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Gallina en Nogada
5 from 16 votes

Gallina en Nogada

Gallina en Nogada is a traditional chicken dish featuring poached chicken cooked gently with aromatic ingredients. The sauce combines toasted walnuts, charred garlic, onion, tomatoes, ancho chilies, and roasted red bell peppers, seasoned with cinnamon and cloves to create a rich, nutty, and slightly spicy flavor profile. The preparation method emphasizes careful poaching and blending toasted and charred components for a distinctive sauce that complements the tender chicken pieces.

Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
Total Time
1 hr 55 mins
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 537 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken cut into serving pieces
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • 3.5 ounces walnuts (100 grams)
  • 3 cloves garlic whole but unpeeled
  • 1 onion quartered, white
  • 2 Roma tomato sliced in half
  • 3 tablespoons butter (50 grams)
  • 1 bread thick slice
  • 4 ancho chile stemmed, seeded and rehydrated in warm water
  • 3 roasted red bell peppers
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 cloves
  • 3 tablepsoons parsley chopped, fresh

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Cover the chicken with water and bring to a boil. Skim any froth that forms, then drop the heat to a bare simmer and add salt. After about 20 minutes, remove the breasts from the pot and set aside. When the legs and wings are tender, turn off the heat and leave the meat in the pot. Return the breasts to the pot to warm up.
  2. While the chicken is cooking, toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium-high heat, stirring or tossing often, until you can smell them, about 5 to 8 minutes. Move them to the bowl of a blender.
  3. Heat a flat top, comal or heavy griddle or cast iron pan on high heat. When it's hot, char the outsides of the unpeeled garlic, as well as the cut sides of the onion and tomatoes. The garlic should be ready within 5 minutes, but the onions and tomato will take about 10 to 15 minutes. You want nice blackening. Roughly chop the vegetables and add to the blender.
  4. While the vegetables are charring, heat the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the bread until golden on either side. Turn off the heat but reserve the pan. Tear the bread to pieces and add it to the blender.
  5. Tear up the ancho chiles and the red peppers and add them, along with the spices, to the blender and puree until smooth, adding ladles of the chicken stock to thin it to the consistency of house paint or melted ice cream.
  6. If you still have a good 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan you fried the bread in, you're good. If not, add some more butter. Heat this over medium heat and pour in the sauce. It will spatter, so be prepared for that. Stir the sauce constantly until the sauce absorbs the butter, then drop the heat to low, cover the pot and let this cook very gently until the chicken is done.
  7. Serve by putting a little sauce on everyone's plate, then the chicken, then more sauce. Garnish with parsley and black pepper.

Notes

  • Use premade broth to poach skinless chicken breasts or pheasant, letting it steep off heat to retain tenderness.
  • The walnut sauce can be stored uncooked for a week or frozen cooked, but reheat gently to prevent separation.
  • Chicken can be prepared by grilling or smoking for alternative flavor profiles.
  • Substitute ancho chilies with pasilla, mulato, guajillo, or dried red Hatch chilies as preferred.
  • Canned roasted red peppers are convenient, but roasting fresh peppers adds a more vibrant flavor.

Nutrition Information

Calories 537kcal (27%) Carbohydrates 25g (8%) Protein 30g (60%) Fat 37g (57%) Saturated Fat 10g (50%) Polyunsaturated Fat 13g (76%) Monounsaturated Fat 11g (55%) Trans Fat 1g (50%) Cholesterol 110mg (37%) Sodium 440mg (18%) Potassium 870mg (19%) Fiber 9g (36%) Sugar 12g (24%) Vitamin A 6806IU (136%) Vitamin C 23mg (26%) Calcium 67mg (7%) Iron 3mg (17%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6 servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 537

% Daily Value*

Calories 537kcal 27%
Carbohydrates 25g 8%
Protein 30g 60%
Fat 37g 57%
Saturated Fat 10g 50%
Polyunsaturated Fat 13g 76%
Monounsaturated Fat 11g 55%
Trans Fat 1g 50%
Cholesterol 110mg 37%
Sodium 440mg 18%
Potassium 870mg 19%
Fiber 9g 36%
Sugar 12g 24%
Vitamin A 6806IU 136%
Vitamin C 23mg 26%
Calcium 67mg 7%
Iron 3mg 17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.