Slow Cooker Cuban Style Chicken Fricassee Recipe

This Slow Cooker Cuban-style Chicken Fricassee is a mouth-watering and flavorful chicken stew that is a perfect comfort food. This slow cooker cuban chicken recipe features tender chicken and vegetables that are simmered in a delicious tomato-based sauce while they cook in the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Cuban Style Chicken Fricassee Recipe

This easy slow cooker cuban chicken Fricassee recipe makes a hearty and satisfying meal that is perfect when served over rice. Whether you are a fan of Cuban cuisine or simply looking for a comforting and easy-to-prepare meal, Cuban-style Chicken Fricassee is sure to impress with its amazing flavor.

If you are looking for a super affordable meal that is going to have leftovers then you want to add this slow cooker Cuban-style Chicken Fricassee to your recipe collection. In our house, we call it Chicken Elvira and it is a family favorite. This is a recipe from my best friend’s recipe collection and after the first time we tried it at her house it became a staple in ours.

Cuban style chicken Fricassee is hearty chicken stew that is cooked in the slow cooker with a whole roaster chicken. Once cooked you remove the bones and serve it over fluffy white rice. 

This recipe makes a large amount, it is perfect for feeding a large crowd. It is one of my favorite meals to make when I know a bunch of my kid’s friends is coming over. I have yet to have anyone that didn’t love it, if you love Cuban food then you are going to love this easy recipe.

I love making this recipe in my meal prep plans, as there are a few different ways meal prepping can be done with this recipe.

Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes

• Slow Cooker Italian Chicken
• Slow Cooker buffalo chicken sandwiches
• Paprika Chicken
• Slow Cooker Chicken Taco meat
• Slow Cooker BBQ pulled chicken

What is Cuban Style Chicken Fricassee?

Cuban-style Chicken Fricassee is also known as “fricase de pollo” or “cuban fricase de Pollo”. It is a traditional Cuban stew made with chicken, vegetables, and a flavorful tomato-based sauce. This cuban version is a spin on the classic French dish. The dish is typically cooked in a large skillet. Typically it includes bone-in chicken pieces that are first browned and then simmered in the sauce until fully cooked. It can also be made with chicken breast. The sauce is made with onions, garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers, and spices, giving the dish a rich and savory flavor. Cuban-style Chicken Fricassee is often served over rice and is a popular comfort food dish.

​For our Slow Cooker Cuban Chicken Fricassee recipe we simplify the process. We use the slow cooker (crock pot) as our cooking method. We made it so easy so the recipe really is a no-fail recipe that anyone can make. Instead of the chicken breast we use a whole roaster chicken. We then add green bell pepper, onions, garlic, raisins, stuffed olives, tomato paste, and seasonings. Let it cook all day and by dinner time you have the most tender chicken ever in the most amazing sauce.

What does Fricassee Style Mean? 

Fricassee (which is a French word) is a classic French cooking technique that involves browning meat or poultry in butter and then simmering it in a flavorful sauce and vegetables are added for more flavor and texture. The result is a rich and comforting dish that is perfect for a cozy meal. The term “fricassee style” refers to the use of this cooking technique to prepare a dish. While we are using a slow cooker for this recipe the result is the same. The chicken and vegetables are cooked with some spices resulting in a tender meat and vegetable sauce mixture that is then served over rice.

Why You will love this Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Recipe

• Easy to make. There is very little prep work needed, you have to chop up some veggies but that is just about all of the prep work needed. Then you just add all the ingredients to the slow cooker and it cooks for you.
• Easy clean up. A few utensils and a cutting board when prepping, the slow cooker for cooking and then the bowl for when you are removing the chicken bones is all the dishes that you will have to clean up. 
• A Filling meal. This recipe is hearty and filling. If you do not like rice and skip serving it over rice it is still a very filling meal.
• Makes a large amount. When we say this recipe makes a large amount, we are talking 12 generous servings large amount even if you are not serving it over rice. 

How to Serve Cuban Style Chicken Fricassee

We normally serve this easy slow cooker chicken recipe over white rice. I like to cook rice in my rice cooker so I have it easy when cooking . You can also make rice on the stove or make baked rice. Once the cajun chicken stew is done, spoon rice onto the plate and spoon the chicken and vegetables on top of the rice. 

You can also serve the chicken as is with a vegetable side dish or a fresh made salad. If you like pasta, you can make an easy cajun chicken pasta by mixing the chicken and sauce with pasta. 

