Pan con Pollo Salvadoreño Recipe

A sandwich on a plate stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, carrots, and pulled chicken making a Pan con Pollo sandwich, sitting in front of a cutting board of vegetables.

5 from 9 votes

Pan con Pollo Salvadoreño Recipe

This Salvadoran chicken sandwich recipe called Pan con Pollo is made using stewed chicken, bread, and fresh sliced vegetables. The chicken is stewed on the bone in a tomato sauce that tenderizes it and gives it so much flavor! Check out how to make this Salvadoran speciality below!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Salvadoreno

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 25

Servings

Calories 368kcal

Author Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

Ingredients

Chicken Ingredients

1 4 lb whole chicken jointed (bone in, skinless)
¾ tsp Salt
¼ cup yellow Mustard
2 tsp ground Cumin
½ tsp black pepper (Use code FF20 for 20% off)
3 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Sauce Ingredients

5 Roma tomatoes
½ white onion
2 dried Guajillo Chiles soaked in water
3 cloves Garlic
3 Cloves
1 tsp achiote
2 tbsp sesame seeds
⅓ cup almonds
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
2 bay leaves

Dressing Ingredients

¼ cup Mayonnaise
¼ tsp ground Cumin
⅛ tsp black pepper (Use code FF20 for 20% off)
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1 ½ tsp white vinegar

Assembly Ingredients

3 Tomatoes sliced
1 English Cucumber sliced into rounds
1 head Romaine lettuce
1 carrot sliced into rounds
4 Radishes sliced into rounds
1 bunch watercress leaves
8 bread buns good ones with structure

Instructions

Add the whole chicken into a large bowl. Sprinkle the chicken with ¾ tsp salt, ¼ cup mustard, 2 tsp cumin, and ½ tsp black pepper. Stir around with your hands to fully coat the chicken, then set aside momentarily.
Add 3 tbsp vegetable oil to the bottom of a dutch oven pan and allow it to heat up. Add the chicken into the pot and fry in the oil for about 3-5 minutes on each side, until they are browned on each side.
To make the sauce, blend 5 roma tomatoes, ½ a yellow onion, 2 guajillo chilies, 3 garlic cloves, 3 cloves, 1 tsp achiote, 2 tbsp sesame seeds, ⅓ cup almonds, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp oregano, 1 tsp salt and 1 cup water. Blend until the sauce is completely smooth.
When the chicken has fried, add the sauce you made in the blender and 2 bay leaves. Add a lid and put the pot over medium heat. Let it cook for an hour.
After an hour, turn off the heat. Use tongs to remove the chicken meat from the bones. Discard the bones but keep the chicken in the saue.
Once the bones have been removed, leave the chicken covered on the stove (turned off) while you prepare the sauce.
Add all of the dressing ingredients into a bowl and use a whisk to combine.
Prepare the sandwiches by cutting a slit in the top of the bun and opening the bun from the middle. Spread the dressing around inside the bread.
Use a piece of lettuce to line the inside of the bun. Then add the chicken & sauce into the lettuce. Place the veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, watercress leaves, etc) inside the bun.
Repeat until the sandwiches are assembled and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Recipe Copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Chicken: You can joint the chicken yourself or you can buy a chicken that is already cut up into pieces. Use bone-in pieces but remove the skin. Make sure you have both dark meat and white meat. I used chicken legs, chicken breasts, and chicken thighs.
Oil: I would recommend using vegetable oil because it has a higher smoke point than olive oil.
Dried Guajillo Chiles: Guajillo chiles (also used in my Beef Rendang recipe!) are great for adding a slightly spicy & slightly fruity element to a recipe. I buy dried guajillo chiles online and then soak them in water for about 10 minutes before adding them to this recipe.
Roma Tomatoes: Some recipes call for boiling your Roma tomatoes before adding them into the food processor to make the sauce. I did not do this and my recipe turned out fine, but feel free to add this step if you’d like!
Achiote: This is a spice that is used for both flavor and coloring in Central and South America. You can buy it at an import or spice store, and you can also buy it online. Paprika will work as a substitute in a pinch.
Sesame Seeds: Add un-toasted sesame seeds.
Almonds: These add thickness to the sauce. I used blanched & slivered almonds because that is what I had on hand. You can also use raw almonds.
Vegetables: Radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots are all added as finishing touches to this sandwich. You can add or subtract these vegetables as you desire.
Romaine Lettuce: Do not skip the romaine lettuce on the bottom of this sandwich. The chicken is very saucy and will easily make your bread soggy if there is nothing in between the bread and the chicken. The romaine lettuce acts as a barrier.
Watercress Leaves: Watercress is an herb that has a slightly peppery flavor. I was able to find mine at a local Asian grocery store.
Bread: I got 6” subway sandwich rolls! You can also use hoagy bread or bolillo rolls.
We had extra chicken left over, so we put the leftovers in bell peppers and made stuffed peppers. The chicken leftovers would also be yummy in tacos or enchiladas.
Wait until right before serving to assemble the sandwiches to keep them from being soggy.
Make sure you are very careful to remove all of the bones from the bone-in chicken pieces. You don’t want anyone choking on chicken bones!
Serve this dish with chips or fries on the side. It would also be amazing when served with vegetables like corn!
Recipe researched using resources from Recetas Cocina y Paladar, La Cherada en la USA, This is Us

Nutrition