You haven’t had rice that blows you away until you try Puerto Rican Rice (Arroz con Gandules)! This rice with pigeon peas is a must-have with every meal, party or BBQ!
Puerto Rican Rice Recipe
Well here we are. The holy grail of Puerto Rican cuisine: Puerto Rican Rice. Every cook has their own special recipe for Puerto Rican Rice that seems to define them as a chef.
This is my mom’s recipe and we devour it as a meal unto itself. If you’ve never had Puerto Rican rice before, you are missing out! Big time.
My personal favorite dish is Puerto Rice and Beans, but no meal is complete without arroz con gandules. There’s no such thing as party or cookout where someone doesn’t bring a huge pot of rice.
I don’t even know how to describe the flavors except to say this is not your average rice. It’s very flavorful. There is sofrito (click for info on where to find or make sofrito), tomato sauce and a medley of spices, but it doesn’t taste like any one ingredient.
Not to mention being dotted with gandules (pigeon peas) and alcaparrado (a salty brined mix of olive and capers). It’s cooked in a cast aluminum pan called a caldero
This is called pegao and it’s not scorched rice meant to be thrown away–it’s gold at the end of a rainbow! Yum yum. This is a recipe that takes some practice to attain the perfect taste and texture so let’s get down to it.
First, start by rinsing your rice in cold water. This will remove some of the starch. Then you cook all the ingredients except the rice.
This is your flavor base and it’s important to taste and readjust the seasonings, as necessary. The seasonings should be strong and salty since this will flavor the entire dish.
Next, add the rice. You may have to add more water depending on your pot. A good rule of thumb is that the water should cover the rice by 1 inch.
Then, you’ll gently boil out most of the liquid, top the rice with a foil cap and cover with the lid. You’ll need to stir the rice a couple times as it cooks, but be careful not to scrape the bottom and disturb the pegao that’s forming!
If your rice doesn’t turn out the first time, never fear! It takes practice to get it just right. If you’ve tasted Puerto Rican rice before, I guarantee it didn’t turn out perfectly amazing the first time they tried either.
Like I said before, this is served often, so there is lot’s of opportunity for practice. We eat it with everything from a Jibarito sandwich at lunch, to pork chops for dinner, as a side dish for every holiday, party or get together. Puerto Rican Rice comes to mind just as much as potato salad when I think of grilling out.
Pin this to your Puerto rican food board!
- 3 cups medium or long grain white rice, rinsed
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 heaping tablespoons sofrito
- 4 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 can (15 ounces) gandules (pigeon peas), partially drained
- 2 heaping tablespoons alcaparrado
- 1 packet Sazón with Achiote (I use Goya brand)
- 1/2 packet ham flavoring (I use Goya brand Jamón)
- 1 teaspoon adobo
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon ground oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste (start off with 2 teaspoons of salt)
- 4-6 cups hot water
- Rinse rice well in water and set aside.
- In a medium caldero or large pot (about 6 quarts or so), heat oil and sauté sofrito until softened. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in gandules, alcaparrado, all of the spices and 4 cups of water. Taste and readjust seasonings, adding additional salt 1 teaspoon at a time. Broth should be heavily seasoned and on the salty side.
- Bring to a rapid boil, then add rice and stir. You may need to add more water to ensure rice is covered by 1 inch of water. Reduce heat to a soft boil and let most of the liquid absorb and evaporate, stirring occasionally, very gently, so rice does not turn gummy.
- Carefully mound rice towards center of pot, top with foil and cover with lid. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Stir by folding rice from the bottom up, but do not disturb bottom of pan. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, testing after 20 to see if rice is tender and cooked through.
Puerto Rican Rice Pot
A caldero is a must! My family has them in multiple sizes. I highly recommend!
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Regina A says
The pictures are gorgeous…makes me wanna cook up a batch!!
