Chicken Pastel (Filipino Creamy Chicken Pot Pie Stew)

Chicken pastel is a Filipino creamy chicken stew: bite-size chicken simmered with chorizo de Bilbao, hotdogs, potato, carrot, mushrooms and bell peppers, finished with all-purpose cream and eaten with white rice. It takes about an hour from start to finish and feeds four.

It tastes mild, savoury and a little sweet. The soy-and-lime marinade gives the chicken a salty, sour edge, the chorizo adds smoky red oil, and the cream pulls it all into one pale, rich sauce.

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Last updated 2026-10-13

Recipe

Chicken Pastel (Filipino Creamy Chicken Pot Pie Stew)

Prep

15 mins

Cook

45 mins

Total

1 hr

Serves

4

Ingredients

• 2 lb (900 g) boneless chicken thighs or breast, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• Juice of 1 lime, or 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 chorizo de Bilbao, sliced
• 1 cup (240 ml) water or chicken broth
• 3 to 4 hotdogs, or 1 can Vienna sausage, sliced into rounds
• 1 large potato, cubed
• 1 carrot, cubed
• 3/4 to 1 cup sliced button mushrooms, or 1 small can, drained
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into squares
• 1 small green bell pepper, cut into squares
• 1 pack (250 ml) all-purpose cream
• 1 small can (150 ml) evaporated milk, optional
• Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Mix the chicken with the soy sauce and lime or lemon juice. Leave it for 15 to 30 minutes, then lift the chicken out and drain it.
2. Heat the oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic until the onion is soft, then add the chorizo and cook for 1 minute, until its red oil runs.
3. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until no pink shows on the outside and the edges turn light brown.
4. Pour in the water or broth and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is tender.
5. Add the hotdogs, potato and carrot. Simmer uncovered for 8 to 15 minutes, until a fork slides into the potato and the liquid has dropped by about half.
6. Lower the heat. Stir in the cream and the evaporated milk if using, then the mushrooms and bell peppers. Simmer gently for 3 to 5 minutes, without boiling, until the sauce coats a spoon. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot with rice.

What is chicken pastel?

Chicken pastel is chicken, sausages and vegetables cooked in a cream sauce, served as a stew over rice. The name points to the Spanish pastel de pollo, a chicken pie, and a baked version under a crust still exists. Most Filipino home cooks skip the crust and serve it straight from the pot.

It is a party dish. It shows up at birthdays, holidays and family gatherings because it scales well and holds its heat in a big pot.

What goes in it is consistent across the recipes that rank for it: chicken, chorizo de Bilbao, hotdogs or Vienna sausage, potato, carrot, mushrooms, red and green bell pepper, and a dairy finish. The dairy is where versions split.

Chicken pastel, step by step

1. Marinate the chicken in soy sauce and citrus.
2. Soften onion and garlic, then add the chorizo.
3. Brown the chicken pieces.
4. Add the water and simmer, covered.
5. Add the hotdogs, potato and carrot.
6. Stir in the cream, mushrooms and peppers.

Choosing the ingredients

Use thighs if you can. Breast works and cooks faster, but thighs stay juicy through the 15 to 20 minute simmer. Cut everything to roughly the same size so the chicken and potato finish together.

The cream is the one real choice. Panlasang Pinoy uses a full 15-ounce pack of all-purpose cream, Foxy Folksy uses a 250 ml pack plus a small can of evaporated milk, and Salu-Salo Recipes finishes with half a cup of light sour cream. The card follows Foxy Folksy: 250 ml cream, with the evaporated milk optional. Add the whole 15 ounces if you want it richer and soupier.

Chorizo de Bilbao is the hard, paprika-red Spanish-style sausage sold in Filipino groceries. If you cannot find it, any firm smoked chorizo gives the same red oil. Red hotdogs and canned Vienna sausage are both standard. Pick one or use both.

Canned button mushrooms are as common as fresh. Drain them well first, or the sauce turns thin.

How to keep the sauce creamy

Add the cream at the end and keep the pot at a gentle simmer from then on. A hard boil after the cream goes in can split it, and you will see small white flecks and a greasy surface instead of a smooth sauce.

Reduce before the cream, not after. Let the cooking liquid drop by about half while the potatoes cook. If the pot is still full of thin broth when the cream goes in, the sauce stays watery.

Season last. Soy sauce from the marinade, chorizo and hotdogs all bring salt, so taste the finished sauce before adding any. Chicken is done at 165 °F (74 °C), the USDA safe minimum; cut a thick piece and the meat should be white all the way through.

Chicken pastel with a crust

Yes, you can bake it like a pot pie. Recipes by Nora thickens the filling with flour and butter, tips it into a baking dish, covers it with puff pastry and bakes it at 400 °F (204 °C) for about 30 minutes until golden. Thicken the stew on this page with a little flour before it goes under pastry, or the crust goes soggy. For an American-style version, see our chicken pot pie recipe.

Chicken pastel vs afritada and menudo

All three are Filipino party stews with potato, carrot and bell pepper. The sauce is the difference. Pastel is cream-based and pale. Afritada and chicken menudo are tomato-based and red.

If you want something brothier for a cold night, chicken sopas is the other creamy chicken dish in the same kitchen, made with milk and macaroni.

What to serve with chicken pastel

Steamed white rice is the standard. The sauce is made to be spooned over it. Warm pandesal or crusty bread works too if you want to mop the pot.

Make ahead and leftovers

Chicken pastel keeps well, which is why it is cooked in big batches. Cool it and refrigerate within two hours. Eat it within 3 to 4 days, the USDA guideline for cooked leftovers.

Reheat gently on low with a splash of water and stir often. The sauce thickens in the fridge. Freezing is possible, but cream sauces and potatoes can turn grainy once thawed, so it is best eaten fresh.

Questions people ask

What is chicken pastel made of?

Chicken, chorizo de Bilbao, hotdogs or Vienna sausage, potato, carrot, mushrooms and red and green bell pepper, cooked in water or broth and finished with all-purpose cream. Many versions marinate the chicken in soy sauce and lime or lemon first.

How do you make chicken pastel?

Marinate the chicken in soy sauce and citrus, saute onion, garlic and chorizo, brown the chicken, simmer it covered in water, add the sausages, potato and carrot, then finish with cream, mushrooms and bell peppers.

What does chicken pastel taste like?

Mild, creamy and savoury, with a salty-sour note from the soy and lime marinade, smokiness from the chorizo and a light sweetness from the carrots, hotdogs and cream.

Is chicken pastel the same as chicken pot pie?

Not quite. Chicken pastel takes its name from a Spanish chicken pie, but most Filipino versions are a stew served with rice and no crust, and they include chorizo and hotdogs, which a pot pie does not.

What is the most famous chicken dish in the Philippines?

There is no official ranking. Adobo, tinola and inasal are all everyday Filipino chicken dishes, and chicken pastel is the creamy one that comes out for parties.