Pollo a la Crema Recipe – Mexican Inspired Creamy Chicken
Want an easy weeknight meal you can make in one pot? If so, you will love this pollo a la crema recipe.
This dish features chunks of white meat chicken with mushrooms, onions, and green peppers in a Mexican cream sauce. The recipe is also known as “pollo con crema” and “pollo en crema”.
There is no need to order Mexican take-out, when you can have this recipe on the table in less than 30 minutes.
Keep reading to find out how to make restaurant-style pollo a la crema Mexicana at home.
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Ingredients for pollo a la crema
To make this Mexican-inspired dish, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound of boneless chicken breast
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 cup of cremini mushrooms
- 1 cup of green pepper
- 1 tablespoon of smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 tablespoon of chicken bouillon granules
- 1 cup of crema Mexicana
- Red pepper flakes (optional for extra heat)
- Fresh parsley, to garnish
Note about crema Mexicana
Crema Mexicana is a creamy, cultured dairy product with a rich, slightly sweet and tangy flavor.
This recipe tastes best if you use crema Mexicana. However, if you don’t have crema Mexicana, you can substitute it with crème fraîche thinned with lime juice or sour cream thinned with water.
How to make pollo a la crema
Start by chopping your chicken and vegetables. Cut the chicken into 1 1/2 inch cubes. Season well with salt and cracked black pepper.
Slice the green peppers, onions and mushrooms into thick slices that are roughly the same size. Slicing your vegetables this way will ensure that they cook evenly.
Heat your olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until they start to brown.
Add the sliced onions to the pan with the chicken and cook until the onions become translucent.
Stir in the sliced mushrooms and green peppers and continue cooking until the vegetables are cooked but still slightly firm.
Making the Mexican cream sauce for chicken
The chicken crema sauce is easy to make and prepared in the same pan.
Sprinkle the smoked Spanish paprika and chicken bouillon granules over the chicken and vegetables. Mix well to combine.
This sauce is mild and creamy. If you prefer more heat, sprinkle red pepper flakes into the mixture.
Pour in the crema Mexicana and reduce the heat to low. Continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes, while stirring.
The sauce might look thin at first, but it will thicken up as it rests.
Plate the dish and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve it with with Mexican rice, refried beans, and warm tortillas for a tasty weeknight meal.
One of the nice features of this recipe is that everything is cooked in one pot, so clean up is easy when you are done making the chicken con crema.
Tasting chicken a la crema
This one-pan pollo a la crema is creamy and decadent. It has a mild flavor, with a hint of warm, smoky notes from the Spanish paprika.
The dish will have your family asking you to make it again, and again.
It’s not a particularly spicy Mexican dish, but if you want an extra kick of heat, you could add jalapeno peppers or red pepper flakes to the dish.
More Mexican-inspired dishes to try
If you liked this recipe, be sure to check out these as well:
- Seasoned Cauliflower Rice –A healthy side dish that tastes great with pollo a la crema.
- Gluten Free Mexican Chori Pollo – Another Mexican restaurant favorite.
- Mexican Style Stuffed Peppers – A healthy and flavorful dinner recipe.
Share this recipe for pollo con crema on Twitter
If you enjoyed learning how to make this Mexican-inspired creamy chicken recipe, why not share it with a friend? Here is a tweet to get you started:
The best pollo a la crema recipe is creamy, comforting, and packed with flavor. The mushrooms, green pepper & onions complement the Mexican crema sauce beautifully. Head to The Gardening Cook for the one-pot recipe.🍗🫑🧅🍄… Share on X
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Admin note: This recipe for pollo en crema first appeared on the blog in July 2013. I have updated the post to add all new photos, a printable recipe card, and a video for you to enjoy.
Pollo con Crema Recipe
This delicious recipe for pollo a la crema will rival that of your favorite Mexican restaurant.
It is easy to prepare and made in one pot. Best of all, this recipe is on the table in less than 30 minutes. Why go out for Mexican takeout when you can quickly make this delicious recipe at home?
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound of boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
- Salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 yellow onion, thickly sliced
- 1 cup of cremini mushrooms, cut into thick slices
- 1 cup of green pepper, cut into thick strips
- 1 tablespoon of smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 tablespoon of chicken bouillon granules
- 1 cup of crema Mexicana
- Fresh parsley - to garnish
- Red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Season the chicken with salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
- Add the chunks of chicken to the pan and cook until the chicken starts to brown, about 2-3 minutes.
