Clean recipe · cooking.nytimes.com
Slow-Cooker Chicken and Bean Fideo
Similar to vermicelli, fideo are short, delicate noodles that are often used in Spanish and Mexican cooking, as in the Mexican classic, sopa de fideo. This nontraditional slow-cooker dish puts fideo to good use in a medium-spicy, smoky chicken and bean braise. You can dial the heat up and down by including more or fewer chipotles in the mix. It’s a comforting stew of tender chicken, pinto beans (you can sub in black beans) and toasted noodles. The toasting step adds a deeper flavor to the finished dish, but you can skip it if you’re pressed for time and simply break the noodles up directly into the slow-cooker. Serve with plenty of cilantro and avocado.
Original recipe: cooking.nytimes.com
- Yield:
- 6 servings
- Prep:
- 0 hr 10 min
- Cook:
- 4 hr 10 min
- Total:
- 4 hr 20 min
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Ingredients
- 3 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced, plus 3 tablespoons adobo sauce, from 1 (7-ounce) can
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
- 4 tablespoons canola oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), plus more to taste
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 6 ounces fideo (see Tip)
- 2 (15.5-ounce) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- Cilantro and chopped avocado, for topping
Instructions
- In a 6- to 8-quart slow-cooker, stir together the chipotles and adobo sauce, the garlic, 2 tablespoons of the oil, the honey, salt, vinegar, oregano and cumin. Add the chicken and stir well to combine, getting the sauce in all the nooks and crannies of the chicken.
- Cook on low until the chicken is very tender, about 4 hours.
- Warm the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the fideo, breaking up the noodles into small lengths if necessary. Toast the noodles in the oil, stirring continuously, until most of the noodles are a deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Scrape the toasted noodles into the slow-cooker. Coarsely break the chicken up with two forks. Add 1½ cups water and the beans and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low until the noodles are just tender and the beans are warmed through, 10 to 20 minutes, stirring once to ensure all the noodles get cooked evenly.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt or vinegar as you like. Serve topped with cilantro and avocado.