The national dish of Guatemala is made with pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, roma tomatoes, chiles, and chicken. You will love this taste of Guatemala!
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Recipe Origins
Pepián de Pollo is commonly referred to as Guatemala’s national dish. It is made by serving chicken in a sauce made of chiles, pumpkin and sesame seeds, tomatoes, and onions.
Pepián de Pollo is a dish common in Mayan culture. The toasted sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds are ground together to create something called a pepitoria, which thickens the sauce and makes for a delicious flavor. The base sauce for this dish is called a recado, meaning a sauce that meat is cooked in.
This dish most likely dates back to Guatemala in an era before the Spaniards arrived. At first, the dish was eaten primarily on special holidays, but as the people of Guatemala fell more in love with it, Pepián de Pollo became a more commonplace dish.
Why Make this Recipe
- “Travel” to Guatemala: If you’ve ever wanted to travel to Guatemala, this is a great way to experience the tastes of the country from your own kitchen!
- Delicious Sauce: The sauce (recado) is absolutely delicious with so many fun ingredients! Before trying this Pepián de Pollo recipe, I had never tried a sauce with tortillas or pumpkin seeds as ingredients. I really enjoyed it!
What Ingredients Do I Need?
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
- Chicken: I used chicken breast cut up into bite sized pieces, but I have also seen recipes using chicken drumsticks.
- Pumpkin Seeds/Pepitas: Shelled, unroasted, unsalted.
- White Onion: In this recipe we keep the skin on the white onion, cooking it right into the dish. So make sure you choose an organic onion if possible!
- Chiles: You will need a Chile Pasilla and Chile Guajillo. See info below on where to find these chiles.
- Achiote: You can also substitute paprika if you can’t find achiote.
How to Make this Recipe
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Step 1: Cook the Chicken
In a large pot, add the chicken pieces and enough water to cover the top of the chicken. Bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and add salt.
Allow the chicken to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until it turns white and is cooked through. Skim off any residue left on top of the water as the chicken is cooking. When the chicken is done cooking, remove the chicken from the water, and reserve the water (now broth).
Step 2: Char/Toast your Ingredients
While your chicken is cooking, heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and cinnamon to the dry skillet.
Toast the combination until the seeds begin to turn brown. Once toasted, remove the seeds and set aside.
Keeping the skillet over medium heat, add the corn tortillas. Toast until brown on one side. Then use tongs to flip over until browned on the other side.
Once the tortillas are toasted, remove them from the heat. Put them in a small bowl with a thin layer of water to soften the tortillas.
Turn the heat on the skillet to high. Once heated, add the roma tomatoes into the skillet, and cook, turning, until the skin is charred. Once charred, remove the tomatoes and set aside.
Next, add the onion (skin still on), the Chile Pasilla, and the Chile Guajillo. Turn until the skin is charred. Then remove and set aside.
Step 3: Grind the Ingredients
Add the cinnamon stick to a spice grinder and pulse until the cinnamon is finely ground.
In a food processor, add the sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds. Put the lid on the food processor and pulse until finely ground. Remove the ground pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds to a small bowl and set aside.
Step 4: Make the Sauce
In the food processor, add the charred roma tomatoes, the onion (still not peeled) the chile pasilla, and the chile guajillo. Add the lid to the food processor, and pulse until ground finely.
Add the paprika (or achiote), the cilantro, the ground cinnamon, the sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Pulse together until fully combined.
Add the corn tortillas and 4 cups of the reserved chicken water. Pulse until everything is fully combined and smooth.
Step 5: Cook it All Together
Pour the sauce into a large pot and bring it to a low boil. Add the chicken and simmer for 15 minutes.
Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and with avocado on the side. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Serve on a bed of white rice, topped with cilantro and sesame seeds!
- A lot of recipes for Pepián de Pollo char tomatillos with the onion and roma tomatoes instead of the dried chiles. You can use either.
- In Guatemala, vegetables are normally charred in a comal, which is a metal grill. If you don’t have a comal at home, you can use an ungreased cast iron skillet in its place.
- If you want a thinner Pepián de Pollo, you can add more water to thin out the sauce! This is up to your personal preference
- If you don’t have a spice grinder, you can also use ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
Adding Vegetables
If you want, you can also add additional vegetables to this recipe. Some common variations include:
- Potatoes
- Green Beans
- Corn
- Pears
- Squash
- Anything else you think sounds good!
Recipe FAQs
Finding the chiles for this recipe was a little difficult for me. You might be able to find them at a Mexican grocery store if you go looking! They will be dried and most likely in the spice section.
