As a full-time working mom, people ask me what my go-to meals are during the week. One of them is a Filipino dish called Chicken Afritada that my mom taught me how to prepare in 30 minutes using store-bought rotisserie chicken. It’s a savory chicken dish with fresh vegetables in a soy sauce and tomato sauce mixture…Is your mouth watering yet?
The thing about my kids A&Z is that they are actually Filipino. At least their taste buds are. Give them a hot dog or some chicken nuggets and they’ll look at me like I’m cray. But give them some Filipino food over rice and they’ll gobble it up and ask me for seconds, then fall asleep at the table from a food-induced coma.
The thing about Filipino food is that theses dishes take time and love and dedication to prepare. So preparing these meals that my children love is a huge challenge for me as a full-time working mother. My mom was also a full-time working mom so she found ways to hack the traditional recipes to cut down the preparation time, then passed the recipes on to me. For this chicken afritada recipe, using the store-bought rotisserie chicken is what really saves on cooking time – all you have to do is add the fresh vegetables and sauce. So let’s get started!
Ingredients
- 1 store-bought rotisserie chicken
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 potato, peeled and diced
- 1/2 head of cabbage, cut in 4 to 5 wedges
- 1 cup green beans
- 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz.)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Chop up all the ingredients and cut up the rotisserie chicken into serving pieces.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large sauce pan and saute the garlic and onion over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes.
- Add the rotisserie chicken and mix in the tomato sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, water, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the remaining vegetables* – potato, cabbage, and green beens. Reduce heat to medium and cover for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
*Additional vegetables can be added or substituted here such as carrots, green peas, celery or bell peppers.
So there you have it! An awesome hack of a traditional Filipino recipe that you can cook in 30 minutes. Really – 30 minutes, assuming you can chop up all those ingredients in less than 10 minutes. (I get really upset when Rachael Ray tells me that her meals are 30 minutes and it takes me 45 minutes.) It’s best served over white rice. Yum!
I hope you get a chance to try it and let me know how it turns out! This is my first recipe on my blog and I hope to share more. Or, if you have any rotisserie chicken meals or recipe hacks that you’d like to share or do a guest post, then email me at gracielle (at) mommya-z (dot) com.
xoxo // gracielle
That sounds yummy, Gracielle! I’m all about fast meals & rotisserie chicken so I may give this one a try!
Jennifer McCullough recently posted…Through The Lens Thursday: Week 5
Let me know how it turns out, Jennifer!
Oh. Yum! That’s actually how we make chicken pot pie these days, but shh… don’t tell my mom! The store-bought rotisserie seems to save hours of time!
And I love that your kids eat the food that’s in their blood lines to eat! My daughter is of the mac and cheese, chicken nuggets variety.
Tamara recently posted…The Lost Boys & Girls.
I’ve seen some great chicken rotisserie recipes out there in the land of Pinterest. Chicken pot pie sounds delicious right now!
i’ve never heard of this. it looks so good. i wish you could cook for me!
catherine gacad recently posted…Closing on a Home
Not even the non-hacked rotisserie chicken version? You should give it a try, it’s super easy!
I’ve never tried it with rotisserie chicken before.. I’ve gotta try that sometime! (PS. enchiladas are also great to make with rotisserie chicken.. or any leftover chicken almost)
Roaen recently posted…Wordless Wednesday | Bokeh Souvenir
Yum! Chicken enchiladas sound so good right about now. I bet there are a ton of other rotisserie chicken recipes out there in the land of Pinterest! It’s such a time saver!
This reminds me I haven’t posted some of my Kitchen Newbie recipes yet! Ahh I’m a work in progress!! Your afritada looks yummy! And of course, I probably get to eat that here from time to time. I love the fact that your kids still live the Filipino culture and values even when they’re in the US, such sweet adorable kids. Good tip about the Rotisserie chicken especially that we would want to save time as much as we can without sacrificing quality.
Rea recently posted…The Road Towards A Stress-Free Life
You should try it on one of your Kitchen Newbie posts! It’s easy, I promise – you can’t screw it up because the chicken is already cooked. LOL 🙂 I want my kids to appreciate food from all cultures, I’m pretty happy that my kids appreciate Filipino food already!
My mom always used rotisserie chicken for quick dinners too,she also worked full-time growing up and used this short cut, how funny. Great recipe that I am sure to be trying this to save me time as well!
Deanna recently posted…Creating A Vision Board To Meet Your Goals.
I swear, my mom has all the creativity, tips, tricks and time-savers. She figured it all out before Pinterest came along. She would have made a great blogger!
I like it! My grandma used to buy the store bought rotisserie chicken. I haven’t done that really ever, but then again, I’ve been able to spend a little more time in the kitchen. I think her meals that she took time making were like on Sundays because she worked during the week. 🙂 It looks super yummy though and I am going to pin this!
Brittnei recently posted…New Sponsor With Style: Angel from Sew Crafty Angel
I like how the rotisserie chicken cuts down the cooking time, but still ends up tasting like a home-cooked meal because of the vegetables and the sauce. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
That looks really good! Think I might have to give it a try.
Jeanne recently posted…Throwback Thursday #2
Thanks, Jeanne! Let me know how it turns out!
having go to meals is so importnat when you are short on time. We have a few “favorites” that are time and money savers too. I like coming home after work and throwing it all together quickly. So going to try this out, thanks for sharing babe.
Karen recently posted…Honey-Do List
Yup, I only have 3 or 4 recipes that I know I can whip together in less than 30 minutes. Let me know how it turns out, Karen!
I’m going to have to try this!!! I’m married to a Filipino and I bet he’d love it!
Dina Farmer recently posted…Formal Balance
Hope he likes it! Let me know how it turns out. Thanks for stopping by, Dina!