Pollo en Pepitoria
Chicken braised in an almond, saffron, and egg-yolk sauce.
Ingredients
- 8 Chicken thighs
- 60 g Almonds
- ¼ g Saffron
- 2 Egg
- 1 Onion
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 120 ml White wine
- 400 ml Chicken stock
- 3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
Method
- Hard-boil the eggs in a small pot of water (~10-12 min), then drain, cool, peel, and separate the yolks from the whites.
- While the eggs boil, chop the onion and garlic and toast the almonds in a dry pan until golden.
- Brown the chicken in the olive oil until golden, then add the onion and garlic and cook until softened.
- Add the white wine, chicken stock, saffron, and salt and braise until the chicken is tender.
- Pound the toasted almonds and the egg yolks into a paste and stir it into the sauce to thicken.
- Serve with the chopped egg whites scattered over the top.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Pollo en Pepitoria
Pollo en pepitoria is one of the oldest dishes in the Spanish repertoire, a braise with clear medieval and Moorish roots visible in its use of almonds, saffron, and egg yolk to thicken and enrich the sauce. This technique — a picada of pounded nuts binding the braising liquid — predates the arrival of tomatoes and peppers from the Americas, which makes pepitoria a rare window into an older Iberian kitchen. Chicken thighs are browned, then simmered with onion, garlic, white wine, and stock until tender, the saffron staining everything a warm gold.
The finish is what defines the dish and rewards the small effort: toasted almonds and hard-boiled egg yolks pounded to a paste, stirred in to thicken the sauce into something velvety, nutty, and gently perfumed rather than sharp. The chopped egg whites scattered over the top are a traditional flourish that adds a soft contrast. Elegant but deeply homely, pepitoria is the sort of dish reserved for family gatherings and special Sundays across Castile. It's best with bread or plain rice to carry that luxurious sauce.
Pollo en Pepitoria: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Pollo en Pepitoria?
A serving has about 819 calories — 48.9g protein, 11.6g carbs, 61.3g fat, 2.4g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 48.9g of protein, roughly 24% of its calories.
Is Pollo en Pepitoria gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Pollo en Pepitoria has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
How long does Pollo en Pepitoria take to make?
About 55 minutes start to finish, but only around 22 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
How many servings does Pollo en Pepitoria make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.