At first glance, Pollo en Escabeche looks almost too simple. Chicken. Vinegar. Onions. Carrots. But don’t let that fool you. Give these humble ingredients a little time to simmer together and this becomes something special. Fall-apart tender chicken, the vegetables soak up a bright, tangy broth, and every bite carries the kind of flavor that will win your heart.
What is Pollo en Escabeche?
Escabeche, pronounced (es-kah-BECH-ay) is a classic Mexican recipe in which you sear meat or fish, in this case chicken, then marinate it in a vinegary sauce loaded with herbs and spices and serve it cold or at room temperature on a hot day. Escabeche is simply an old preservation method using vinegar.
There are many regional versions of escabeche served with some sort of meat:
| Style | Main Protein | Marinade | Vegetables | Flavor Profile |
|---|
| Spanish | Fish, game birds | Vinegar, olive oil, white wine, bay leaf | Few vegetables | Bright, herbal, tangy |
| Mexican | Chicken, pork, fish, vegetables | Vinegar with oregano, bay leaves | Carrots, onions, jalapeños | Tangy, mildly spicy |
| Yucatán | Chicken or turkey | Sour orange (or citrus) plus vinegar, achiote | Red onions, carrots, garlic, chiles | Earthy, citrusy, smoky |
| Cuban | Fish is most common | Citrus and vinegar with garlic | Onions, bell peppers | Garlic-forward, lightly sweet, citrusy |
Mexican Escabeche
This version is a traditional Mexican version of escabeche using chicken, pickled jalapenos, carrots and onions.
What To Expect From This Recipe
- Pollo en Escabeche is made by seasoning and cooking skin on, bone-in chicken in a flavorful mixture of vinegar, oil, spices, and vegetables. The result is tender and juicy chicken with a tangy and slightly spicy flavor.
- Big on flavor and easy to make.
- A dish that will work for any occasion. Whether cooking for your family or entertaining guests, this dish is sure to impress and a dish that will work for any occasion.
- It’s a healthy dinner option.
- It can be served hot or cold, making it a good choice for a picnic chicken meal, or a pot luck contribution. However, I’ve always served it hot.
- Naturally gluten free.
What Makes This Version Special?
- This is a Rick Bayless Recipe, who in my books is the king of Mexican Cooking.
- Culinary school taught me balance. The vinegar in this dish should brighten the flavors rather than overwhelm and taste harsh. I’ve tried many version of chicken escabeche and this one creates a mellow rounded sauce.
- I like Bayless’ recommendation for bone in, skin on chicken breasts. No short cuts using boneless, skinless breasts. The bone and skin help keep the chicken moist and brings more flavor.
If you’ve never made authentic pollo en escabeche before, you’re in for a delicious surprise.
Key Ingredients
- Split Chicken Breasts: Bone in, skin on.
- Vegetables: Sweet or yellow onion, carrots, jalapeno peppers, pickled or fresh.
- Carrot: Sliced on the diagonal
- Spices: Mexican Oregano, Kosher Salt, Allspice, Freshly Ground Pepper
- Broth: Vinegar and chicken broth
Mexican Oregano is preferred for this recipe. It's peppery, grassy, earthy flavor is a good compliment for Mexican Food. If you don't have Mexican Oregano, substitute Marjoram. Known for its aroma and delicate flavor, its related to oregano and will bring a sweet undertone to any recipe.
Best Chicken For Escabeche:
- You can substitute bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, or a combo of bone-in, skin-on breasts and thighs. And if you feel like taking the time, cut up a whole chicken.
Best Vinegar To Use:
- I prefer Apple Cider Vinegar. It’s not quite as harsh as white vinegar and will bring a more balanced flavor.
Chef-Tip: Vinegar is an MVP pantry workhorse that I use almost as much as salt and pepper. Vinegar is an acid. Adding just a small amount will brighten and balance flavors.
Step by Step Instructions, It’s Easy!
Consider this is a relatively easy recipe for your chicken meal plans this week.
