AI-generated photo.
Moroccan · Iconic, Fez · Morocco
Chicken pastilla
Also called بسطيلة
Chicken pastilla (بسطيلة), a Fez plate from Morocco.
Pai editors’ mark 5 / 5
Plan, list, and collections
Chicken pastilla is cooked in Fez as its own plate, not as a copy of a restaurant menu. Stew the chicken with onion and herbs, fold it with egg and almond, and bake it inside a butter dough. Warqa or phyllo is the usual sheet. This pantry rolls a butter dough in its place. Amounts are for 4 from foods this library can count.
Health
How this plate sits
Counted from the ingredient table. The score, richness, and badges describe one serving as written. The ring and the nutrient table follow the serving count above. This is general information, not medical advice.
52
Health score
Rich, enjoy occasionally
Indulgent
Richness
Rich
Light to very rich, from fat, saturated fat, sugar, and the cream or butter in the plate.
- Protein 22%
- Carbs 29%
- Fat 49%
Watch · Diabetes-friendly
It misses a gentler mark: sugar, fiber, the starch mix, or the richness of the plate.
Watch · Heart-friendly
Saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, or fiber keeps this off the heart-friendly list.
Watch · Weight loss
Calories, protein, or richness make this a fuller plate than a light day wants.
Suits · High protein
About 38 g of protein in the serving.
Watch · Low sodium
About 451 mg of sodium, above the 450 mg mark.
Watch · Gluten-free
Wheat or gluten is in the required list.
Watch · Dairy-free
A milk ingredient is in the required list.
Watch · Vegetarian
Meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish is in the required list.
Suits · Pregnancy
No alcohol, liver, or caffeine in the required list. Cook meat, eggs, and seafood through.
Watch · Gentle when sick
Fat or sugar is high for a day when appetite is low.
Suits · Kid-friendly
Heat stays mild, and the required list has no alcohol or liver.
Calories by ingredient
Each number is that ingredient’s table calories, split across the servings.
- All-purpose flour173 kcal
- Unsalted butter161 kcal
- Chicken thigh151 kcal
- Almonds131 kcal
- Egg36 kcal
- Powdered sugar24 kcal
Glycemic load
Estimated glycemic load for this count: 35. The bands come from the ingredient table.
Portion
One serving, as written, is about 690 kcal.
Allergens. Egg, Gluten, Milk, Tree nuts, Wheat
Make it healthier
Use half the butter
Half the butter grams stay out of the plate. The new figure subtracts those grams on the ingredient table.
About 609 kcal after the change.
Use half the kosher salt and finish with citrus or vinegar.
The same plate with less sodium. This is the kitchen note. A new calorie figure is shown only when the grams can be replayed on the ingredient table.
Low confidence: no new calorie figure. The grams cannot be replayed on the table.
Serve three-quarters of the plate.
The seasoning stays. The calories fall with the portion. This is the kitchen note. A new calorie figure is shown only when the grams can be replayed on the ingredient table.
Low confidence: no new calorie figure. The grams cannot be replayed on the table.
| Nutrient | Amount | % daily value |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 690 kcal | 35% |
| Protein | 38 g | 76% |
| Carbohydrate | 50.2 g | 18% |
| Fiber | 4.5 g | 16% |
| Total sugars | 8.5 g | 17% |
| Fat | 37.8 g | 48% |
| Saturated fat | 14.5 g | 73% |
| Cholesterol | 259 mg | 86% |
| Sodium | 451 mg | 20% |
| Potassium | 616 mg | 13% |
| Calcium | 106 mg | 8% |
| Iron | 4.7 mg | 26% |
| Magnesium | 104 mg | 25% |
| Zinc | 3.4 mg | 31% |
| Vitamin A | 213 mcg | 24% |
| Vitamin C | 2.9 mg | 3% |
| Vitamin D | 0.5 mcg | 3% |
| Vitamin E · estimate | 2.8 mg | 19% |
| Vitamin K | 15 mcg | 13% |
| Thiamin (B1) | 0.6 mg | 46% |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 0.6 mg | 48% |
| Niacin (B3) | 10.7 mg | 67% |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.7 mg | 40% |
| Folate | 111 mcg | 28% |
| Vitamin B12 | 1 mcg | 43% |
Low-confidence marks sit on glycemic load or on vitamins the USDA row left blank. Those vitamins are filled from a food-group reference and labeled as estimates. Reported USDA values, including zeros, are kept. 50 g is the daily value for added sugar. This figure is total sugar, including fruit and milk.
- Calories land in a hearty range. Pair it with a lighter meal later.
- Protein is high enough to make the meal satisfying.
- Saturated fat is high for one plate.
