It’s hot outside, y’all. Too hot to turn on the oven and make my AC work overtime. So, today I let my slow cooker do all the work and it made me this wonderfully delicious Chicken Ropa Vieja.
I had Chicken Ropa Vieja for the first time at a restaurant recently and loved how it was both extremely flavorful and very uncomplicated. This delicious dish is basically just chicken stewed down with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and spices until everything is tender and flavorful. Almost like chicken fajita stew. How can that NOT be good? Once I realized it would be an excellent candidate for the slow cooker, I knew I had to make some of my own.
What is Ropa Vieja?
Wait, let me start with what it isn’t. Ropa Vieja is not traditionally made with chicken. It’s a Cuban braised beef dish that translates to “old clothes” because everything is just kind of thrown together like a pile of old clothes and braised until tender and flavorful. But since I loved the flavors and cooking method so much, I wanted to see if I could apply it to chicken, and that’s how we got to this Chicken Ropa Vieja, or chicken “in the style of” ropa vieja.
If you want to try a traditional ropa vieja recipe and learn more about the roots of this awesome dish, check out these authentic recipes:
- Ropa Vieja from Chef Zee Cooks (Youtube)
- Ropa Vieja from Hispanic Kitchen
- Instant Pot Cuban Ropa Vieja from Latin Mom Meals
How to Serve Chicken Ropa Vieja
I served my Chicken Ropa Vieja over rice, but you could also use it to fill a taco or burrito. OR, if you’re doing the low-carb thang, just eat it in a bowl on its own! A little dollop of sour cream would be awesome on top, too. (I added a little cilantro to liven up the photos, but the dish has plenty of flavor on its own.)
What Kind of Chicken Should I Use?
I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs because that was the best price at the store yesterday. You can easily sub boneless skinless chicken breasts with no further modifications to the recipe. If you have bone-in chicken, that will also work. Just be sure to remove the skin first (if any) and remove the bones after cooking.
Slow Cooker Chicken Ropa Vieja
Servings 6 (3/4 cup each)Ingredients
- 1.5 to 2 lb.s chicken pieces (boneless skinless) ($3.41)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1/2 Tbsp oregano ($0.15)
- 1 tsp cumin ($0.10)
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
- 1 medium yellow onion ($0.37)
- 1 medium green bell pepper ($0.69)
- 1 medium red bell pepper ($1.79)
- 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes ($0.75)
- 3 Tbsp tomato paste ($0.22)
- Salt to taste (1/2 to 1 tsp) ($0.02)
Instructions
- Trim the chicken pieces of excess fat, if desired. Place the chicken pieces in the bottom of the slow cooker (4qt. or larger). Mince the garlic and add it to the slow cooker. Sprinkle the oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, and some freshly cracked pepper over the chicken.
- Slice the onion, green bell pepper, and red bell pepper into strips. Place the onion and bell peppers on top of the chicken in the slow cooker. Add the can of diced tomatoes (with juices) and tomato paste to the slow cooker. The tomato paste can be added in dollops and will be stirred in after cooking.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours. After four hours, remove the lid and use tongs to stir the contents. Break the chicken into shreds as you stir the slow cooker. If the juices in the slow cooker are too thin, allow the pot to continue simmering on high without the lid for about 15 minutes to reduce the liquid. Taste and season with salt as needed (I added 1/2 tsp).
- Serve the ropa in a bowl, over rice, or in a warm tortilla.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Nutrition
How to Make Chicken Ropa Vieja – Step by Step Photos
I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe simply because that was the best price at the time. I used one pack, which was 1.75 lbs, but you could use anywhere from 1.5 to 2 lbs without any further modification. Or, if you want to cut the meat in half and replace it with some black beans, that would work as well. Boneless, skinless chicken breast can also be used.
Trim the fat from the chicken if you want (honestly, I don’t bother), then place the chicken in the bottom of a slow cooker (it should probably be 4 quarts or larger). Add four cloves of garlic (minced), 1/2 Tbsp oregano, 1 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, and some freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a mill).
You’ll also need a yellow onion, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper. Cut each one into strips.
Place the peppers and onion on top of the chicken in the slow cooker.
Add one 15oz. can of diced tomatoes (with the juices) and 3 Tbsp tomato paste. You can just plop the tomato paste on top because it will get stirred in later. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours.
After four hours the chicken and vegetables will let off quite a bit of liquid that the chicken then stews in. YUM. You can see that the tomato paste is still in clumps on top, but you may notice its darker color. The natural sugars in the tomato paste have caramelized a bit and given it a deeper flavor.
Use tongs or another utensil to stir the chicken ropa vieja. Shred the chicken as you stir. It should be so tender that it just falls apart when its touched. The mixture will be a tad soupy, but if you want a thicker sauce you can let it simmer without a lid for 15 minutes or so longer. Taste the dish and season with salt to your liking. I added about 1/2 tsp.
TIP: Adding salt at the end helps it be more pronounced, thereby allowing you to use less. If it was added before cooking, the saltiness would be much more subdued and you’d probably need to add more.
There are several ways to serve this chicken ropa vieja. It can be spooned over rice to soak up that extra yumminess, or it can be stuffed into a warm tortilla like a taco or burrito. It’s so good, though, that I wouldn’t mind eating it straight out of the bowl! A little sour cream would also be awesome.
