Puerto Rican Rice and Beans WITH VIDEO – otherwise known as Habichuelas Guisadas (Stewed Beans) – are the most flavorful beans simmered in a tomato and sofrito based broth with potatoes and olives. Served over rice they are a meal unto themselves, or a classic staple with every Puerto Rican dinner!
Puerto Rican Rice and Beans (Habichuelas Guisadas)
Update: new photos added July 2017. VIDEO added August 2017 (scroll down). Original recipe published December 2013.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m half Polish, half Mexican and I’ve shared recipes various from my cultural influences.
But this recipe says who I am and what I claim: I’m Puerto Rican!
I used to repeat that phrase proudly as a little girl when asked about my background.
(It was all the more humorous since I couldn’t pronounce my R’s when I was young.)
Fast forward a few years and I realized I wasn’t actually Puerto Rican at all!
What can I say? Little kids are a product of their environment and the many Puerto Rican friends and family I was surrounded by made a big impression on me…and so will this Puerto Rican Rice and Beans recipe!
This is my favorite Puerto Rican meal and so quick and easy to make.
I prefer pink or red beans, but you can also use kidney beans if you like.
The beans are simmered in a tomato and sofrito based broth.
The potatoes soak up all the vibrant flavors and the olives add a briny pop.
Instead of potatoes you can also use calabaza which is Caribbean pumpkin.
Served over rice to soak up all the sauce, this recipe can’t be beat. I could eat this everyday!
For some, it might be difficult to find sofrito, which is a vegetable purée that forms the base for most Puerto Rican recipes.
I’ve included some options below for finding or making your own sofrito, and I’ve included the brands I use for the other ingredients that may not be familiar.
Many grocery stores carry Goya brand these days so they shouldn’t be hard to find.
Check out my Puerto Rican Resources page for more information!
This is the pot (caldero) that I use for cooking.
P.S. These beans are amazing with tostones – crispy fried plantains!
UPDATE: here you can find a more detailed recipe on how to make sofrito.
Pin this to your Puerto Rican Recipes board!
Puerto Rican Rice and Beans (Habichuelas Guisadas)
Puerto Rican Beans simmered in a flavorful broth of sofrito and tomato.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 heaping tablespoons sofrito
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 cans (15-16 ounces) kidney, red or pink beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) water
- 1 packet Sazón with Coriander and Annatto (Culantro and Achiote)
- 1 packet ham flavor (I use Goya Jamón) (optional)
- 1 teaspoon adobo (I use Goya)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons Manzanilla or Spanish pimento-stuffed olives
- 1/2 pound potatoes, peeled and diced into large chunks
- Cooked white rice, for serving
Instructions
- In a medium caldero, sauté sofrito in oil 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
- Add tomato sauce, beans, water, sazón and ham packet. Season with pepper, adobo, garlic powder, oregano and stir. Taste and adjust spices according to your liking. Broth should be slightly salty since the potatoes will absorb much of the flavor.
- Add potatoes and olives and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are cooked through, about 30 minutes or so, depending on their size. Serve over hot rice.
Notes
If sofrito is not something you are familiar with, there are a few options. Sofrito is the base for many Puerto Rican dishes.
- See if a local Hispanic store sells it.
- Goya brand makes a prepared version that your regular grocery store may carry, but choose the green jar that says "Recaito" instead of “Sofrito.” If they only have the “Sofrito,” decrease the amount of tomato sauce in the recipe by about half.
- Make your own. If you cannot find all of the ingredients, use what you can and it will still turn out tasty!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 177Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 490mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 10g
*see Puerto Rican Resources page for more information on products and ingredients.
This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase, I may receive a small percentage of the purchase price, with no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping support this website!
Ashley says
Is it supposed to taste very hammy…? I’m making it now as we speak I followed your directions I just wanted to know for next time I make it
Rebekah says
No it doesn’t taste very hammy to me. If it’s too much ham flavor just leave out the jamon packet or add a little at a time until it’s the taste you like. Some people really like meat flavor and will add little bits of pork when cooking the sofrito. So really it’s up to your taste!
Deb says
Just made this but used garbanzos and alcaparrado – as good as I remembered from growing up in Santurce. Thanks for a great recipe.
Rebekah says
I love alcaparrado! Some people don’t like the capers for some reason.
