The rich flavors and tender, juicy chicken just might blow you away, it's just that good!
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There must be a gazillion recipes for chicken in Costa Rica, but this Costa Rica Chicken recipe is OMG so good! I tried this dish at a restaurant that serves traditional Costa Rica food and I was blown away by the rich flavor and tender, juicy chicken. I couldn't stop gushing to the cook in my broken Spanish, and he was kind enough to share the ingredients and basic prep instructions.
Serve it up with rice and black beans and you've got a traditional and oh-so-special Costa Rica meal.
How to make this Costa Rica Chicken recipe
Ingredients
- Chicken
- Butter
- Green pepper
- Red bell pepper
- Jalapeno pepper
- Onion
- Garlic cloves
- Cilantro
- Mushrooms, button or crimini
- Achiote paste
- Better Than Bouillon Chicken
- Water
- Tomato sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions for Costa Rica Chicken
- Wash the fresh ingredients and cut according to the ingredients list.
- Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces, remembering they'll shrink a bit during cooking.
- On medium-high heat, melt the butter in a large, deep skillet or pot.
- Add the peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro and mushrooms and cook until they soften - about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the achiote paste and cook until the vegetables turn red - about 2 minutes.
- Move the vegetables to the outside edge of the pan. Add the chicken and cook until the outsides look mostly done (not seeing much pink).
- Add the Better Than Bouillon, water, and tomato paste, mix it into the chicken and veggies and bring it to a boil.
- Lower the heat to simmer, cover the pot and cook for 50 minutes so the chicken gets nice and tender. Spoon off excess fat (the achiote will have colored it a deep red).
- Serve with rice and black beans.
Notes on preparing this Costa Rica Chicken recipe
Achiote Paste - Most large supermarkets will carry achiote paste in their Mexican foods department. If you cannot find it, you can order achiote online, or use a substitute:
1-½ tablespoon paprika,1 tablespoon white vinegar, ¾ teaspoon dried oregano,1 teaspoon garlic powder,1 teaspoon oil,¼ teaspoon ground cumin.
Better Than Bouillon - In Costa Rica, the Costa Rica Chicken recipe actually calls for 2 small packets of Maggi brand "chicken color and flavor," or Caldo Sabor a Pollo. When using the Maggi powder bouillon, I find I need to add additional salt to enhance the flavor - but only a smidge, no more than a half-teaspoon or so. The Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base doesn't seem to need additional salt; I believe this is because it's more concentrated than the Maggi powder. Halfway through simmering, test your juices and add salt to taste, if needed.
Tomato Sauce - The recipe doesn't call for a whole lot of it, but I find that instead of using tomato sauce, substituting ½ cup of tomato paste mixed with ½ cup of water adds a richer dimension to the dish.
More Latin America recipes to try...
- Costa Rica Tuna and Pasta Shells Salad
- Nicaragua Creamy Jalapeno Chicken
- Peruvian Ceviche with Shrimp
- Salchipapa Suprema - fun street food
- The BEST Guacamole - the recipe I'm most asked to bring to gatherings
📖 Recipe
Costa Rica Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds deboned chicken cut to bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup chopped green pepper
- 1 red bell pepper sliced to bite-sized strips
- 1 jalapeno pepper (optional) diced super small
- 1 medium onion chopped to bite-size strips
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped, not minced
- 1 cup cilantro coarsely chopped
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms button or crimini
- 2 tablespoon achiote paste (see Notes following the recipe)
- 2 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base (see Notes following the recipe)
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup tomato sauce (see Notes following the recipe)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the fresh ingredients and cut according to the ingredients list.
- Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces, remembering they'll shrink a bit during cooking.
- On medium-high heat, melt the butter in a large, deep skillet or pot.
- Add the peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro and mushrooms and saute until they soften - about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the achiote paste and saute until the vegetables turn red - about 2 minutes.
- Move the vegetables to the outside edge of the pan. Add the chicken and saute until the outsides look mostly done (not seeing much pink).
- Add the Better Than Bouillon, water, and tomato paste, mix it into the chicken and veggies and bring it to a boil.
- Lower the heat to simmer, cover the pot and cook for 50 minutes so the chicken gets nice and tender. Spoon off excess fat (the achiote will have colored it a deep red).
- Serve with rice and black beans.
Notes
1 tablespoon white vinegar,
¾ teaspoon dried oregano,
1 teaspoon garlic powder,
1 teaspoon oil,
¼ teaspoon ground cumin. Better Than Bouillon - In Costa Rica, the recipe actually calls for 2 small packets of Maggi brand "chicken color and flavor," or Caldo Sabor a Pollo. When using the Maggi powder bouillon, I find I need to add additional salt to enhance the flavor - but only a smidge, no more than a teaspoon or so. The Better Than Bouillon chicken base doesn't seem to need additional salt; I believe this is because it's more concentrated than the Maggi powder. Halfway through simmering, test your juices and add salt to taste, if needed. Tomato Sauce - The recipe doesn't call for a whole lot of it, but I find that instead of using tomato sauce, substituting ½ cup of tomato paste mixed with ½ cup of water adds a richer dimension to the dish.
angela says
smells SOOOO good while im preparing it i cant WAIT to try it, smells tempting for sure.
Becky Thames-Simmons says
Awesome, Angela! Thanks for the rating and for trying out the recipe. Hope you loved it!