Savory Brazilian Chicken Stroganoff [Recipe]

16 May Savory Brazilian Chicken Stroganoff [Recipe]

The first time I ate Brazilian chicken stroganoff was on the day of my wedding rehearsal. My mother-in-law prepared it in the house we rented in Brewster, MA. I was running last minute errands that morning and received a text from Daniel that lunch was ready — Brazilian chicken stroganoff. I was really hungry, but a bit put off by the term ‘stroganoff.’ For me, that always meant noodles and a heavy white sauce (likely made with canned creme of mushroom soup), and not the kind of thing you want to eat before your wedding day. 

First bite in, I was blown away. This dish packs so much delicious flavor and freshness and it doesn’t feel heavy. I had seconds and profusely thanked my MIL. 

Recipe for Brazilian chicken stroganoff

I’ll start by admitting that the true Brazilian recipe calls for ketchup, mustard, and soy. But I am not a fan of ketchup and I’ve started avoiding soy due to recent allergies. Below is the recipe I crafted from preparing this dish many times over. Feel free to play around with adding soy or coconut aminos instead of salt, or adding a little mustard. Or even substituting the tomato paste and amount of crushed tomato for some ketchup. Have some fun with it!

Servings: 6-8 servings (believe me, you want the left overs)
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 15 minutes – 1 hr (you can start the sauce during this time)
Cook Time: ~40 minutes

Ingredients:

~2.5 lbs skinless chicken breast or steak tips, remove fat and cut into 1″ pieces

10 – 12 garlic cloves, minced

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

~6 sprigs of parsley, removing leaves from stems (use 1/4 in marinade, and chop rest to put into sauce)

~1 cup dry white cooking wine or vermouth

1 – 2 tbsp butter (enough to cook onion without burning)

2 tbsp tomato paste

saffron, a good-sized pinch

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

ground pepper, to taste/preference

1.5 – 2 cups chicken stock (use, as needed, to ensure the sauce doesn’t dry when reducing)

~20 oz crushed tomatoes (majority of a 28 oz can)

2 – 3 tbsp EVOO (enough to cook chicken without burning)

sea salt, to taste

14 oz can of “creme de leite” (table cream), dairy-free alt: 14 oz can of coconut milk

serve over: jasmine or white rice (prepared separately according to package)

optional: potato straw as a garnish

Directions:

Pound chicken or use fork to poke each piece of steak 10-12 times. Place in a dish and cover with minced garlic, 1/4 the onion, 1/4 the parsley, ground pepper and 1/3 cup of white cooking wine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.

In a large pot, heat butter over medium-high heat and sauté the onion till it begins to brown (about 5-6 minutes).

Add tomato paste and stir to coat. Then add saffron, nutmeg, rest of parsley, ground pepper, 1 cup of chicken stock, 1/3 cup dry white wine and crushed tomatoes. 

Bring to simmer and stir. Reduce heat to medium and cook, reducing the sauce and adding 1/2 cup of chicken stock to keep moist and cook down further till it thickens, about 20 minutes. 

While simmering sauce, put a large pan on medium-high heat, add about 2-3 tbsp of EVOO and sauté the meat.Once cooked through, do NOT drain the meat sauce/water. Pour all of the pan’s contents into the pot.

Add the last 1/3 of cooking wine to the sauce/meat combination and stir to blend. Simmer together for a few minutes before removing from the heat.

Let any bubbles subside (heat lowered) and then add “creme de leite” and salt and additional pepper to taste.

Serve over jasmine or white rice. 

(Optional) garnish with potato straws.

Brazilian Chicken Stroganoff

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Have you tried Brazilian Chicken Stroganoff? What’d you think?

Leave a comment!

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