Need an idea for leftover chicken? Make these bite-size croquettes filled with deliciously creamy ground chicken and coated in crispy breadcrumbs!
Have you ever had croquetas de pollo? I will admit, this flavor is not my personal favorite. As you may or may not know, my favorite croquettes are ham croquetas. But you know what though, these chicken croquettes actually came out pretty freaking delicious. And they are a great option for using up leftover chicken!
How To Make Chicken Croquettes
First, I got the leftover chicken and shred it with two forks. You can use rotisserie chicken too, if you’re pressed for time. I pan fried the shredded chicken in a hot skillet, vaca frita style. This style of cooking means that you sauté the shredded chicken until crispy.
Once the chicken is cooked, you make the roux and mix it with the chicken. You form the logs, bread them with bread crumbs, and fry them. Full recipe below. These chicken croquetas are crispy on the outside and creamy and flavorful on the inside. You’ll feel all fancy making them. ;)
Hope you make them and you LOVE them!
Cuban-Style Chicken Croquettes (Croquetas de Pollo)
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tablespoon white onion chopped finely
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour divided
- 1 cup whole milk room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon dry cooking wine
- 1 pound cooked chicken (use leftovers or store-bought rotisserie chicken, shredded)
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- vegetable oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet or saucepan, melt butter and sauté with onion on medium-low heat until translucent.
- Slowly whisk in the milk, 1/3 cup of flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Constantly stir until a thick sauce forms – a roux.
- Add the cooking wine and cooked chicken to the sauce. Mix it all together slowly. Let it simmer for 5 minutes on low heat. Transfer to a bowl.
- Let the filling rest at room temperature then refrigerate for 2 hours. The mixture has to harden in order to form into logs and coat evenly. If this step is skipped, it will be very hard to form logs, coat with breading, and fry. This is an important step. Don’t skip it.
- Remove filling from refrigerator. Spoon approximately 1 tablespoon of the mixture and form a log 3″ long and about 1″ thick. Repeat until you have all the croquettes done.
- In a bowl, whisk eggs and set aside. In another bowl, mix the remaining flour and bread crumbs.
- Dip each croquette in egg and then cover in bread crumbs. Let them rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before frying.
- In a large skillet, add enough vegetable oil to cover the croquettes completely. Make sure the oil is at 375 degrees F. Fry each one until golden brown, approximately 3-4 minutes.
- Remove croquettes from oil and drain on paper towel lined plates. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Other recipes you may like:
- Dairy-Free Batido de Trigo (Cuban Wheat Shake)
- Pastelitos de Guayaba + Queso (Guava Cheese Pastries!)
- Cuban-Style Crispy Shredded Chicken (Vaca Frita de Pollo)
- Easy Cuban Black Bean Soup (Dairy-Free, Vegetarian)
- Cuban-Style Chickpea Vegan Picadillo
- 15-Minute Cauliflower Congri (Cuban-Style Black Beans + Cauliflower Rice)
- Healthy-ish Cuban Bibimbap Bowl
- Cuban-Style Ham Croquettes (Croquetas de Jamón)
- Pizza Croquettes {Croquetas de Pizza}
Nail Polish Pursuit says
Thanks for this recipe! I better learn how to make these asap for my bf!! He loves chicken croquetas :) Xo
Jamie Silva says
Really? Being the Cuban he is, I’d think he was more of a ham croqueta fan…like me!
Kim HORSTING says
I made this for a family who loves croquettes, and they loved them. This was my first time ever trying to make them. I found the steps very easy to follow and I thank you for making me look great. I will be making this again and again.
Jamie Silva says
So happy you loved them! :)
ROSEMARY CASTANO says
I TRIED THIS RECIPE FOR THE 1ST TIME THIS PAST WEEKEND. VERY EASY TO FOLLOW RECIPE. 1ST BATCH I FRIED BUT THEN 2ND BATCH I DID IN AIR FRYER BOTH WERE SUPER DELICIOUS. THANK YOU FOR AWESOME RECIPE!!!
Guillermo A Viera says
I’m a 59 year old CUBAN, and I’ve had the best. I made this recipe but used a 3pound bag of Jenny o ground turkey I added garlic, cumin, oregano, wine, nutmeg, yellow bell pepper and onion to the ground turkey and made a triple size recipe. It came out incredible!! Thank you for this great easy and delicious recipe. I looked like the chef I used to be.
Christian says
I’m going to try this out! Please recommend a brand of breadcrumbs?!
Jamie Silva says
Any brand works!
Guillermo A Viera says
Progresso italian herbs works great but if you have the time saltine crackers in a food processor works really good and is often used by many Cubans.with or without the salt kind.
Guillermo A Viera says
I just made them again but this time I thought I would try it with leftover Thanksgiving turkey and it came out beautiful. Thanks again