Pollo en pepitoria

Name: Pollo en pepitoria
Prep time: 13 min
Cook time: 23 min
Total time: 36 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: Pinch Saffron; 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 6 Garlic Clove; 35g Almonds; 30g Stale bread; 2 tbs chopped Parsley; 8 Chicken Thighs; 1 chopped Onion; 1 chopped Carrots; 1 chopped Celery; 250ml Dry sherry; 350ml Chicken Stock; 1 Cinnamon Stick; Pinch Cloves; 2 Bay Leaves; 2 Egg; 2 tblsp Almonds

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Chicken recipe with Spanish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 55 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 36 min total

Pinch Saffron
4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 Garlic Clove
35g Almonds
30g Stale Bread
2 tbs chopped Parsley
8 Chicken Thighs
1 chopped Onion
1 chopped Carrots
1 chopped Celery
250ml Dry Sherry
350ml Chicken Stock
1 Cinnamon Stick
Pinch Cloves
2 Bay Leaves
2 Egg
2 tblsp Almonds

Step-by-step instructions

Put the saffron in a small bowl with 75ml of just-boiled water. Stir and set aside. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a broad, shallow casserole dish. Cook the garlic until pale gold in colour, then add the blanched almonds and bread, and continue to fry until everything is golden. Tip into a food processor with some salt and pepper and the parsley, and whizz together.
Heat 2 more tbsp of the oil in the pan and brown the chicken all over, seasoning as you cook. Put in a bowl and set aside.
Remove all but about 2 tbsp of chicken fat from the pan and cook the onion, carrot and celery until golden. Add the sherry, stirring to dislodge any brown bits that have stuck to the pan. Pour in the stock and the saffron (with its water), and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer. Add the spices and bay leaves, and put the chicken back in the pan with any juices. Season and gently cook the chicken for about 40 mins with the lid on.
Transfer the chicken to a bowl again, leaving the sauce in the pan, and cover with foil to keep warm. Remove the yolks from the eggs and roughly chop the whites. Mash the egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually mix in a couple of tbsp of the sauce. Bring the remaining sauce to the boil to reduce a bit (you want it to just coat the chicken), then turn the heat down. Remove the bay and cinnamon stick. Add the egg yolks and cook for a few mins until the mixture has thickened. Stir in the almond mixture that you made earlier (this will thicken the sauce, too). Put the chicken back in the pan and heat it for about 3 mins, spooning the sauce over it. Season to taste.
Scatter over the extra parsley, the almonds pieces and the chopped egg whites (if you’re going to use them). You can serve this straight from the dish with some rice, if you like.

Why this works on a weeknight

Pollo en pepitoria lands at about 36 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Pollo en pepitoria actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Chicken Spanish