Pepián de Pollo

Guatemalan chicken stew in red sauce

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Servings: 4

Guatemala’s national dish, Pepián de Pollo is considered a flavorful comfort food. Rooted in Mayan cuisine with Spanish influences, the falling-apart, twice cooked chicken in this stew goes well with rice and avocado. You’d think its earthy, rustic sauce made of pepitas, tomatoes and dried peppers would be hot, but fear not, it’s on the mild side.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, 4–5 pounds, cut into serving pieces

5 cups water or more as needed

2 teaspoon salt or to taste

1-inch cinnamon stick

½ cup pepitas

½ cup sesame seeds

2 pieces of French bread

5 fresh Roma tomatoes

1 Chile Pasa (Pasilla) dried, seeds and stem removed*

1 Chile Guaque (Guajillo) dried, seeds and stem removed*

1 white onion, medium

¼ teaspoon dried achiote

½ cup cilantro

Pre-cooked green beans and potato (optional)

Directions

Simmer the cut-up chicken in 5 cups of water (just enough to cover) with salt for 30 minutes. Skim off any grey scum that forms. Drain and reserve the broth for the sauce.
Meanwhile, toast the cinnamon stick, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds separately in the dry skillet (no oil) until browned but not burned. The pumpkin seeds will pop when fully toasted.
Dry roast the French bread in the same dry skillet, remove and pour a bit of water over to moisten and set aside.
Char the Roma tomatoes, chiles and onion over a dry skillet (with no oil) in batches until very well browned.
Process the toasted seeds and cinnamon stick in a spice grinder or food processor until they are a very fine powder. Pulse until the mixture is fine.
Add the charred tomatoes, chiles and onion to the food processor. No need to peel the tomatoes or onions.
Add the seed mixture to the food processor if not already there. Add the achiote, cilantro and a half teaspoon of salt. Process until very smooth.
Add the toasted French bread and four cups of reserved chicken broth to the tomato, spice and seed mixture and process until very smooth. Do this in batches to avoid overloading the food processor.
Pour the sauce into the pot; bring to a low boil. Add the chicken. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes or until the sauce is very thick and a deep red color. Add more water to thin if you like.
Add any chopped, pre-cooked vegetables.
Serve with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds over white rice with fresh avocado on the side.

*Found in Hispanic grocery stores or often in supermarket Hispanic food sections.

Recipe recommended by Arturo Rivera, the Guatemalan photographer who helped document North Carolina’s Brighter World initiative in 2026. Adapted from a recipe by Thelma de Valdez, shared on atastefortravel.ca.