- Step 1: Use a paper towel to pat the chicken dry. In a small bowl, combine the black pepper, allspice, oregano and salt. Sprinkle half of this mixture over the chicken pieces.
- Step 2: Heat the oil in a very large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Lay in the chicken, skin side down, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, turning once, until richly browned. Remove the chicken to a plate, leaving behind as much oil as possible.
Pro Tip Knife Skills: Always keep the hand that’s gripping the knife clean and dry. A wet hand could cause slips resulting in nicks or worse a nasty slice on your hand.
- Step 3: Add the sliced onion and carrots to the skillet and cook, stirring regularly, until the onion is browned, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, then add the remaining seasoning mixture, the vinegar, jalapenos and broth.
- Step 4: Nestle the chicken pieces skin side up in the onion mixture, cover the skillet (a cookie sheet works if your skillet doesn't have a lid) and simmer gently over a medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Taste the broth and season with additional salt if you think it's needed. Transfer a piece of chicken to each dinner plate, spooning a generous portion of the juicy vegetable mixture over the top.
Pro Tip: Don't skip searing the meat. This is a crucial step in getting the most flavor out of this meal. Searing creates what is technically called Maillard reaction. Maillard reaction is the process where a crust is created. Simply stated, it's responsible for the complex flavors and aroma that makes bread taste toasty, and a grilled or seared burger taste charred. It's a technique that brings science to your cooking skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I had to use one word, I’d say “exciting”. It’s vibrant, tangy, aromatic, mellow with garlic with tender juicy chicken. The onions even bring a slight sweetness to the overall flavor.
Pickled jalapeno peppers can pack quite a bit of heat, so the answer is yes, in a vinegary sort of way. If you want to take the time, remove the veins and seeds for a milder experience.
Both. It can be served immediately after cooking as a hot meal. Or you can refrigerate an escabeche entree for 24 hours and serve it cold or at room temperature.
Simply introduce an opposing flavor. Add a pinch of sugar or honey.
Tips For Success
- Don’t Skip Drying The Chicken: Using a paper towel to pat away the moisture on the meat goes a long way in a better sear once that chicken hits the skillet.
- Don’t Rush: Don’t rush the browning process. That golden crust equals big flavor. It’s called Maillard Reaction. The best example of this is what your toaster does to bread.
- Simmer Gently: Don’t let the sauce boil while you cook. A gentle simmer will give the vegetables and chicken a chance to soak up all of those flavors.
- Overnight Rest: Even though I’ve always served this dish hot, I did test the flavor of the leftover chicken after a rest in the refrigerator overnight. The flavors were indeed better, for the same reasons soups always taste better the next day. Make ahead and serve cold or at room temperature if you’d like.
What To Serve With Pollo en Escabeche
With carrots and onions, this is almost a meal in itself. You can also serve it with:
- Toasted Mexican Green Rice
- Cast Iron Skillet Potatoes
- Refried Beans
- Top it with a dollop of Guacamole
- Or keep things super healthy with this Southwestern Salad.
- Warmed flour or corn tortillas.
Make Ahead, Storage, Leftovers
- Refrigerator: Escabeche de pollo will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days in an air tight container.
- Freezer: Place any leftovers, including sauce and vegetables in a freezer safe container. I like to use a zip-lock style freezer bag. Squeeze out the air, lay the chicken and sauce flat, and it will store in a tidy manor in the freezer for up to three months. Be sure and label and date the bag.
- Reheating: To reheat, place chicken in a microwave safe bowl and loosely cover. Microwave on 50% power in one minute increments until warm and steamy. I find that gently heating using the method will keep the chicken from drying out.
- Make Ahead: Even though this is an easy chicken dinner, get a head start and chop the vegetables and pull together the spice mix in advance. This will save you a few minutes come time to cook the chicken. This dish can also be made a day ahead and served at room temperature or cold.
FAQ’s
You can, but I recommend you stick with bone-in, skin-on. Why? Those two elements brings more flavor and will keep the chicken from drying out.
