Aguadito de Pollo (Peruvian Cilantro Chicken and Rice Soup)
Browned bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks simmered with onion, red bell pepper, cumin and rice in broth blended with cilantro, serrano and garlic, then brightened with a second fresh cilantro puree, sweet corn and lots of lime.
Aguadito de pollo is Peru's green chicken and rice soup. Wikipedia lists it simply as chicken, cilantro and vegetables, next to caldo de gallina, a hen broth with potatoes, egg noodles and hard-boiled eggs. The color comes from cilantro blended into the broth. Milk Street's headnote for its version notes that traditional aguadito uses starchy Peruvian corn, which is far less sweet than American sweet corn, and that its mild heat comes from ají amarillo, an orange-yellow chile whose paste is sold in jars in the United States.
This recipe is Adrianna Adarme's, from A Cozy Kitchen. It was a childhood staple in her house; she remembers her mother picking the leaves off bunches of cilantro in front of the television on cold days and asking the kids to help. She blends half the cilantro into the broth at the start and the rest just before serving, so the soup stays bright green.
📖 Where is it from?: Arroz Chaufa: How Fried Rice Became a Peruvian Classic →
Why it works the kitchen science
Cilantro twice
The first puree cooks into the broth and the rice for deep herb flavor, and the second, raw one goes in at the end for the vivid green color and fresh smell that long cooking takes away.
Browning bone-in chicken first
Crisping the skin and leaving the browned bits in the pot gives a short-cooked soup the savory depth of a long-simmered one.
Step by step
- Step 1
Blend 1 cup cilantro, the serrano, garlic and 1/4 cup broth until smooth.
- Step 2
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the thighs and drumsticks skin side down and cook 4 to 5 minutes, until the skin is crisp and browned, then turn and cook 5 minutes more. Move them to a plate.
- Step 3
Pour off all but about 1 tsp of the fat if there is a lot (add a teaspoon of oil if the pan is dry). Cook the onion until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes, then add the bell pepper and cumin and cook 1 to 2 minutes.
- Step 4
Stir in the rice and the cilantro puree until the rice is coated. Return the chicken and pour in about 3 1/2 cups broth, nearly covering it. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to medium-low, cover and cook 20 to 30 minutes, until the rice is tender and the chicken reads 165°F.
- Step 5
Just before serving, blend the remaining 1/2 cup cilantro with the remaining 1/4 cup broth and stir it into the soup with the corn. Season with salt (Adarme needed about 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt).
- Step 6
Serve right away with cilantro leaves and plenty of lime wedges.
Aguadito de Pollo (Peruvian Cilantro Chicken and Rice Soup)
Serves 4 · about 6 cups · 1 hr total
Cilantro puree
- 1 1/2 cups cilantro leaves (from 1 bunch), divided
- 1 serrano, halved and seeded (or 1 to 2 tsp ají amarillo paste)
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/2 cup chicken broth, divided
Soup
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken drumsticks
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 cup white rice
- About 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 ear corn, kernels cut off (or 1/3 cup frozen corn)
- Kosher salt
- 3 limes, cut into wedges, and cilantro leaves, to serve
Method
- Blend 1 cup cilantro, the serrano, garlic and 1/4 cup broth until smooth.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the thighs and drumsticks skin side down and cook 4 to 5 minutes, until the skin is crisp and browned, then turn and cook 5 minutes more. Move them to a plate.
- Pour off all but about 1 tsp of the fat if there is a lot (add a teaspoon of oil if the pan is dry). Cook the onion until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes, then add the bell pepper and cumin and cook 1 to 2 minutes.
- Stir in the rice and the cilantro puree until the rice is coated. Return the chicken and pour in about 3 1/2 cups broth, nearly covering it. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to medium-low, cover and cook 20 to 30 minutes, until the rice is tender and the chicken reads 165°F.
- Just before serving, blend the remaining 1/2 cup cilantro with the remaining 1/4 cup broth and stir it into the soup with the corn. Season with salt (Adarme needed about 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt).
- Serve right away with cilantro leaves and plenty of lime wedges.
Adapted from Adrianna Adarme, "Aguadito de Pollo", A Cozy Kitchen (published January 13, 2016; updated April 28, 2025), serves 4. We follow it as written: 1 cup cilantro, a serrano, 4 garlic cloves and 1/4 cup broth blended; 2 thighs and 2 drumsticks browned in 2 tbsp olive oil 4 to 5 minutes and then 5 minutes; onion 3 to 4 minutes; red bell pepper and 1/2 tsp cumin 1 to 2 minutes; 1/4 cup rice and the puree, then about 3 1/2 cups broth, covered over medium-low 20 to 30 minutes; 1/2 cup cilantro blended with 1/4 cup broth stirred in at the end with the corn; lime wedges. Her recipe card lists "1/2 yellow onion or frozen peas"; we use the onion. The 165°F check on the chicken is ours. Milk Street's version is paywalled and was read only for its headnote. A Cozy Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Brown rice takes closer to 40 minutes; quinoa about 20, Adarme says.
- She sometimes adds a sliced carrot with the onion.
- Ají amarillo paste in place of the serrano gives the traditional flavor and color; Milk Street says jarred paste is easy to find online.
- Serve it right away: the rice keeps drinking the broth as it sits (Milk Street).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Aguadito needs ají amarillo. Disputed: Milk Street's version uses the paste; Adarme uses a serrano and offers ají amarillo as the alternative.
- Sweet corn belongs in it. Disputed: Milk Street says traditional aguadito uses starchy Peruvian corn and leaves sweet corn out; Adarme adds sweet corn at the end.
- Aguadito is a hangover cure. Folklore: Adarme lists it with other chicken soups for the sniffles, hangovers or the cold; no source we read tests it.
- Add the cilantro at the end. Documented as Adarme's method for color.
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