- In the same pan, add the onions and cook until they become translucent.
- Stir in the green pepper strips and mushroom slices. Cook until the vegetables are still firm but cooked, and the chicken is no longer pink. This takes about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the smoked Spanish paprika and chicken bouillon granules. Stir to combine well. If you are adding red pepper flakes for extra heat, sprinkle them in now.
- Stir the crema Mexicana into the pan, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes until the chicken is tender.
- The mixture might look thin, but it will thicken up as it sits.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with warmed flour tortillas, refried beans, and Spanish rice.
Notes
This recipe works best with crema Mexicana. However, if you don't have crema Mexicana, you can substitute crème fraiche thinned with lime juice, or sour cream thinned with water.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 411Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 147mgSodium: 904mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 38g
Nutritional information is approximate due to natural variation in ingredients and the cook-at-home nature of our meals.
You added chicken bouillon and sour cream in the ingredient list, but you didn’t bother to add in the instructions when to use them. I am assuming that you are supposed to use the sour cream with the heavy cream and paprika. I guess I ill find out if I was correct when I eat it.
This was fabulous! I couldn’t find Spanish paprika and ended up using smoked paprika. It sounds like I should’ve used standard paprika and maybe a couple of punches of the smoked, if any. Any thoughts? Loved this!!!
Oops I was reading the instructions below the picture and it didn’t give the instructions. I read the direction below the recipe and saw it. Sorry about that.
No problem Nancy. I was going to go in tonight and have a look. Glad the recipe is showing correctly. Thanks for letting me know, though! Carol
For anyone hoping to find a taste of The Gardens of Taxco of West Hollywood, THIS IS IT.
When you serve it, be sure to tell your diners that it was borrrrrrrrn in the sauce. Not hot!–spiiiiiiiiiiiiicy. ^_^ (Man, I miss that place so much!)
Thank you so very much for sharing this recipe, Carol!
My pleasure Linda. So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Carol
Love that place too! They are still around, just take out only.
Linda, our favorite restaurant on this planet!!! No longer live in CA but speak to ‘Gardens’ so often! “Not traditional Mexican, but food you would get in a home in Mexico City” . . . Sigh.
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I tweaked it alittle becaus emy husband and I like it spicy so I added one pablano, jalapeno and serano pepper along with fresh herbs. Yummy!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Kari. Your tweaks sound great! Caro
Do you think this can be made a few days in advance and reheated? My daughter wants this at her Quinceanera
Hi Janine. Most dishes can be reheated but my experience is that sauces can sometimes break when they have been refrigerated and then reheated. I would do it for personal use at home but don’t think I would recommend doing this for a special occasion. Carol
Great recipe! I added a little ground chipotle pepper for some kick. I had to add salt, also, for my family’s taste (I use Better than Bouillon and I think it’s not as salty as regular bouillon cubes). Thank you for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Karen!
Thanks for the recipe. I double down on the sour cream and Paprika. Instead of olive oil I use lard. I also fry my jalapenos in the lard with the chicken (all this after trial and error to find what my taste likes most). The extra sour cream makes it richer and thicker. Lard adds flavor too, or perhaps its the olive taste I’m taking out, I like it better in any case. I also add some garlic powder near the end about three min before the sour cream.
Thank you for your recipe 🙂
I made it tonight for dinner with a side of Spanish rice and tortillas. Delish!
We have been enjoying this recipe for years THANK YOU! Pollo a la Crema is my husband’s favorite restaurant dish, his mom’s too! Now he won’t order it when we’re out. Says mine is better! I was so thrilled to find your recipe! It’s an elusive recipe on the internet, so again, thank you! I follow it to a T with two small exceptions. I add more mushrooms because we love them. I recently started adding 2 to 3 tbsp of cream cheese. My husband said “I don’t know what you’re doing different, but keep it up! It’s better than ever!”
Why did you remove the sour cream from the recipe? I’ve used this for years and I guess I should have saved the original recipe.
When I made the recipe on repeat, I used Mexican crema for a more authentic flavor. However, you can substitute sour cream for the Mexican crema.
@Carol Speake, I always used both! I thought this recipe had like 1/2 cup of crema and 1/4 cup of sour cream but I don’t remember the ratio now. I could be wrong but I swore it had it. Thank you for the recipe though!
Hi Kim, It has been a while since I redid the recipe with the crema, but I believe it originally had just sour creme in it. I think, from memory, that I mentioned crema though. The traditional recipe uses just crema, so I modified it for that reason. Either way is fine though.