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Bowl of Filipino chicken pastel with bone-in chicken, potato, carrot, sausage, and bell pepper in creamy sauce
Tagalog Luzon 25 min prep · 50 min cook 1h 15m total Medium

Chicken Pastel

Chicken Pastel (Pastel na Manok)

Home-style Filipino chicken pastel with tender chicken, potato, carrot, hotdog, and peas in a creamy evaporated-milk sauce.

Serves 6 · 1h 15m total

The Story

Chicken pastel is the Filipino cousin of chicken pot pie filling—minus the crust in most home kitchens, plus hotdog because this is a birthday table, not a French bistro. The sauce is evaporated milk, a little broth, and the fond from browning chicken, thick enough to cling to rice.

It shows up at kids' parties beside Filipino spaghetti and lumpiang shanghai: mild, slightly sweet, crowded with potato cubes and bright peas. The hotdog slices are not a joke ingredient—they are the color and the salt the stew needs.

Cook it in one wide pan so the vegetables stay in chunks, not mash. The sauce should look pale gold, not white soup.

Best paired with

Steamed rice, Filipino spaghetti, and lumpiang shanghai on a handaan plate.

Use it in these KusinaPH recipes

Chicken AfritadaPork MenudoChicken Sopas

Lola's Tips

  • ✦Brown the chicken well; pale chicken makes a pale, bland sauce.
  • ✦Add evaporated milk off a hard boil so it does not split.
  • ✦Hotdog goes in late so the slices stay round and pink.
  • ✦If the sauce is thin, simmer uncovered 5 minutes—do not dump in flour unless you must.

Substitutions

  • evaporated milk → all-purpose cream for a richer party version
  • hotdog → sliced Vienna sausage or skip for a cleaner stew
  • chicken thigh → bone-in mixed chicken cut-up

Ingredients

Servings
6
(recipe for 6)

Instructions

  1. 1

    Pat chicken dry and season with pepper. Heat oil and butter in a wide pot over medium-high heat. Brown chicken 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.

  2. 2

    In the same pot, saute onion and garlic until soft. Return chicken. Pour in chicken broth and fish sauce. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

  3. 3

    Add potato and carrot. Simmer 12 to 15 minutes until the vegetables are just tender and the chicken is cooked through.

  4. 4

    Lower heat. Stir in evaporated milk, hotdog, peas, and raisins if using. Simmer gently 5 to 8 minutes until the sauce is creamy and coats a spoon. Do not boil hard.

  5. 5

    Taste and add a pinch of salt or more patis if needed. Rest 3 minutes off heat so the sauce thickens slightly.

  6. 6

    Serve in a deep bowl with plenty of sauce over steamed rice.

Kitchen Timer · 25 min prep first

50:00

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