Croquetas de pollo recipe
This chicken croquettes recipe (croquetas de pollo) always goes down well with me when grabbing some tapas or a lunch. As tasty as fish croquettes, these are moist on the inside, but crunchy on the outside. Fortunately, they’re nice and simple to make at home too! They are a great way to use up leftover chicken from that roast dinner the day before.

The best thing about this recipe is that you can make these in advance, and refrigerate them – ready to cook up when friends arrive. I love these with a big dollop of AliOli. They’re not great for dieters obviously – but if you eat half a lettuce leaf with them… then it cancels all those extra calories out *cough*
Ingredients
- 3 cups of finely shredded chicken (cooked of course)
- 1 cup of really thick bechamel – you can get this in a packet, or make your own. Just make sure it’s really REALLY thick!
- a handful of finely diced ham or bacon lardons (optional)
- A handful of flour on a plate for coating
- Egg for coating – lightly whisked – adding a good glug of milk to this helps keep it light too.
- Breadcrumbs for coating – about 100 grams should do it
Method for the Croquetas de pollo recipe
Mix the chicken with the ham and the white sauce. Make sure they are mixed well, mashing as you go, until it reaches a thick and creamy consistency
Roll out a sheet of clingfilm, and pat the mixture down onto it, into a flat rectangle or round and refrigerate for at least half an hour. This stage isn’t strictly essential, but it really does help to keep the mix firm.
Take tablespoon sized pieces of the mix, and either roll them into small balls about 1.5 inches in diamater, or into sausage shapes. Don’t make them any thicker than an inch, or they’ll not cook through properly.
Dip into the flour, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs
Fry in hot oil, turning them regularly, until they are browned and hot throughout.
Serve immediately with a fat dollop of alioli and some salad.
Elle, along with Alan, is the owner of Spain Buddy and the busy web design business – Spain Web Design by Gandy-Draper.
Born a “Norverner”, she then spent most of her life “Dann Saff” before moving to Spain in 2006. Elle’s loves are Alan, the internet, dogs, good food, and dry white wine – although not necessarily in that order.