Chicken Vaca Frita has to be my all-time favorite dish that my suegros make. It is so delicious! It’s limey, crunchy, tasteful… honestly, it just has all the flavors you crave in one dish. Between you and me it is probably the main reason that I stayed with my wife because no one makes it like her parents. Just kidding! Or maybe I’m not…
Since my suegros don’t live in New York I have had to resort to making it myself. But you bet when we move back down, I am heading over for some homemade chicken vaca frita. Whenever they come visit, they always offer to make it, but I feel really bad having them cook when they are supposed to be on vacation therefore, I always say no and take a rain check. But I am cashing those in soon.
What if I don’t have a pressure cooker?
If you don’t have a pressure cooker that’s ok! You can just boil the chicken to shred it. All you have to do is place the onions, peppers, and chicken in a pot and cover the chicken with water, about 4-5 cups. Bring the water to a boil, bring it down to a simmer and cover the pot with a lid. Allow the chicken to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove a piece of chicken and attempt to shred it with a fork. If it does not shred easily, place it back in the water and allow it to cook for another 5 minutes.
Is it hard to make Chicken Vaca Frita?
It’s a little bit of work, and patience is needed to shred the chicken, but the end results are completely worth it! Something else you can do is make a chicken noodle soup from the broth that is left over in the pressure cooker. I’ll post the recipe for that soon. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy!
Also, if you love this recipe, check out the original Vaca Frita (fried shredded steak) and my Vaca Frita Tostones!
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken breast
- 3 tbsp Sazon Completo
- 2 Onions
- 1/2 Green Pepper
- 1/2 cup Lime Juice
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into 3×2 rectangles and season with sazon completo. Cut 1/2 an onion and 1/2 green pepper into quarters. Add everything into the pressure cooker and cover with water.
- Cook in the pressure cooker on high heat/high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Release the pressure and remove the chicken from the water. Using two forks shred the chicken into long strips. Cut 1 and ½ onions into slices.
- Cover a large sauté pan with oil and place on high heat. Once hot, add the chicken and the onions. Cook for about five minutes. Stir in the lime juice, and sazon completo and stir. Cook for another10-15 minutes until the chicken starts to become brown and crispy. Add salt to taste.
- Serve over a bed of rice and enjoy!
I had never heard chicken vaca frita but Im now addicted!!! I love it and healthier than my #1 favorite Cuban dish. I can now enjoy guilt free (sort of).
I’ve made this recipe at least 20 times. I’m not even exaggerating. My son and I love it. It’s so easy to make and I send the link out often to friends.
Amazing recipe. Simple to make and doesn’t disappoint.