In Conclusion
Try Pollo en Escabeche! This traditional Mexican dish features tender chicken cooked in a tangy, sweet, and sour sauce, along with a colorful medley of vegetables. Perfect for a quick weeknight meal or for entertaining guests. Impress your family and friends with this mouthwatering Mexican chicken entree!
Explore More Traditional Mexican Chicken Recipes
And if you love Mexican food as much as we do, don’t miss our Mexican Category. You’ll find lots of great recipes including the most popular on my site for Campechana, Mexican Shrimp Cocktail.
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I’m sure it comes to no surprise that this is a tried and true Rick Bayless Recipe. I hope you give it a try.
Mexican Pollo en Escabeche
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon Ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons Dried oregano preferably Mexican
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 4 Chicken breast halves bones and skins intact, about 2 pounds
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
- 1 large Sweet onion cut into ¼-inch slices
- 2 large Carrots peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick on a diagonal
- 4 cloves Garlic peeled and halved
- ¼ cup Apple cider vinegar
- 2 to 4 Canned pickled jalapenos stemmed, seeded and sliced.
- 1 cup Chicken broth
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the black pepper, allspice, oregano and salt. Sprinkle half of this mixture over the chicken breasts.
- Heat the oil in a very large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Lay in the chicken, skin side down, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, turning once, until richly browned. Remove the chicken to a plate, leaving behind as much oil as possible.
- Add the sliced onion and carrots to the skillet and cook, stirring regularly, until the onion is browned, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, then add the remaining seasoning mixture, the vinegar, jalapenos and broth.
- Nestle the chicken pieces skin side up in the onion mixture, cover the skillet (a cookie sheet works if your skillet doesn't have a lid) and simmer gently over a medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 15-20 minutes or until a digital thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 165 degrees. Taste the broth and season with additional salt if you think it's needed. Transfer a piece of chicken to each dinner plate, spooning a generous portion of the juicy vegetable mixture over the top.
- You can either remove the meat from the bone and slice or serve chicken breasts whole.
Notes
- Don’t Skip Drying The Chicken: Using a paper towel to pat away the moisture on the meat goes a long way in a better sear once that chicken hits the skillet.
- Don’t Rush: Don’t rush the browning process. That golden crust equals big flavor. It’s called Maillard Reaction. The best example of this is what your toaster does to bread.
- Simmer Gently: Don’t let the sauce boil while you cook. A gentle simmer will give the vegetables and chicken a chance to soak up all of those flavors.
- Overnight Rest: Even though I’ve always served this dish hot, I did test the flavor of the leftover chicken after a rest in the refrigerator overnight. The flavors were indeed better, for the same reasons soups always taste better the next day. Make ahead and serve cold or at room temperature if you’d like.
Nutrition
Pollo en Escabeche …. It’s What’s For Dinner
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
I love that this has cider vinegar in it also! What a woncerful, flavorful recipe that’s also low in fat.
This was delicious! I served it on mashed potatoes tonight’ they soaked up the juice along with the butter I put on them. we love it’ thank you.
Sounds wonderful! Hot or cold, I think it would be delicious!
Escabeche-anything is wonderful! Works best with chicken or fish, I think. This looks terrific — just loaded with flavor. Thanks!
YUM! So easy with tons of flavor! You can’t beat that!!!
That looks really good and such a professional presentation. I love one pan meals.
This is a mouth watering delicious meal!
This sounds delicious Lee Ann – the perfect meal with plenty of flavor. Have a terrific weekend 🙂
This is a new one for me. Have never heard of Escabeche. Interesting dish – serving it cold. This would be great in the summer when I’m always looking for cold dishes rather than warm dishes. Pinning so I can remember to make it when the weather warms up more than it already is. What a unusually warm winter for us!
I made this for supper last night and we both loved it. I did serve it warm over wild rice for a complete meal. The vinegar was not too strong for the husband which was surprising since he’s not much of a vinegar person. Loved the flavors! Thanks for sharing.
Lea Ann, Rick Bayless knows his stuff (as do you)! I can taste this right now. I’m not going to be happy until I make this!