What to Serve with Cuban Chicken Fricassee

For us, this is a full meal because it is so filling. If you are looking for a few sides to go with it I suggest a fresh salad and some crusty bread. The bread does taste delicious when dipped in the sauce. 

Can I use a frozen chicken?

Yes! One of my favorite things about this recipe is that even if I forget to take a chicken out of the freezer I don’t have to worry. You can put a frozen whole chicken in the slow cooker and by dinner time it will be cooked and ready to serve. 

How to store Leftovers

Allow everything to cool completely and transfer the chicken, vegetables, and sauce to an air-tight container and store in the fridge. It will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days. To reheat put it in a pot on the stove or in a microwave safe bowl and heat it in the microwave.

Can I Meal Prep after it is cooked with this recipe?

Yes! There are a few different ways that you can meal prep with this recipe.

Make Individual Meals. If you are going to meal prep meals, after cooking add rice and the cooked chicken stew into airtight containers. Then store it in the fridge. 

Freeze Individual Meals. I like making pre-portioned meals to keep in the freezer, I place rice and the cooked chicken into vacuum seal freezer bags and then close them up with my vacuum sealer, and label and keep them in the freezer for easy meals. 

Freeze a Meals worth. A lot of food is made from this recipe, and leftovers will be obtained. They are perfect for freezing to have a quick weeknight meal another time. When the meal is had for dinner in our house, I will keep part of the leftovers in the fridge to be enjoyed the next day for lunch. I then put the rest of the leftovers into freezer zip-close bags and store them in the freezer. When I know there will be a busy night, I have a quick meal to make. I can just pull it out of the freezer, some rice can be made (unless it is already cooked and stored in the freezer), and dinner can be quickly done.

I preferred to use a vacuum sealer and food-saver bags when freezing meals like this as they are found to last better than just using a zip-close bag.

How to Meal Prep Cuban Style Chicken Fricassee as a Freezer Meal

Many times I will meal prep all of the veggies with the raisins, stuffed olives, and garlic needed and then put them into a zip-close freezer bag and keep it in the freezer. Then in the morning when I plan on serving it for dinner I will add the whole chicken, the frozen veggies, the seasonings, and tomato paste into the slow cooker.

I prefer to use a vacuum sealer and food-saver bags when freezing meals like this as they are found to last better than just using a zip-close bag.

Slow Cooker Cuban Style Chicken Fricassee Recipe Ingredients

• Uncooked whole roaster chicken
• Green Peppers. You can also use red or yellow bell peppers.
• large Onions. You can use yellow onions or sweet onions.
• Cloves of garlic. You can substitute for jarred minced garlic and will want to use 6 tablespoons.
• Raisins. I like using purple raisins but you can use green ones.
• Stuffed green olives. You will want to use either pimento stuffed olives or Spanish queen olives.
• Canned Tomato Paste
• Ground Cumin
• salt  
• Black pepper
• Cooked rice for serving. I suggest 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of rice per serving. I like using white rice but you can also use brown rice if you prefer.

How to Make Slow Cooker Cuban Style Chicken Fricassee Recipe

Spray the cooking bowl of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

Wash the green peppers and chop them into small pieces.

Dice the onions into small pieces.

Mince the garlic cloves.

Slice the stuffed olives.

Add the chicken into the slow cooker including the juices that are with it. Be sure to remove the bag of “chicken parts” if there is one.

Next add in the green pepper, onion, garlic cloves, olives, tomato paste, cumin, a dash of salt, and a dash of black pepper on top of the chicken. 

If the whole chicken is frozen, cook on high for 2 hours then reduce to low and cook for another 4 to 6 hours or until cooked. If chicken is defrosted, cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, until chicken is cooked. Note that, I have left my chicken cooking longer because I was not home when the cook time was done and the chicken was still tender.

When the chicken is done cooking, make the rice by your preferred method.

Remove the chicken and the bones from the slow cooker and place in a large bowl, remove the pieces of chicken from the bones. After the bones have been removed add the chicken back into the sauce and mix well to combine. 

Serve chicken and sauce over rice. You can then put the chicken and sauce into a large serving dish to serve with rice in a separate bowl or like we do in our house when I make it is plate for everyone directly from the slow cooker. 

Slow Cooker Dinner Recipes

• Sausage and peppers
• Olive Garden chicken
• Stuffed cabbage rolls