later.
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In another pan, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add the garlic and almonds (you can also add a couple of slices of broken stale bread if you want to make a classic chopped.) Fry until golden, then drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.
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Blend the almonds, garlic (bread if using) and hard-boiled egg yolks in a food processor until thick. If necessary, add a little of the chicken liquid to mix everything together better.
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Stir the pasta into the stew and add a pinch of saffron. Simmer, stirring often, until the sauce thickens and the chicken is cooked.
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Season with salt and pepper and serve. I like to serve the stew with rice, mashed potatoes, or bread for extra gravy, which isn’t traditional but is delicious. Garnish with chopped egg whites.
Notes
- I prepared it using chicken legs, but you can use any part of the chicken you prefer. If you use chicken breasts, don’t brown them too much at the beginning to avoid them drying out too much.
- If you want the saffron to become even yellower, add a few strands to the white wine about 15 minutes before adding it to the stew. It will release a more beautiful yellow color (and saffron flavor!) to the dish.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 728.34kcal | Carbohydrates: 15.04G | Protein: 37.24G | Fat: 53.23G | Saturated fats: 11.05G | Polyunsaturated fats: 9.58G | Monounsaturated fat: 28.2G | Trans fats: 0.13G | Cholesterol: 331.71mg | Sodium: 350.28mg | Potassium: 722.06mg | Fiber: 3.01G | Sugar: 5.03G | Vitamin A: 382.7UI | C vitamin: 3.72mg | Soccer: 112.3mg | Iron: 2.92mg
Photography by Giulia Verdinelli
