Home » Pollo Frito (Cuban Fried Chicken)
Pollo Frito

Pollo Frito (Cuban Fried Chicken)

Pollo Frito, or Fried Chicken, is one of those foods sent down to us from the heaven. Pollo Frito has a way of bringing you right back home. It’s comfort food. It is it’s own love language.

This Pollo Frito recipe is a special one. Cristy’s family has been making Fried Chicken using mojo as far back as she can remember. Her dad used to make this recipe every year to celebrate Abuela’s birthday.

We would make fried chicken for over 50 people! Can you imagine? The night before we would grab gallon zip lock bags and fill them with chicken and season them with salt and pepper and soak them in mojo. The smell would fill the house. It’s a smell that can bring a smile to anyone’s face.

Cristy

All Fried Chicken recipes are amazing. There is no wrong way to do it. Most Fried Chicken recipes call for egg, flour and breadcrumbs. Here however we are using Mojo as the binding agent so there are no eggs. We also find that when you take the chicken straight from the flour, you get such a nice breading color that you don’t even need the breadcrumbs.

Try Our Mojo Recipe for even better results!

The lack of breadcrumbs makes the chicken so light. It allows the the mojo flavor to really shine through. We don’t want to say that this make this a “healthy” fried chicken recipe. We are frying this in oil. However if you want to make it a little healthier, you can stick them in the Air Fryer to achieve a similar result.

But when you need the Fried Chicken to be what it truly is, you can either use your stove top or your Deep Fryer. If you are using your stove top, get a wide pan and fill it with about 2 inches of oil. Let it get nice and hot before bringing your chicken in. Allowing the oil to get hot, will cut your cooking time and also allow you to get a good color on the chicken without burning or over cooking.

If you are short on time, you can fry the chicken on the stove top, making sure to turn it over and get a great color all over. Then you can transfer the chicken to a sheet pan and cook them in the oven on 325 for 10-20 minutes depending on how much they cooked on stove top.

Serve it with The Perfect White Rice and Tostones

For something similar try our Pollo Empanizado or Chicharron de Pollo

Pollo Frito (Cuban Fried Chicken)

Recipe by Abuelas Cuban CounterCourse: EntreeCuisine: Cuban AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

8

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

40

minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 Chicken Drumsticks*

  • 2 cups of Abuela’s mojo

  • 1- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

  • Pepper to taste

  • 2 tablespoons salt (kosher preferred) 

  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

  • 2 tablespoons Abuela’s Sazon (or a prepackaged Sazon of your choice)

  • Smart Balance Oil Blend (half canola half olive oil)

Directions

  • 12- 24 hours before you plan on making the chicken, place the chicken in a big ziplock bag and season it with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. Then cover it in Mojo marinade.  Our Mojo is best, but any Mojo will do. If you don’t have 12 hours, try to let it marinade for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

  • Begin heating oil until it gets to 375 degrees
  • In another large zip lock bag or tray place the flour, remaining salt, pepper, and Abuela’s Sazon. If you do not have the sazon, use 1 tsp of garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and paprika and mix it into the flour.
  • Bring the chicken out of the marinade and place into the flour mixture. Make sure it is covered all over. Remove the chicken from the flour mixture, dust it off and begin to fry for about 5-7 minutes (on medium heat) on each side or until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.
    Sprinkle with a little kosher salt, and some lime on the side.

Notes

  • *or you can get a pack of drumsticks, wings, or just bone in chicken breasts- whatever your preference. We have even made this with boneless chicken breast and it’s delicious.