Honduran readers say this Pollo con Tajadas (AKA Pollo Chuco) tastes just like home, and one reader’s wife called it better than most restaurants in Honduras. It’s a full street-food platter: crispy fried chicken and green plantains piled with cabbage, chismol, pickled onions, and two sauces.
Hello Reader! I try my hardest to research recipes as best as I can before posting to ensure I am representing each culture correctly. If this recipe is from your country and I have made a mistake or you have suggestions for how to make it more authentic, I would love to hear! Please leave a comment below letting me know what should be different, and I will rework the recipe. It is always my intention to pay homage and respect to each cultural dish that I cook. Thanks for reading!
This Pollo con Tajadas gets a Honduran Stamp of Approval
Shhh don’t tell the other recipes this but… This recipe is my favorite on my site to brag about.
I have made HUNDREDS of recipes from around the world, but few have made people feel that home-away-from-home feeling more than this Pollo Chuco recipe.
This dish was carefully researched, tested 4 times, and approved by a Honduran recipe editor to ensure that each detail feels like Honduras. Including:
- Notes on green plantains vs green bananas… Who uses what, and why.
- The authentic and flavorful juice to add to your chismol for that Honduran signature flavor.
- A game plan for getting it all on the table hot. There’s a lot of steps here, and I’ll walk you through how to order them to make sure everything is ready at once.
And it works! Some of my favorite comments on this whole site are from readers who made this for their Honduran partners and watched their faces light up.
Recipe Origins
Pollo con Tajadas, also known as Pollo Chuco, is a popular street food dish eaten across Honduras. It most likely originated in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Pollo con Tajadas translates to mean “Chicken with Slices”, because it is served on a bed of fried plátano verde (green plantain or green banana) slices. It’s sometimes nicknamed “Pollo Chuco” (meaning “Dirty Chicken”) likely because the combination of sauces and toppings makes it pretty messy to eat!
Once your dish is done, prepare a really popular street food to accompany it – Elote Loco.
Key Ingredients
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
- Chicken: Use bone-in, skin-on chicken. I buy a full, cut up chicken from my butcher, which includes thighs, legs, breasts, and wings.
- Beet Juice: It is purely for color, so you can also omit and just use distilled white vinegar if you prefer.
Green Plantains vs Green Bananas
Many Hondurans, especially in San Pedro Sula, use green bananas (or guineo verde) as the base of this recipe instead of plantains. However, the coastal areas and Bay Islands of the country often use plantains to make their tajadas. Either works for an at-home re-creation as they are both used throughout the country, so just use what you can find!
My recipe here calls for green plantains because they were what my store had that day, but feel free to change out the ingredient for green bananas. The cooking process is the same.
The Game Plan for Getting it On the Table Hot
This recipe takes a lot of time to make, mostly because of the sheer number of elements it includes. For the easiest time on serving day, I recommend making/prepping these elements the day before or morning of:
- Pickle the onions: They can rest for days, so you can do this far ahead of time. Or use store-bought pickled red onions.
- Slice the cabbage: And keep it in a bag in the fridge. Or purchase store-bought pre-sliced cabbage.
- Prep the chismol: Again, this can sit in the fridge for up to a day, and honestly the longer the better to let the flavors marinate. Just make sure it’s done by the time you have to make your tomato sauce.
- Prep the pink sauce: Keep it in the fridge until you’re ready.
- Marinate the chicken: This can be done an hour ahead of time, or the chicken can rest in the fridge for up to 24 hours before. Prep it the night before if you want!
Once those elements are prepped, the rest of the steps can easily be done right before serving:
- Bring the ingredients you prepped out of the fridge: Let them come to room temp while you’re cooking everything so they don’t cool down your hot elements too much.
- Make the tomato sauce: Then keep it on a small burner over very low heat, just to keep it warm while the chicken is cooking.
- Fry the Chicken: This takes longer than the plantains, so it goes next. Fry for about 8-10 minutes, then set the chicken aside for a few minutes to cool. You don’t want to bite into chicken directly out of the fryer anyways! It needs a few minutes.
- Fry the Plantains: While the chicken is cooling enough to eat, add the plantains into the oil for 3-5 minutes until they get crispy. Quickly dry them on a paper towel lined plate.
- Plate and Serve!: Your fridge ingredients should be room temp-ish, and your hot ingredients are fresh off the stove! Plate it all up, and serve.
How to Make Pollo con Tajadas
Step 1 – Marinate the Chicken: Coat the chicken in mustard, then sprinkle the spices over everything. Rub until it’s all combined, then marinate the chicken for at least an hour, up to overnight.
Step 2 – Make the Pickled Onions: Slice red onions, then add them to a mason jar with vinegar, beet juice, salt, pepper, and oregano. Rest for at least an hour to overnight.
Step 3 – Shred the Cabbage: Use a knife to slice the cabbage very thinly, so that it looks thinner than the texture of coleslaw. Set aside.
Step 4 – Make the Chismol: Basically a Honduran Pico de Gallo. Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Add salt or pepper to taste.