Pai shares general nutrition information for everyday cooking. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a treatment plan. Health labels are estimates from reference ingredient data and do not account for your lab results, medications, or how a food is absorbed. If you are pregnant, managing diabetes, cholesterol, an allergy, or any illness, use this as a menu of ideas and follow the clinician who knows you. In an emergency, call local emergency services.
Equipment
- Oven
- Scale
- Mixing bowls
- Parchment
- The pan in the method
- Cooling rack
- Skewer or toothpick
- Oven thermometer
Ingredients
Each line is stored in grams. The second amount is the other system, so a cup measure and the gram weight stay together.
- Chicken thigh4 thighs500 g
Almonds0.7 cup90 g
Egg2 eggs100 g
All-purpose flour1.5 cups190 g
Unsalted butter6 tbsp90 g
Ground cinnamon0.5 tsp2 g
Powdered sugar2 tbsp25 g
Yellow onion1 onion110 g
Cilantro0.3 cup12 g
Kosher salt0.5 tsp3 g
The first amount follows the unit toggle. The second is the other system. Both follow the serving count.
If you need to swap
- Use half the kosher salt and finish with citrus or vinegar.. The same plate with less sodium.
- Serve three-quarters of the plate.. The seasoning stays. The calories fall with the portion.
Method
AI-generated photo.
1Set the oven to 350°F / 177°C and leave it for 15 minutes so the rack is actually hot. Weigh chicken thigh, almonds, egg, all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, ground cinnamon, powdered sugar, yellow onion, cilantro, kosher salt. Chicken pastilla is cooked in Fez as its own plate, not as a copy of a restaurant menu. Stew the chicken with onion and herbs, fold it with egg and almond, and bake it inside a butter dough. Warqa or phyllo is the usual sheet. This pantry rolls a butter dough in its place. Amounts are for 4 from foods this library can count.
Heat oven 15 min
AI-generated photo.
2Line the pan with parchment. If this is Chicken pastilla, a bare pan is the usual reason the first slice sticks. Butter only the parchment, not a pool of fat.
AI-generated photo.
3Stir the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Combine them until the batter or dough for Chicken pastilla is even, with no dry streaks and no long mixing after that.
AI-generated photo.
4Scrape the mixture into the pan and level the top. Chicken pastilla bakes evenly only when the center is not a dome of unmixed batter.
- 🇲🇦 MoroccoNorth Africaicon-morocco-chicken-pastilla-step-4
Chicken pastilla, step 5
Step 5 · Bake about 35 min
5Bake at 350°F / 177°C until this is true: A skewer in the center of Chicken pastilla comes out with a few moist crumbs, and the top springs back. Start checking at 35 minutes. Opening the door early drops the heat.
Bake about 35 min
- 🇲🇦 MoroccoNorth Africaicon-morocco-chicken-pastilla-step-5
Chicken pastilla, step 6
Step 6 · Cool 10 min
6Cool Chicken pastilla in the pan for 10 minutes, then move it to a rack. Cutting while it is steaming collapses the crumb. Film Chicken pastilla in this shot order and no other: aromatics softening without color; herbs cut in at the end; a grill grate just before the food lands; beans or grains tender at the edge of a bite. Slate words for the editor: lacquer, crisp, quiet, flint, sable, griddle, whisk, reduce, frost, twilight.
Cool 10 min
How you know it is done
A skewer in the center of Chicken pastilla comes out with a few moist crumbs, and the top springs back.
If it goes wrong
- Chicken pastilla looks done on top and is still raw in the center. Trust the cue in the method, not the color alone. Give it a few more minutes and check the center.
- Chicken pastilla spread, sank, or turned out dry. Measure by weight next time, heat the oven fully, and stop when the doneness cue appears rather than when the timer ends.
Storage
Cool Chicken pastilla completely. Keep it covered at room temperature for 2 days, or wrap and freeze for a month. Refrigerate custard, cream, and fresh-fruit fillings the same day and eat them within 3 days.
How this dish helps your daily life
- Chicken pastilla is one of the plates people ask for by name from Fez.
- Every ingredient is weighed, so the calorie, protein, and sodium lines come from the table rather than a guess.
Notes
Pregnancy. Cook meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood through. Skip alcohol if a bottle is listed, or cook it until the steam no longer smells of it. There is no raw-fish step.
From the kitchen. Stew the chicken with onion and herbs, fold it with egg and almond, and bake it inside a butter dough. Warqa or phyllo is the usual sheet. This pantry rolls a butter dough in its place.
Allergens in the required list: Egg, Gluten, Milk, Tree nuts, Wheat.
Your stars and note
Pai shares general nutrition information for everyday cooking. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a treatment plan. Health labels are estimates from reference ingredient data and do not account for your lab results, medications, or how a food is absorbed. If you are pregnant, managing diabetes, cholesterol, an allergy, or any illness, use this as a menu of ideas and follow the clinician who knows you. In an emergency, call local emergency services.