Amber says
Just made this, yummy. I would suggest adding capers too…I’ve never had Puerto Rican rice without capers. So I added 2 TBSP capers and I added 1 TBSP recaito because I normally add that as well. Turned out amazing, I love the idea for the Goya jamon seasoning, I’ve never added that before. Turned out great.
Rebekah | The Kitchen Gidget says
I’m so glad you liked it, thanks for letting me know! 🙂 I do add capers to mine as well, they’re in the alcaparrado mix I buy, along with olives and pimientos. Some cooks I know add little bits of pork meat for flavoring, but the Jamón is easier for me. No matter how it’s made, my favorite part is the pegao on the bottom 🙂
Lauren Schmidt says
Hi! I made this and your pork chops last night for dinner and both were so delicious! My whole family devoured our meal! I will definitely be making it again, great recipe 🙂
Rebekah says
Thanks so much! This made my day!
Adria says
I made this tonight & everyone loved it. Thank you!!! My color wasn’t quite as dark as yours. I used long grain rice & 4 ounces of tomato sauce, let me know what you think happened?
Rebekah says
So glad to hear that! As for the color, it’s the sazon and tomato sauce that turn it orange. Maybe I’m heavy handed with my tomato since I just eyeball half a can lol.
Melissa says
how do you adjust this recipe if I use medium grain rice?
Rebekah says
There shouldn’t be any difference. I’ve used both before!
Dee says
Yes long rice little more than medium rice. Homemade sofrito is much better Buy it. FYI for an PR person!
Cara says
Loved this recipe! Wish I could post a pic 🙁
Rebekah says
Thank you! Post it on my Facebook page! 🙂
Sunny says
This is the exact rice I remembered as a kid. Every kid who was not Puerto Rican would follow their noses to a PR friend’s house to mooch a bowl. Best friend Mom always had a way of feeding a growing, drooling army of kids. Her Mom would dump pot into a large bowl and we were handed forks, a sea of elbows and “ummm” for bottom of pot. Her Mom used home cooked dry chick peas not canned pigeon peas. Sometimes served with fork smashed fried plantains!
Now to find a Calderon for 2 not a batallion and the spices in the middle of nowhere midwest. Thanks for the recipe, finally!
Rebekah says
Mmm what a great memory – I can smell it now!Thanks for sharing and I hope you can find the ingredients!
Tracey says
I have an induction stove so an Aluminum Caldero won’t work, I keep burning the rice in a regular pot. Will a cast iron Dutch oven work? Is it the shape of the Caldero or that it’s aluminum that makes it work.
Rebekah says
I’ve never worked with an induction stove so I can’t say for certain. It sounds like the it’s just too hot? The bottoms should be very crispy, which the aluminum helps with. I know quite a few people who use regular pots and it still comes out great, so the shape doesn’t matter much. If a Dutch oven works better with induction, use that!
laura says
how can i adjust if i want to make it with quinoa?
Rebekah says
I LOVE quinoa but I’ve never tried cooking it Puerto Rican style! Hoping someone else with experience can chime in on this question…
Jane Harrison says
Why do I have to cover with tin foil? Won’t the lid do the same ?
Rebekah says
The foil creates a barrier to steam the rice better, but it’s not essential. Also, some people use banana leaf instead of foil.
Angela Wallace says
I am cooking the rice now but I am finding it is sticking at the bottom and yes I am using the aluminum pot??
I am the one that wrote and I asked for the picadillo recipe and I found it, of course, on your website!! sorry to be a bother about the recipe!!
Rebekah says
Sticking is good. It will form a layer that gets burned. This is called pegao and we like to eat it since it’s so nice and crunchy!
Raquel says
If it’s sticking too much, the flame might be a notch too high. Just another suggestion, you can add a tad more oil.
~your Puerto Rican cousin
Mara says
Yes! I also remember those days when mami was cooking arroz con gandules. Omg, I just couldn’t wait for dinner to be ready. Thank you posting your recipe. I’m sure you’ve made lot’s of people happy.😁
Nickole Alonzo says
I absolutely looove this reciepe! It’s my third time using your recipe and it keeps getting better and better! Thank you so much!
