Pastelillos de Pollo (Chicken Empanadas)

Chicken Recipe Ingredients

• Boneless Chicken thighs- Since these are chicken pastelillos we use chicken thighs. I use thighs because is the best part of the chicken to make shredded chicken. You can also use chicken breast if you like.
• Sofrito & tomato sauce- The sofrito is the ingredient that gives the chicken that Puerto Rican flavor most of the recipes have. We also use tomato sauce but can be substitute for ½ of what you need with tomato paste.
• Seasonings- We use chicken bouillon, adobo, and sazon for flavor and color. We also add crushed oregano.
• Vegetables- I used half of an onion and ¼ of a red and green pepper. But you can leave anything you don’t like out.
• Garlic paste- I always suggest using fresh garlic.
• Oil- The oil is used to sear the chicken. I used vegetable oil, but you can use your preferred oil or even achiote oil to add more color.

Dough Recipe Ingredients

• All-purpose flour- No need for any special flour, all we need is all-purpose flour.
• Salt- You just need a little bit of salt, not too much because most of the flavor will come from the filling.
• Vegetable shortening- The shortening helps the dough have a very flaky texture.
• Achiote Oil- The achiote oil is what is going to give the dough that beautiful yellowish color. If you don’t have any, just use any neutral flavor oil. If you still want to add color, just add a packet of sazon seasoning.
• Water- Just plain old water for this.

How to Make Pastelillos de Pollo

• Photo 1: The first step is to mix all the dough ingredients all together. In the image you see that I added the achiote oil once most of the ingredients were incorporated but it can be add it at the beginning. Just make sure to mix everything until all the loose flour comes together.
• Photo 2: Then put all the dough on a flat surface and knead for 10 minutes. When done, you should have a smooth dough. Once finished, put the dough on a plate to rest. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

• Photo 3: Now, add a little bit of flour onto a flat surface. Then roll your dough until is about ⅛ of an inch thick. Which is about 2 quarters thick. You need balance. You cann’t make the dough to thin because is going to break when folding. But you also don’t want it too thick because it will be too bready.
• Photo 4: Then we need to make the pastelillo disks. I used a margarita cup, but there are many tools that you can use for this. You can use a 4-inch cookie cutter. Make sure to cover the disks if a long time is going to pass between the time you make the disks and the time you make the pastelillos.

• Photo 5: While the dough rests, we make the filling. First, we roughly chop the vegetables to about ¼ inch thick. We cut them small so they can be very tender after they’re cooked.
• Photo 6: Then put the chicken into a bowl, add all the seasonings and oregano. Mix until all the chicken is covered. We do not need to let the chicken marinate, we will cook it right away.

• Photo 7: In a big pan over high heat we add the oil. Once the pan is hot we add the thighs and sear for 6 minutes on both sides. We want to let the thighs get a nice browning which will add a lot of flavor.
• Photo 8: Then, add the vegetables, sofrito, tomato sauce and garlic paste. Give it a good mix, cover and finish cooking for eight minutes. Once finished, let the chicken cool and shred it.

• Photo 9: Make the pastelillos by adding 2 tablespoons of the shredded chicken. Make sure that the meat filling is cool before adding.
• Photo 10: Then, first seal these pastelillos with the tip of your fingers. You can skip this step if you are using a press for empanada.

• Photo 11: Use a fork to seal the end of the puerto rican empanadas on both sides. If you want to make chicken empanadillas instead, just make a braid on the border.
• Photo 12: Fry for 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. These fry pretty quickly because the dough is thin.