Step 5 – Make the Pink Sauce: Combine all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and mix until fully combined. Add more salt or vinegar to taste. This ends up being similar to Yum Yum Sauce!
Step 6 – Make the Tomato Sauce: Cook tomato sauce, chicken broth, and a few spoonfuls of the chismol on the stove. Allow it to simmer for 5 minutes, then set aside.
Step 7 – Prep the Plantains: Remove the peels from the plantains using instructions detailed in my Tostones Recipe. Cut the plantains into thin, diagonal slices.
Step 8 – Fry the Chicken and Plantains: Heat the vegetable oil to 350 degrees F. Dredge the chicken in flour, rest, then cook until it reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees F. Fry the plantains until they are yellow and crispy. Drain on paper towel.
Step 9 – Plate: On a plate, layer the ingredients in the following order: Fried plantains, cabbage, chicken, tomato sauce, chismol, pink sauce, pickled onions.
Expert Tips
- I am only pickling onions in this recipe, but you can also pickle carrots, beets, and jalapenos if you so desire.
- If you don’t want to use a knife to cut the cabbage you can also use a potato peeler or shred it on a cheese grater.
- Add shredded carrots to the cabbage if you’d like.
- Some recipes add vinegar and cumin to the cabbage. I do not, but you can.
- Instead of lemon juice, Naranja Agria is the typical choice to use in chismol. Goya sells this in most supermarkets, so try it out if you can!
Recipe FAQs
If you have leftovers that need reheating, you can use a combination of oven (or air fryer!) and the microwave.
The plantains and fried chicken would be best reheated in an airfryer or in an oven until warm and crispy. Heat at 350 degrees F until warmed through and crispy again.
The tomato sauce can be heated up in the microwave until warm.
The cabbage, chismol, pink sauce, and pickled onions can go onto the platter cold or room temperature.
In some cases, I haven’t felt like frying chicken so I’ve just put rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken on my platter for Pollo con Tajadas. You can also bake it instead.
I’d always recommend the fried chicken for your first Pollo con Tajadas experience, though!
Did you enjoy this Pollo con Tajadas (or Pollo Chuco) recipe? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
- Bandeja Paisa Colombiana
- Chifrijo from Costa Rica
- Red Beans and Plantains from Burundi
- Frites with Andalouse Sauce from Belgium
If you tried this Pollo con Tajadas (Pollo Chuco) Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Pollo con Tajadas (Pollo Chuco) Recipe
Equipment
- Mason Jars
- Food Thermometer
Ingredients
Chicken Ingredients
- 2 tsp liquid chicken bouillon, (or 2 chicken bouillon cubes, crumbled)
- 2 tsp ground cumin, ground
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 3 lb chicken pieces, bone-in skin-on (combination of drumsticks, thighs, and breasts)
- 4 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- vegetable oil , for frying
Pickled Onion Ingredients
- ½ red onion, sliced
- ⅛ tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper
- ½ cup distilled white vinegar
- 3 tbsp beet juice
Cabbage Ingredients
- ½ head green cabbage
Chismol Ingredients
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- ½ white onion, diced
- 3 roma tomatoes, diced
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 3 tbsp lemon juice, Naranja Agria is the traditional choice if you can find it!
- salt & pepper to taste
Pink Sauce Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tbsp granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp distilled white vinegar
- hot sauce to taste, optional
Tomato Sauce Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp chismol, already prepared
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- ½ cup chicken broth
Plantains
- 4 green plantains or green bananas
- vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
Chicken Instructions
- Mix the 2 tsp liquid chicken bouillon, 2 tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp black pepper, 2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp paprika, and 1 tsp garlic salt together in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, add the 3 lb chicken pieces. Coat the chicken in 4 tbsp yellow mustard and use your hands to rub it around.
- Sprinkle the spice mix over the chicken, using your hands to make sure the chicken is coated.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least an hour as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Pickled Onion Instructions
- Add the sliced ½ red onion into a mason jar along with the ⅛ tsp oregano, ¼ tsp salt, and ⅛ tsp pepper.
- Pour in the ½ cup distilled white vinegar and 3 tbsp beet juice. If your container is not completely filled, you can continue to add more vinegar until the liquid reaches the top.
- Put the lid on the container, keeping it airtight. Allow the mason jar to rest in the fridge for at least an hour as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Cabbage Instructions
- Use a knife to slice the ½ head green cabbage very thinly, so that it looks thinner than the texture of coleslaw. Set aside.
Chismol Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients (1 green bell pepper, ½ white onion, 3 roma tomatoes, 2 tbsp cilantro, 1 tsp ground cumin, 3 tbsp lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste) in a medium bowl. Add salt or pepper to taste.
- Rest in the fridge as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Pink Sauce Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients (½ cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup ketchup, 1 tbsp granulated Sugar, 1 tsp distilled white vinegar, hot sauce to taste) together in a small bowl and mix until fully combined. Add more salt or vinegar to taste.
- Rest in the fridge as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Tomato Sauce Instructions
- In a small pot over medium heat, add the 3 Tbsp chismol. Cook over heat for a few minutes until softened.