Rebekah says
That’s so awesome!! Thank you! <3 🙂
Carmen T says
I have added quinoa to my rice, and it comes out good, I can’t remember the amount added. Maybe start with half a cup of quinoa to recipe to test it out.
Raquel says
Rebekah, where can I find the recipe for the alcaparrado? That I wanna try!!
Rebekah says
I usually buy mine from the store! But my mom just sent me one of her Puerto Rican cookbooks and it has a recipe – mix 4 ounces olives stuffed with pimientos and 2 ounces of capers. Store in a jar in the fridge to use as needed.
Mema says
Love the recipe and the comments! Thanks to all. I have most of the ingredients and will try this weekend, but need advice on one ingredient. I don’t eat beef or pork but do eat poultry so I am looking for a substitute to Jamon. My friends’ Mom made this dish when we were teens way back and there was a subtle meaty flavor, no visible meat so that would be the Jamon which is a very important flavor to the dish. Any recommendations gratefully accepted!
For the alcapparado I will substitute olives stuffed with pimentos.
Very kind regards to the author especially, and commentators.
Granny Mema
Michelle says
I made this yesterday. Came out awesome! thank you so much for posting this!
Rebekah says
Thank you!
Judy H. says
My son-in-law is from Puerto Rico and I fell in love with his cooking. While visiting in Texas, I found a store where I purchased their in-house homemade sofrito and carried it home in my luggage. I also found this recipe for alcaparrado: https://www.chowhound.com/recipes/alcaparrado-11256. The first time I made your recipe, the rice turned out too sticky. I made it again and only stirred it once – gently – when I first put the rice in. No stirring after that and it turned out perfect! Beautiful and fluffy but with a nice layer of pegao in the bottom. This recipe is superb! Also, I live in Montana and it took visiting about four different grocers around town, but I found all of the ingredients.
Rebekah says
I’m glad it turned out so well and thank you for the alcaparrado recipe! I’m currently stationed in Okinawa with my husband and it’s difficult to find ingredients!
Kathleen says
Would it be better to use chicken stock for an even better flavor?
Rebekah says
I don’t think it can get any better! 🙂 It has a LOT of flavor. Maybe it will taste like arroz con pollo without the chicken. Let me know if you try!
Frank says
I make arroz con gandules regularly, following the traditional recipe handed down by my mother and grandmother, which does not include using Goya Sazón which contains MSG as a primary ingredient. We add cumin, oregano, salt and annatto coloring (from oil infused with annatto seed coloring) as was traditionally done in the past in Puerto Rico before the advent of “Sazón”.
Rebekah says
Sounds delicious! Some of the older ladies I know also make their sofrito fresh every time they cook 🙂
Irene Diaz-Reyes says
I don’t know about you, but my family used a cast iron caldero. My father, who was an excellent cook, always felt that cooking in anything aluminum was not healthy. He did not know why, but he always felt that aluminum was not good to cook in. This was borne out years later by the medical community. See: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0946672X16303777
and here: https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/memory/aluminum-linked-to-alzheimers-disease/
It is worthwhile investing in a good cast iron dutch cooker.
Rebekah says
I love cast iron! Especially my frying pan and comal, but I’ve never seen a cast iron caldero 🙁
Darcie says
Finally someone who makes rice the right way. Exactly how my mom taught me.
Linda Henning says
I’m allergic to MSG and all the Goya products that you recommend have a lot of it. What can I use, that is a natural ingredient for coloring and flavor for this rice? Thanks.
Rebekah says
Hi Linda, thanks for your comment. The 2 ingredients I see that contain MSG are the Goya packets (my adobo doesn’t have any). For the ham flavoring use real meat or leave it out altogether. A lot of times we brown up bits of leftover pork or bacon with the sofrito for that extra flavor. For color achiote/annatto is the traditional ingredient. This can come in powdered form or infused in oil. I hope that helps!