Mexican Salsa Verde Chicken

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A simple Mexican recipe for salsa verde chicken or pollo en salsa verde, only 3 ingredients but so much flavor. Chicken thighs simmered in spicy salsa verde and served with rice.

CHICKEN IN SALSA VERDE

Such a simple recipe! And such glorious results! Tender chicken thighs and drumsticks slowly simmered in salsa verde, some zucchini added along the way and rice. If you like Mexican food, you will just love this chicken in salsa verde.

And you don’t even have to know much about Mexican food to be able to cook and enjoy this simple chicken in green sauce.

I’ve been cooking so much Mexican food lately… I think I must have cooked more Mexican dishes during this summer, than German or Romanian dishes. We just love it! Especially the children.

Whenever I ask one of them what they would like me to cook for dinner, most of the time the answer would be chicken enchiladas, tacos or quesadillas. And considering that we discovered Mexican food not sooooo long ago, that’s a lot of tacos and enchiladas we have been eating lately.

And why not? Every Mexican recipe I have cooked until now was easy to make, cheap and amazingly delicious. And due to the fact that I have been cooking all these dishes on repeat lately, I have managed to tweak them, so that they fit our taste perfectly. I hope you will enjoy them too!

INGREDIENTS FOR SALSA VERDE CHICKEN

Salsa verde:

• I used my homemade green tomato salsa verde. I preserved a rather large amount of green tomato salsa verde a few weeks ago and I have been using the salsa in several ways already.
• However, salsa verde made with tomatillos is great as well, I would to be able to make that, but unlike green tomatoes, tomatillos are not really available around here.

Can I use store-bought salsa verde?

• Making my recipe for green tomato salsa verde is definitely not mandatory. You can use your own recipe for making salsa verde or you can use a store-bought salsa verde.
• I always think that everything homemade tastes better, but I am sure that you can find really good brands of salsa verde that you can use for making salsa verde chicken.

Chicken:

• I had whole chicken legs, which I divided at the joint before cooking.

How to divide chicken legs at the joint?

• Hold the chicken thigh with one hand and the chicken leg with the other hand. Bend the chicken leg until the joint dislocates.
• Cut through the dislocated joint with a sharp knife or use kitchen shears. Remove the excess fat and skin from the chicken parts.
• If you wish, you can use only chicken thighs or only chicken drumsticks.

HOW TO MAKE SALSA VERDE CHICKEN?

How to fry the chicken?

• Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan or cast iron casserole dish, something that has a fitting lid.
• Place the chicken parts, skin side down, in the pan and fry without moving until the skin is deeply golden.
• Don’t try to move the chicken around the pan for the first 4-5 minutes or so, only flip it when you notice that you can easily lift it from the pan without the skin sticking to the bottom of the pan. Don’t rush or all the nice golden skin will be lost.
• Flip the chicken parts and continue cooking the chicken on the other side for another 4-5 minutes or until golden.

How to cook salsa verde chicken?

• Add the salsa verde to the chicken in the pan and some water.
• Let simmer, covered, for about 25 minutes.
• Add the zucchini chunks and continue simmering for further 15 minutes.
• Remove the lid from the pan during the last 5 minutes of the cooking time, so that the sauce can reduce slightly.
• Taste and add some salt, if necessary.

How to check if the chicken is done?

• Make sure that the chicken thighs are cooked through.
• I take one out of the pan and make a small cut on the underside of the chicken, near the bone.
• The meat around the bone should be white and not pink or bloody.
• If it is so, continue cooking the chicken until cooked through.

HOW TO SERVE SALSA VERDE CHICKEN?

• Serve the chicken in salsa verde on rice. We had brown rice this time, but white rice is probably more genuine. Whatever you like best.
• You can also remove the bones of the chicken, shred the meat roughly and mix it well with the salsa verde sauce. Use this mixture to make enchiladas or fill tortillas, make burritos or tacos.
• I used the leftover chicken to fill tortillas the next day. I added some avocado and cheese and it was delicious!

And because I was mentioning my children loving this chicken in salsa verde and other Mexican dishes so much, here are some of their constant requests when it comes to cooking. Not only Mexican recipes.

Chicken or Turkey Fricassee

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Oven Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Beef and Pork Meatballs

Egg Salad with Chives

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