If you don’t have time to drive 45 minutes one-way to a Mexican grocery store (darn suburbs-living), you can also order them offline! I ordered this package and it had everything I needed. And make sure to keep them on hand in case you want to make a Mexican mole in the future!
As is indicated by the name, Pepián de Pollo always includes chicken (pollo means “chicken” in Spanish).
However, if you want to include other forms of protein in your pepián, you certainly can! Other popular options include pork or beef.
Did you like this recipe for Pepián de Pollo? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
Pepian de Pollo
Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet
- Large Pot
- Food Processor
- Spice Grinder (Optional)
- Wooden Spoon
- Tongs
Ingredients
- 3 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Pumpkin Seeds, also called pepitas, Shelled
- ½ cup Sesame Seeds
- 1 cinnamon Stick
- 2 Corn Tortillas
- 5 Fresh Tomatoes Roma
- 1 White Onion medium, skin left on
- 1 Chile Pasa, Pasilla dried, seeds and stem removed
- 1 Chile Guaque, Guajillo seeds and stem removed dried
- ¼ tsp Achiote, can use paprika
- ½ cup Cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot, add 3 lb chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces and enough water to cover the top of the chicken. Bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and add 1 ½ tsp salt. Allow the chicken to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until it turns white and is cooked through. Skim off any residue left on top of the water as the chicken is cooking. When the chicken is done cooking, remove the chicken from the water, and reserve the water (now broth).
- While your chicken is cooking, heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add ½ cup pumpkin seeds, ½ cup sesame seeds, and 1 cinnamon stick to the dry skillet. Toast the combination until the seeds begin to turn brown. Once toasted, remove the seeds and set aside.
- Keeping the skillet over medium heat, add 2 corn tortillas. Toast until brown on one side. Then use tongs to flip over until browned on the other side.
- Once the tortillas are toasted, remove them from the heat. Put them in a small bowl with a thin layer of water to soften the tortillas.
- Turn the heat on the skillet to high. Once heated, add 5 roma tomatoes into the skillet, and cook, turning, until the skin is charred. Once charred, remove the tomatoes and set aside.
- Next, add 1 white onion (skin still on), 1 Chile Pasa (Pasilla), and 1 Chile Guaque (Guajillo). Turn until the skin is charred. Then remove and set aside.
- Add the cinnamon stick to a spice grinder and pulse until the cinnamon is finely ground.
- In a food processor, add the sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds. Put the lid on the food processor and pulse until finely ground. Remove the ground pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds to a small bowl and set aside.
- In the food processor, add the charred roma tomatoes, the onion (still not peeled) the chile pasilla, and the chile guajillo. Add the lid to the food processor, and pulse until ground finely. Add ¼ tsp paprika (or achiote), 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, the ground cinnamon, the sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Pulse together until fully combined.
- Add the corn tortillas and 4 cups of the reserved chicken water. Pulse until everything is fully combined and smooth.
- Pour the sauce into a large pot and bring it to a low boil. Add the chicken and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and with avocado on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken: I used chicken breast cut up into bite sized pieces, but I have also seen recipes using chicken drumsticks.
- Pumpkin Seeds/Pepitas: Shelled, unroasted, unsalted.
- White Onion: In this recipe we keep the skin on the white onion, cooking it right into the dish. So make sure you choose an organic onion if possible!
- Chiles: You will need a Chile Pasilla and Chile Guajillo. See info below on where to find these chiles.
- Achiote: You can also substitute paprika if you can’t find achiote.
- Serve on a bed of white rice, topped with cilantro and sesame seeds!
- A lot of recipes for Pepián de Pollo char tomatillos with the onion and roma tomatoes instead of the dried chiles. You can use either.
- In Guatemala, vegetables are normally charred in a comal, which is a metal grill. If you don’t have a comal at home, you can use an ungreased cast iron skillet in its place.
- If you want a thinner Pepián de Pollo, you can add more water to thin out the sauce! This is up to your personal preference
- If you don’t have a spice grinder, you can also use ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
Tori Young says
I’m so glad I stumbled upon your recipe! We were in Guatemala years ago and I have been looking for the recipe for their national dish. Just a hopefully quick question. Do you keep the root and skin on the whole onion? It sounds like it, but I wanted to make sure. Also, the onion isn’t chopped up at any point right? Just charred with the root and skin and put in the food processor later. I just wanted to I’m doing it right LOL! Thanks again for your post!
The Foreign Fork says
Yes you are correct on both! The onion is not peeled and it is charred with the skin on. If your food processor will handle it better chopped into 1/4s once it is charred, you can do that!