Pollo Saltado (Peruvian Chicken Stir-Fry)
Juicy strips of chicken tossed in a blazing-hot wok with red onion, tomato, ají amarillo and soy sauce until just saucy, piled over golden fries and served with white rice. The classic chifa-criollo dish Peruvians cook at home all the time.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Marinate the chicken
Toss the chicken strips with the soy sauce, half the garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let it rest about 10 minutes while you prep everything else; this seasons the chicken from the inside and helps it brown.
- 600 g chicken strips
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 cloves garlic
- a pinch salt and pepper
✅ Done when: chicken strips look evenly coated and slightly glossy
Fry the potatoes
Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F) in a deep pot and fry the potato fries in batches for 8-10 minutes, until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels and season with salt right away, then keep warm.
- 600 g potato fries
- enough to deep-fry vegetable oil
- to taste salt
✅ Done when: fries are golden and crisp outside, tender inside
Sear the chicken
Heat a wok or heavy skillet over the highest heat until it almost smokes, add half the stir-fry oil, then cook the marinated chicken in two uncrowded batches, 2-3 minutes each, until browned outside and cooked through. Lift out and set aside.
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
✅ Done when: chicken is browned outside and cooked through (74°C/165°F)
Soften onion and ají
Return the wok to high heat with the remaining oil and garlic. Add the onion wedges and toss for 30 seconds so they soften slightly but stay crunchy, then stir in the and cook 1 minute.
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cloves garlic
- 2 red onions
- 2 tbsp
✅ Done when: onions are slightly softened but still crunchy, ají smells fragrant
Bring it together
Return the seared chicken to the wok with the tomato wedges, soy sauce and vinegar. Toss everything over high heat for 1-2 minutes, just until the tomatoes release their juice and build a light, glossy sauce while still holding their shape.
- 2 tomatoes
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
✅ Done when: tomatoes release juice and the sauce looks glossy but tomatoes keep their shape
Finish and taste
Scatter in the chopped cilantro, toss once more, and taste for salt. The dish should be hot, juicy and lightly saucy, not swimming in liquid.
- 4 tbsp chopped cilantro
- to taste salt
✅ Done when: mixture tastes well seasoned and lightly saucy, not watery
Serve immediately
Pile the pollo saltado over the hot fries right away so they soak up some of the juices, and serve with the white rice alongside.
- 400 g cooked white rice
Marinate the chicken
Toss the chicken strips with the soy sauce, half the garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let it rest about 10 minutes while you prep everything else; this seasons the chicken from the inside and helps it brown.
- 600 g chicken strips
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 cloves garlic
- a pinch salt and pepper
✅ Done when: chicken strips look evenly coated and slightly glossy
Fry the potatoes
Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F) in a deep pot and fry the potato fries in batches for 8-10 minutes, until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels and season with salt right away, then keep warm.
- 600 g potato fries
- enough to deep-fry vegetable oil
- to taste salt
✅ Done when: fries are golden and crisp outside, tender inside
Sear the chicken
Heat a wok or heavy skillet over the highest heat until it almost smokes, add half the stir-fry oil, then cook the marinated chicken in two uncrowded batches, 2-3 minutes each, until browned outside and cooked through. Lift out and set aside.
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
✅ Done when: chicken is browned outside and cooked through (74°C/165°F)
Soften onion and ají
Return the wok to high heat with the remaining oil and garlic. Add the onion wedges and toss for 30 seconds so they soften slightly but stay crunchy, then stir in the and cook 1 minute.
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cloves garlic
- 2 red onions
- 2 tbsp
✅ Done when: onions are slightly softened but still crunchy, ají smells fragrant
Bring it together
Return the seared chicken to the wok with the tomato wedges, soy sauce and vinegar. Toss everything over high heat for 1-2 minutes, just until the tomatoes release their juice and build a light, glossy sauce while still holding their shape.
- 2 tomatoes
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
✅ Done when: tomatoes release juice and the sauce looks glossy but tomatoes keep their shape
Finish and taste
Scatter in the chopped cilantro, toss once more, and taste for salt. The dish should be hot, juicy and lightly saucy, not swimming in liquid.
- 4 tbsp chopped cilantro
- to taste salt
✅ Done when: mixture tastes well seasoned and lightly saucy, not watery
Serve immediately
Pile the pollo saltado over the hot fries right away so they soak up some of the juices, and serve with the white rice alongside.
- 400 g cooked white rice
The Story Behind the Dish
Saltados were born in Lima's chifas, the Chinese-Peruvian restaurants opened by Cantonese immigrants from the mid-1800s onward. Cooks took the Chinese wok and soy sauce and combined them with Peruvian ingredients like native potatoes, tomato and ají amarillo, creating a fast, high-heat way of cooking that was entirely new to Peru.
Lomo saltado, made with beef, came first and is the dish's best-known form, but pollo saltado followed as an everyday, lighter version using chicken, and today both are standards on home tables and restaurant menus across the country.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It is the clearest, tastiest proof of Peru's chifa heritage: a true fusion dish, cooked fast and loud in a smoking-hot wok, that Peruvians consider pure comfort food.
💡 Fun Fact
Serving stir-fried meat with both fries and rice on the same plate is a distinctly Peruvian habit, born from wanting to fill the plate with the best of two culinary worlds at once.
Lima
-12.05°S, -77.04°W
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