Vegan Chicken Style Tofu Fricassee (Fricase de Pollo)
Cuban fricase de pollo, meaning chicken fricassee, used to be one of my go-to meals on lazy Sunday afternoons. It was a recipe that we both enjoyed and was quick and easy to make. I don’t know a Cuban household that doesn’t have a version of this essential Spanish dish.
For a while, I toyed with the idea of creating a vegan version of this dish but I couldn’t decide what to use as my mock chicken. I’m a true lover of tofu but I didn’t think that the water-packed extra firm tofu would hold up in a stew-like dish.
On one fateful shopping trip, as I perused the vegan options in the produce section of Publix, I discovered the holy grail of all tofus. The tofu gods had heard my prayers and shown me the way to the wonders of pressed, super firm tofu. I didn’t think twice before tossing the small, bouncy package into my cart. I raced home to try this new and mysterious product because I really love new things. Little did I know, it would become one of my favorite vegan foods!
So, here, I present to you my vegan version of a quintessential Cuban dish – fricase de pollo.
Vegan Chicken Style Tofu Fricassee (Fricase de Pollo)
Ingredients
Marinade
- 16 ounces pressed super firm tofu, cubed into 1-inch cubes
- 1 small sour orange, juiced
- 2-3 tablespoon cilantro, minced
- 2-3 tablespoon parsley, minced
- 1/4 cup white cooking wine
- 1/4 cup vegan chick'n broth or any other kind of broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
Fricassee
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 small onions, diced or medium onion
- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups vegan chick'n broth or any other kind of broth
- 10 spanish olives
- 1 culantro leaf (optional)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1-inch cubes
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks
Instructions
Marinade
- For marinade, combine all ingredients except tofu in a container of your choice.
- Toss the tofu and marinade mixture in a zip lock bag or container of choice to combine.
- Let marinade for at least 30 minutes. The longer, the better.
Fricassee
- Setting pressure cooker to the sear option, add the olive oil, onion, and bell pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes.
- Once the onion and bell pepper are translucent, add the tomato paste.
- Then stir in the marinated tofu, broth, Spanish olives, culantro, bay leaf, salt, and diced potato and carrots.
- Set pressure cooker for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes and once the pressure has been released from the pressure cooker valve, set it on sear again.
- Cook until the liquid has reduced to desired consistency, stirring occasional to avoid burning.
I’ve been craving this dish for a while now. Is there anything I can substitute the tofu with? It looks delicious ?
To be honest, I’ve never tried this recipe with another protein. I think that jackfruit may work, however, the cooking time may need to be adjusted. If you aren’t trying to stick with whole foods, using any kind of mock chicken would be tasty as well!
BUTLER SOY CURLS! They are amazing. made vegan ropa vieja and vegan pulled pork bbq this weekend and oh my.
Just found a vegan arroz con pollo recipe that we are making this weekend. Check out the Soy curls . so many options and so versatile.
Hi Marie. Yes, I’ve really been wanting to experiment with soy curls because I think they would work great in Cuban vegan food. However, I have yet to find a store that sells them in my area. It’s weird because I can usually find any ingredient here in Miami but not soy curls. I might check in my local Indian store soon. Haven’t done so yet due to the pandemic. You know how it is. lol. Thank you so much for the suggestion and for putting the idea back in my brain. 🙂
I tried soy curls and it was delicious ?
Awesome! I have to give it a try!
Looks amazing. And mad props to you for going Cuban style vegan. Love it!
Thanks, Gabriel!
Hello there and thanks for the recipe when you say “add the marinated tofu” do you mean add the whole lot or just the tofu. Discard ing the marinade would seem wasteful but a clarification would be helpful.
Hi Phillip, yes you dump the marinade in as well. You can also check out the youtube video to get a visual of how I make it. Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIab3rRIu3U&t=1s
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