Cuban Chicken Vaca Frita

This Cuban Chicken Vaca Frita Recipe is a step by step guide to making one of the most delicious Cuban dishes.

What is Chicken Vaca Frita

Chicken Vaca Frita is essentially shredded chicken sauteed and cooked to crispy perfection in a bed of onions, garlic and other seasonings. The seasonings include lime and orange as well as sazon to help give the chicken a big flavor punch as it cooks and gets crispy in the pan.

Try Our Classic Cuban Vaca Frita

What makes it so delicious? Mainly the fact that Cuban Chicken Vaca Frita is a garlic and onion paradise. This recipe is a shining example of how all Cuban food should be prepared- equal parts onions to protein. So what we are saying here is, this recipe calls for a lot of onions. It’s probably more onions than you may think are necessary, but don’t skimp on the onions. The onions make all the difference for the flavor and texture of this dish.

We also love this recipe because it really comes together nice and easy. The recipe below calls for rotisserie chickens. However you could also follow our Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Recipe, make some extra breasts and use the leftovers the next day to make this vaca frita. The point is to keep it as simple as possible.

The one thing that is going to make a big difference in your meal, is getting the chicken and onions a little crispy. It’s those crispy bites that have those hints of lime and orange that bring this dish to the next level. You want to have patience and not over crowd the pan. Then allow some bits of the chicken and onion to settle in on the pan before moving them around.

Our Tips for Making Cuban Chicken Vaca Frita

• The recipe calls for one rotisserie chickens or 4 chicken breasts or 4 chicken thighs. If you have a couple chicken thighs and a couple breasts- yes you can mix and match. If you want to do more chicken, just remember the first rule- don’t skimp on the onions.
• If you are cooking your bone-in chicken breasts or thighs, sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper and place in a sheet pan.  Then bake in a 400 degree oven for 45 – 60 minutes. Let it cool and then pull the chicken. (You can do this two days before.)
• A big tip when making Cuban Chicken Vaca Frita is to shed while the chicken is still slightly warm. It will give you the best results.
• But you do not want to over shred it. You still have to cook in the pan to give it that little fry, and the chicken will break down a little more there. So you don’t want to shred it too small at this point.
• When frying the chicken, you do not want to overcrowd the pan. It is best to work in batches, because you want bits of the chicken to get that nice crunch. You can’t get that crunch when there is too much chicken in the pot at the same time.
• If you want to move faster, use another pan at the same time.
• If you prefer to use another protein such as turkey or beef use the same process. Something about the way the lime hits the chicken- perfection.
• Serve it with The Perfect White Rice and Platano Maduros or Tostones!

Try Some of Our Other Delicious Cuban Recipes

Cuban Chicken Vaca Frita

Recipe by Abuela's Counter Course: EntreeCuisine: CubanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 small previously cooked rotisserie chickens (discard bones and skin. Pull and shred the chicken meat) OR 4 boneless skinless breasts and 4 boneless skinless thighs) 

• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, divided

• 3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced

• 6 garlic cloves, minced finely 

• 1 tablespoon of sazon

• 3 teaspoons of salt and freshly ground pepper

• Zest of two limes 

• Zest of one orange

• Juice of 1 orange

• Juice of the two limes 

• 1/2 cup of parsley, finely chopped 

• 1/2 cup of chicken broth (optional)

Directions

• Heat a large non-stick or ceramic sauté pan to high. Add the onions and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add 1/2 tablespoon of the sazon and 1 teaspoon of salt and fresh pepper.
  
  
• Saute the onions until soft in texture and golden brown in color. Then add the garlic and sauté for 2-4 minutes. Once they are ready, move the onions to the side of the pan. (If you have a very small pan, then remove them to a platter and set aside). 
  
• Then add 1/2 of the juice from the orange and the lime to deglaze the pan and flavor the onions. 
• Heat your pan to high. Add the shredded chicken, remaining oil, then sprinkle with the remaining sazon and all of the zest. Mix around again incorporating the spices into the chicken. Again remember if you have a small pan work in batches for this part to ensure you can get the chicken crispy.
  
• Mix together to combine let it sit and get hot. This is when you want to get parts of the chicken very crispy. Once all the chicken is crisp, you can put everything back in the pan and incorporate together. 
  If at any point you see it too dry add some chicken stock and the remaining juice to moisten it. 
  
• Sprinkle with chopped parsley and lime wedges.