Great recipe! I often make what I call “slow cooker chicken chilli”, but I loved that this wasn’t as stew-like and could be put into a wrap or a tortilla. It was better! This was a perfect “use up what’s kicking around mid-week” recipe: I had a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the fridge I’d been stressing about cooking, and though I didn’t have a green pepper (only one red one left!), I ended up adding 1/2 a minced jalapeรฑo and 1/2 a bag of matchstick/shredded carrots to make up for it–and a drained/rinsed can of black beans, too. I used fire-roasted diced tomatoes to amp up the smokey flavour of the cumin and chili powder and it was perfect. I have a smaller slow cooker but this made enough that I’ll be stashing leftovers in the freezer or handing them off. In any case: Thanks for some excellent weeknight inspiration! :)
This looks great, and I’d like to try it with half chicken/half beans. I already have some cooked, frozen black beans. Should I throw them in frozen?
I would suggest thawing them first. It’s always a bit dangerous to throw frozen items into the slow cooker because it can cause the ingredients to take too long to heat to a safe temperature.
Would it work to throw dry rice in the slow cooker/pot too? Do you think it would cook in time? If so that seems like a delicious and easy way to combine everything!
I’ve actually never tried to cook rice in the slow cooker, so I’m not sure how that would turn out. It might be really hard to shred the chicken with the rice in there and you’d have to play around with liquid ratios to make sure there is enough to cook the rice.
Does my chicken have to be thawed out first before I try this or can it be frozen?
I always suggest using thawed meat for the slow cooker. Frozen can take too long to heat up in the slow cooker and give bacteria time to proliferate. Better safe than sorry. :)
Make sure you thaw chicken in the refrigerator, not on the countertop. It may take awhile but its much safer. 20% of all chicken sold these days already has harmful pathogens, don’t give them an opportunity to multiply.
I made this over the weekend for a potluck and it was a rousing success! My only tweak to the recipe was that I added fire roasted tomatoes (I thought I had both kinds in my cabinet – I was wrong). I cooked it overnight on low, shredded it in the morning and kept it on warm all day and the chicken didn’t dry out at all. Fantastic. Thanks, Beth!
My boyfriend loves heat, could anyone suggest some ways to make this dish extra spicy?
You can add jalapeลos, more red pepper flakes, or some cayenne pepper. :)
I love you Beth! :)
I bought your book. I love you Beth! :)
Thanks Mark!!
It’s hot y’all, for sure. I had been eating somewhat unhealthy for most of the week, and wanted to do something much better. I was looking for a chicken something crockpot something, and this is precisely what I hoped to find. I did add a can of drained (low-sodium) black beans, because apparently I can’t go a day without eating beans, but otherwise this was a lovely lunch that I’ll enjoy again and again for the rest of the week. Thanks Beth!
Can this also be made with beef?
Why not?
I bet this would be really good with brown rice!
If you can’t use your oven in the summer, you either live in the tiniest room ever or have the worst AC ever or buy the myth that one can’t use an oven in the summer. I live in Richmond, Virginia, where a rough summer day equals 104 degrees with 97% humidity … and I will use my oven without raising the 70 degree temperature within my condo. In 1945 “too hot to use the oven” would have been bought. In 2015, not so much.
Not everyone has AC. Plus even if you do, it is very expensive ti run.
Please try cooling your entire condo with a single used window unit that you had to work double overtime to purchase from Craislist and THEN throw your shade. Beth calls this site budget bytes for a reason. There are many people living around you who can’t afford their normal electricity bill let alone one that includes an air conditioner.
Thank you Beth for creating recipes for people who live in a world that doesn’t quite allow the room for a condo or an air conditioner. Paying off grad school in this mess of an economy is not ideal and you keep me full and happy.
Modern comfort conveniences are great for sure. There’s nothing wrong with using them if you want to. But there’s also nothing wrong with using a seasonal approach to cooking. Even for us folks who can afford to blast the AC in the summer or the heat in the winter, sometimes it is nice to know you can achieve the same result without doing so. :)
Trish, Its a Louisiana thing, you could’nt understand
Trish you should count your blessings. I also live in VA. I actually have a tiny kitchen with a lousy air-conditioner and when I looked at the calendar this morning it read 2015โฆ so I very much look forward to trying this recipe out this summer.
Wow. You can have different experience than someone else without either person being wrong. Too hot to use the oven is a personal preference, not a myth about the laws of physics.
Could you make this recipe with bone-in chicken or would it be best to remove the bones before making it? I’m vegetarian but my hubby would enjoy this. Thanks!
btw, I’ve got bone-in chicken thighs. Thanks!
I would cook it with the bones in because it will give it more flavor and it will be easier to remove them after the meat is super tender. Just pull the bones out when you shred the chicken at the end. :)
This worked great! The meat fell right off the bone (I did remove the skin before cooking). Thanks for another great recipe, Beth. Your Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup and Enchilada Sauce Recipes are my absolute faves. Keep up the great work!
This sounds very tasty. And I love the idea of not turning my oven on when it’s hot. I have all these ingredients on hand so I think I’ll be making it this weekend!
Had this tonight and it was delicious.
Thanks Beth