A homestyle Colombian chicken and vegetable pie baked in a dish with a toasted-cumin crust, built for feeding a crowd.
Torta de pollo is a genuine Colombian home-cooking dish — a savory chicken and vegetable filling baked under a simple dough or biscuit-style topping, closer to a casserole-pie hybrid than a classic pastry-crusted pie. It's the kind of dish Colombian mothers and grandmothers make for a Sunday family lunch or when feeding a crowd, built from shredded cooked chicken, potato, carrot and peas in a lightly thickened sauce, with toasted cumin adding warmth to both the filling and the crust. The filling comes together from poached, shredded chicken (using the poaching liquid as the base for the sauce so nothing goes to waste) simmered with vegetables until just tender — overcooking them at this stage means mush once the pie bakes further in the oven. The crust here is a simple, quick biscuit-style dough rather than a laminated pastry, rolled or patted out and laid over the filling, which is far more true to how this dish is actually made in Colombian kitchens than a French-style pie crust would be. Baked until the top is golden and the filling bubbles at the edges, this is hearty, unfussy family food, best served warm with a simple green salad on the side.
Serves 6
Toast cumin in a dry skillet over medium heat for 30 seconds until fragrant. Set aside.
Simmer chicken thighs in chicken stock with half the toasted cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt for 18-20 minutes until cooked through. Remove chicken, reserving the stock, and shred once cool enough to handle.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, carrot and potato until just starting to soften, about 8 minutes.
Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and stir to coat. Gradually add 2 cups of the reserved poaching stock, stirring constantly, and simmer 5-6 minutes until thickened.
Stir in shredded chicken, peas, remaining cumin and remaining salt. Pour into a buttered 9x13-inch baking dish.
Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Whisk flour and baking powder together, cut in cold butter until pea-sized crumbs form, then stir in milk just until a soft dough comes together.
Pat or roll the dough to fit the baking dish and lay it over the filling. Brush with beaten egg. Bake 25-30 minutes until the crust is golden and the filling bubbles at the edges.
Don't overmix the biscuit dough — a slightly shaggy, just-combined dough bakes up far more tender than one that's been worked too much.
Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving so the filling sets slightly.
Use the chicken poaching liquid as the base for the sauce — it's already seasoned and full of flavor, so don't discard it.
Dice the potatoes and carrots small and evenly so they cook through in the same time as the rest of the filling.
Keep the butter cold when making the crust — cold butter is what creates a tender, slightly flaky topping instead of a dense one.
Use rotisserie chicken and store-bought stock to cut prep time significantly for a weeknight version.
Add corn kernels to the filling, a common addition in Colombian home versions of this dish.
Make individual pot pies in ramekins for portioned servings, reducing bake time to about 20 minutes.
Refrigerate covered up to 3 days. Reheat individual portions in a 175°C oven for 15-20 minutes to keep the crust from turning soggy; microwaving softens the topping.
Torta de pollo is a well-loved home-cooking tradition in Colombia, often made for Sunday family lunches or gatherings, reflecting the country's fondness for hearty, filling casserole-style dishes built to stretch and feed a large family from simple pantry vegetables and chicken.
Yes, though it will taste more like a Western-style pot pie than the traditional Colombian biscuit-topped torta — both are satisfying, just different in character.
Frozen mixed vegetables work as a substitute — just add them straight to the thickened sauce in step 5 rather than cooking them from raw.
This usually means the filling was too thin when the crust went on — make sure the sauce has thickened enough in step 4 to coat the back of a spoon before assembling.
Per serving (380g / 13.4 oz) · 6 servings total
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