Colombian-Style Chicken Stew
Chicken Thighs with Peppers, Potatoes & Rice
- Milk
Inspired by members of our own HelloFresh community, we’re proud to share this delicious limited-time dish in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Stew in any form is a comforting hearty meal, but this one, hailing from Columbia, is extra special. We use the most flavorful cut of chicken, the thigh, seared with a classic sofrito: onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Add tomato, potato, seasonings, and stock, and simmer it all in one pot until the chicken is falling-off-the-bone tender. You’ll serve it, Colombian style, with a perfect mound of buttery rice in the middle and the stew ladled around it.
Ingredients
1 unit
Yellow Onion
1 unit
Green Bell Pepper
2 clove
Garlic
2 unit
Tomato
12 ounce
Potatoes
¼ ounce
Cilantro
¾ cup
Jasmine Rice
10 ounce
Diced Chicken Thighs
1 tablespoon
Fry Seasoning
1 teaspoon
Cumin
2 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Halve, peel, and dice onion into ¼-inch pieces. Core and dice bell pepper into ½-inch pieces. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Dice tomatoes into ½-inch pieces. Dice potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Roughly chop cilantro.
• In a small pot, combine rice, 1¼ cups water (2¼ cups for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4-6 minutes. • Add garlic and tomatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is fragrant and tomatoes are slightly softened, 1-2 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, open package of chicken* and drain off any excess liquid. • Add chicken and potatoes to pot with veggies. Season with Fry Seasoning, half the cumin (all for 4 servings), salt, and pepper; stir to combine.
• To same pot, add stock concentrates and 2½ cups water (4½ cups for 4 servings); stir to combine. • Increase heat to high and bring stew to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are fork-tender, 15-18 minutes.
• Fluff rice with a fork and stir in 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings). Divide rice and stew between shallow bowls. Garnish with cilantro and serve. TIP: For a traditional presentation, spray the insides of two small bowls with nonstick cooking spray (or lightly rub with oil), then pack with rice. Carefully invert into shallow bowls, then slowly lift away small bowls. Ladle stew around rice, garnish with cilantro, and serve.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Some found it bland and lacking depth; others enjoyed the savory, comforting taste. Consider adding extra spices or stock for more flavor.
- Ease of prep: Many noted the prep was time-consuming due to chopping, but the one-pot cooking was appreciated. Allow extra time for preparation.
- Suggestions: Try adding hot sauce, lime juice, or additional seasonings like cumin and garlic to boost flavor. Consider reducing water for a thicker stew.
- Leftovers: Several mentioned it reheated well and made generous portions, perfect for multiple meals.
- Authenticity: Some with Colombian heritage felt it captured the essence of the dish, while others thought it needed more traditional spices.
Reviews from our home cooks
Wonderful fall/winter stew! I love how savory it is (wonderful without the rice as well). Directions are easy to follow and pretty quick. I did add an additional bell pepper and 1/2 to 3/4 tablespoon of roasted chicken Better Than Bouillon instead of salt and felt like it made it hardier. I also had to put in garlic powder because my garlic was bad. I will definitely add this to my fall/winter soup rotation.
A good stew and the rice in the bowl is a nice touch. A note: even after boiling the stew for the full amount of time, the consistency was more like a soup than a stew. I didn't want to boil it any more and make the chicken tough, so I sprinkled about a tablespoon of masa harina on top and stirred it in as a thickener, and it worked quite well.
Loved this easy to cook stew. Tastier because of the use of chicken thighs. Would like to amp up the flavors just a little more. Overall great and filling meal.
Great to try an authentic dish from Colombia. A little heavy on potatoes for my liking, would prefer twice as much chicken and half as much potatoes. I also added some hot sauce on top as it needed a little more spice for my taste. Would try again but would use half of the potatoes.
The bell pepper became the dominant flavor in this stew. I won't judge too much on that because I'm not super familiar with Colombian cuisine, but for my personal taste, I would have liked it a little more tangy. Otherwise very good and filling.
I think it needed more spice. I added more salt but it was lacking that Spanish spice. Maybe the rice and potatoes took away from it too much? I did add some more cumin after the fact and it helped. Didn't have more fry seasoning left so more of that flavor would help. But the smell from the cooking was marvelous!! Maybe a sauce topping before serving would help? We are still making this again.
Amazing! Huge hit in this household. Full of wonderful flavor and definitely not your run of the mill stew. Hope to see this meal on the menu in the future and more Latin inspired dishes.
One of the best recipes I've tried in the past 3 years! Super flavorful & loved the traditional serving of the rice mound in the stew. Will definitely make again!
This stew was so good and so easy to prep! We loved the traditional presentation with the rice mounded in the middle.
This is one of those dishes - like most stews and soups - that it is sooo much better the second day! I think it would be better if the chicken were seasoned before incorporating it with the other ingredients otherwise, when you encounter a chicken morsel in the stew, it is just a hunk of tasteless protein. That is probably a cultural thing but for me, I like everything to bring flavor to the party. Perhaps a little marinating would do or maybe a light braise or something. There is nothing worse than plain boiled chicken. By day two, the chicken has absorbed some of the general seasoning of the recipe. I would definitely try again but will work with the seasoning of the chicken.