- Add the ½ cup tomato sauce and ½ cup chicken broth, and turn the heat to high.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
Green Plantains/Bananas Instructions
- Remove the peels from the 4 green plantains or green bananas using instructions detailed in my Tostones Recipe.
- Cut the plantains into thin, diagonal slices.
Frying Instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot with tall sides until it reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Put the 2 cups all purpose flour in a shallow bowl or pie tin.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge and dip the chicken in the flour, making sure the entire surface is covered in flour.
- Place the floured chicken on a cookie sheet and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken into the vegetable oil, and fry the chicken until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit (about 8-10 minutes). Once cooked, set the chicken on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add the sliced plantains into the oil and fry until they turn yellow and crispy. Remove and drain on a paper towel lined plate.
Plating Instructions
- On a plate, layer the ingredients in the following order: fried plantains, shredded cabbage, fried chicken, tomato sauce, chismol, pink sauce, then pickled vegetables. Dig in and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Beet Juice: Purely for color, so you can also omit and just use distilled white vinegar if you prefer.
- Green Plantains: Plantains can be found in most grocery stores. Make sure to find the green ones that aren’t forming any spots yet. Green bananas are also an authentic choice, so pick whichever you can find. The cooking process stays the same, though you may need a few more bananas for an equal amount of tajadas.
- This will make enough for 4 platters. Each platter is 2 servings.
TheATeam says
My boyfriend is from Honduras. He has only been here in the states for 3 years and one of the things he misses the most (other than his family) is the traditional foods.
For me, it has been hard to please him because foods don’t always translate from region to region of Latin America. For example: Once, I made quesadillas and he asked me what it was LOL. Because Mexican quesadillas are not Honduran quesadillas. Another time I made enchiladas and he asked ‘What’s that’ LOL because . . ye know . . a Honduran enchilada is not at all like a Mexican enchilada haha. I have been trying my best to make him some comfort foods – but it’s complicated.
Two nights ago, I made these. I followed the recipe pretty much to the T. I used chicken legs and boneless skinless thighs (and surprisingly the flour coating stuck very nicely to the skinless chicken too!).
Let’s just say that when I served these for dinner, my bf lit up like a Christmas Tree. After a few bites, he said “I love Love LOVE these”. So – there is your 5 stars! I finally won a round of the food game haha. Thank You!
Additionally, the mustard on the chicken was a huge WIN. Did not see that coming. The flavors connected with the cumin and spices so well that this will be the new way I make ANY fried chicken.
Deliciously approved by Honduran and American pallets 🙂
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Hi There, Thank you so much for telling me about your success making Pollo con Tajadas!! It makes me so happy to hear that it made your boyfriend feel at home <3 And also that you enjoyed the mustard on the chicken!
Sarah H. Lopez says
On the coastal side and bay islands of Honduras, tajadas are absolutely made from plantains. It might be a more of a central Honduran tradition to use only the green bananas. Honduras is made up of multiple traditions and ancestry. If the “Pollo Chuco” version of tajadas originated in San Pedro Sula, it makes sense that that region uses and prefers the green bananas over the plaintains.
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Thanks for the insight Sarah, I appreciate it!
Kevin says
My wife is Honduran and I surprised her with this dish. I followed the recipe exactly because I haven’t made this before. My wife raved and she said it’s a solid 10 and as good and better than most resultants in Honduras. She wouldn’t change a thing! Happy happy
Thank you Kevin
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Hi Kevin, what a compliment! I am so glad that your wife loved the recipe 🙂 Thank you for letting me know and for leaving such a kind comment! Have a great day.
Zayna says
Love this dish. So succulent and fresh. They use very green regular bananas and no plantains. Bananas no plátano macho.
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Thank you Zayna!
Toni says
What kind of mustard do you use?
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
I just use a normal yellow mustard!
Ivis says
Looks and tastes good, but the real Pollo Chuco is made with green banana slices (tajadas de guineo verde) which you suggested to use as a substitute for the plantain.
Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Thank you Ivis! I actually received opposing advice from my Honduran recipe editor! I am wondering if either can be used in different parts of the country/home/etc?
Suellen says
I’m impressed with how well-researched this recipe is! Pollo Chuco is one of the best street foods you can try! I would say though that green bananas is the preferred choice over green plantains, at least in San Pedro Sula. And the last thing is about the sauces, no Pollo Chuco is identical in that people use a variety of sauces and dressings! The tomato based and Mayo-based are almost always used, but, in addition to that you can find some other sauces as well! Delicious!
The Foreign Fork says
Thank you Suellen! I really appreciate your approval and additions!
Elise says
I am Canadian and my husband is Honduran. I have attempted Honduran recipes in the past and haven’t always been successful. I tried this recipe tonight and my husband was beyond thrilled and said it tasted like real Honduran cooking! Thank you for helping me out in the kitchen!
The Foreign Fork says
Hi Elise, I am so glad that your husband approved!! This meal is such a delicious combo of flavors that it’s hard not to love. Thanks for sharing a review 🙂