Cuban Pollo Empanizado

This Cuban Pollo Empanizado Recipe is going to show you how to make this very crispy, very delicious breaded chicken recipe right at home.

What is Pollo Empanizado

Pollo empanizado is a classic Cuban dish. It is thinly sliced chicken that is breaded and fried until golden brown. Pollo empanizado is succulent on the inside and crispy on the outside. We highly recommend finishing it with a squeeze of lemon or lime and crunchy sea salt for that over the top perfect bite.

How to Make Pollo Empanizado

Every country has their version of thin chicken or pork dipped in egg or milk and then breaded with some kind of breading, cracker meal, fresh or dried bread crumbs. The Italians have milanesa. The Germans have schnitzel. The Japanese have tonkatsu. Cubans have pollo empanizado. 

What Breading Should You Use

Typically, Cuban pollo empanizado uses very fine Cuban cracker meal for the breading. We like to use a mixture of cracker meal and bread crumbs for our recipe. It is predominantly cracker meal, but we like that the bread crumbs give it a little bit of heft and texture.

How Thick Should The Chicken Be 

The thickness of the chicken is up to you. Some like it very thin but keep in mind the chicken can dry out if it’s pounded too thin. It is chicken breast after all. We prefer the thickness to be somewhere in the middle. You can slice the chicken off the breast yourself or buy the chicken breast thinly sliced. We find that those often need to be pounded out. 

If you don’t have a mallet, we think it’s something that you can definitely use! HERE is a great one you never know when the craving for this recipe will strike.

What to Serve with Our Pollo Empanizado

Serve it with rice and beans or with some greens tossed with lemon. French fries and pollo empanizado are never a bad idea. 

Our Pollo Empanizado Tips

Breading: the best tip we can give you is to let the chicken rest in the fridge once it is breaded. We get it you may not have the time to do that but if you have the time it is worth it. This will ensure the breading sticks to the chicken and doesn’t peel away after it is fried. 

We like breading the chicken once. It’s sturdy enough to hold on to the chicken but it doesn’t overpower the chicken breast. If you like a thicker breading you can pass the chicken through the breading, then egg mixture then the breading again. 

Just remember however thick you like your chicken, make sure all the chickens are more or less the same. This will help all the chicken cook evenly.

The oil you use matters. We use avocado oil because it can get very hot without smoking and it doesn’t impart any flavor. Change your oil if necessary. Once the oil burns and the breading pieces collect at the bottom and burn, the chicken will also get very dark and can burn the outside. By changing the oil, the chicken will stay golden as it cooks. If you plan on doubling the amount of chicken you will need to double the oil and change it midway. 

Reheating Pollo Empanizado: The best way is the air fryer or in an oven at 350 degrees for a few minutes. The microwave will make them very soggy.