Chicken Afritada (Tomato-Braised Chicken)
Bone-in chicken braised in a bright tomato sauce with potatoes, carrots, and bell peppers. A simple, saucy Filipino comfort stew, naturally pork-free.
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 2 carrots, cut into 3 cm chunks
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into 2 cm squares
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into 2 cm squares
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can (400 g) crushed tomatoes
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 cups chicken stock or water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup frozen green peas (optional)
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 tsp sugar, to balance the tomatoes
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
- Pat the chicken dry and season all over with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-high and brown the pieces in batches, about 4 minutes per side, until golden. Set the chicken aside.
- Add the last 1 tbsp oil to the pot. Fry the potatoes and carrots for 4 to 5 minutes until the edges take on a little color, then lift them out and reserve. This keeps the potatoes from breaking apart later.
- Lower the heat to medium. Cook the onion until soft, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Stir in the tomato paste and fry for 2 minutes so it deepens in color. Add the crushed tomatoes, soy sauce, bay leaves, and stock, and stir to loosen the browned bits from the bottom.
- Return the chicken and any juices to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, turning the pieces once.
- Add the reserved potatoes and carrots. Simmer uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes until a knife slides easily into the potatoes and the chicken reads 74 C at the bone.
- Stir in the bell peppers, peas if using, and the sugar. Simmer 5 more minutes until the peppers are just tender but still bright. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.
- Rest for 5 minutes off the heat, then serve hot with plenty of steamed rice.
Afritada is the friendliest of the Filipino tomato stews. Chicken is browned, then braised with potatoes, carrots, and sweet bell peppers in a sauce built on tomatoes, garlic, and a little soy. It is everyday food, the kind of pot that stretches to feed a full table without any special-occasion effort, and it happens to be naturally pork-free when you build it around chicken from the start.
It is easy to mix up afritada with its saucier cousins, so here is the quick map. Menudo uses small diced meat with liver, and often raisins and chickpeas. Kaldereta is richer and a touch spicy, thickened with liver spread and dotted with olives. Afritada keeps things plain: no liver, no olives, just a clean tomato base, bone-in chicken, and big cut vegetables. That simplicity is the point.
Cook’s notes
- Brown, do not crowd. Sear the chicken in batches so the pieces color instead of steam. Those browned bits are the backbone of the sauce.
- Fry the potatoes separately first. Giving them a quick sear before they go back in near the end keeps them whole and stops the sauce from turning gluey with starch.
- Peppers go in last. Add them in the final 5 minutes so they stay bright and slightly crisp rather than collapsing into the sauce.
- How to tell it is done. The chicken should pull easily from the bone and read 74 C at the thickest point, and a knife should meet no resistance in the potatoes.
- Make it ahead. Like most Filipino braises, afritada is better the next day. Cool it, refrigerate, and reheat gently with a splash of water to loosen the sauce.
- Swaps. No fresh peppers on hand is fine; lean on the potatoes and carrots. For a lighter pot, use boneless thighs and cut the covered simmer to 12 minutes. Cane vinegar can stand in for a spoonful of the soy if you want a sharper edge, the same trick that carries Chicken Adobo.
For more pork-free takes on Filipino classics, everything on Ayoko ng Baboy is built the same way: the traditional dish, minus the pig, with nothing else lost.