Tony says
BACON
I like your recipe as it is pretty much how I make my beans. The only difference is I cook a slice of bacon in the pot then remove and keep the fat, the bacon adds a nice flavor to the beans. Feel free to eat the bacon while you finish cooking the beans : )
Rebekah says
Yes! I think any piece of pork is yummy 🙂
Nova says
Can you buy the Sofrito, if so, should I buy the tomato based one? Or do I have to make it from scratch?
Rebekah says
Yes you can buy it – get the green one (sometimes called recaito).
Vanessa says
I know this is a stretch, lol, but I’m making this today and have pink beans soaked and ready to go…Do i treat the soaked pink beans the same as the canned beans, and just watch the cooking time to possibly increase it? I was planning on making a different recipe, which is why I have the dry beans soaking, but I would rather make this one! I know the odds of you responding in time are pretty slim, hahaha but I figured I’d try!
Rebekah says
Sorry I just saw this! Not sure what you ended up doing but I would cook the beans first, then proceed with the recipe. They need so much water to cook and I don’t think they’d soften well due to the salt from the other ingredients.
Vanessa says
I ended up cooking them with everything else! It took much longer, but the whole dish was very flavorful, even though I had to add water as it went. I’m making it with canned beans as we speak for lunch!
Veronika Romero Getz says
Happy I found your site! My mother was from Germany, and my father is from Puerto Rico, and we mostly ate Puerto Rican or American dishes growing up (my father doesn’t care for German food). My mother passed away a little over a month ago, and this is the first father’s day without her. They used to make empanadillas together for various occasions (including father’s day, Easter, Xmas, etc). My sister and I plan to go over there and make empanadillas with him for father’s day, and I’m also making habichuelas guisada and rice. I have my mom’s empanadilla recipe, but not her recipe for the beans. I planned to make arroz con gandules (my favorite) but apparently my dad prefers habichuelas guisada. Never knew that, so I needed a recipe! Yours looks pretty much the same as how I remember my mom making it – thank goodness for the Internet!
Rebekah says
I’m so sorry for your loss, Veronika. I love how food allows us to pay tribute and carry on someone’s legacy. It’s beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
Kriss says
Hi Veronika,
I pray all is well. I just stopped by to tell you that I’m sorry about the loss of your Mom. May the days ahead be sweet as you remember your Mom in your heart, as she is never far from you. May it be a Happy Thanksgiving for you, your sister and your Dad! God Bless!
~Kriss
Nurse Bee says
I made this recipe tonight as written and it was delicious! I just dumped all of the ingredients (minus the oil and optional ham flavor) in a slow cooker and cooked it on high for 3.5 hours. During the last half hour of cooking, I made some rice in my rice cooker. I love the fact that it’s vegetarian, cost effective, easy to prepare, and so good! Thank you for posting this recipe.
Michele says
Super weird, but my potatoes never became soft…Like I cooked this for about an hour, if not more and my potatoes were still a bit crunchy after that. Maybe I chose the wrong potatoes? I did use quite a shallow pan for this, as I don’t have a caldera. But I did keep the lid on for most of the time I was cooking this. Otherwise, the beans were delicious. I think next time I will have to maybe parboil the potatoes or use squash or something.
Rebekah says
How weird! I guess the cook time depends on how big the pieces are. Squash is also good but I love the potatoes after they’ve soaked up the juices!
Turqueya Ferren-Bey says
Your water has to cover the potatoes.
Jess says
Hi!! I’ve made this many times and its a winner!! But I’m making a big batch for a party so ….Will this work in a slow cooker?? If so I will probably triple the recipe ….but how long on low or high do you think would be good?
Rebekah says
Good question! The potatoes are the only ingredient that needs to be cooked so I’d say about 4 hours on High, maybe even as little as 2…and 6 hours on Low.
Mercedes says
I don’t have any potatoes or any substitutes for potatoes will it still come out fine?
Rebekah says
Yes, you can make it without. The juice might not be as thick, but it will still taste good!
Jack Wandler says
I ordered all the products and made my own Sofrito. The beans where wonderfull but when I added the rice it quickly became to. Dry. I needed a lot more liquid. Should I have covered the beans when I cooked them?
Rebekah says
These should be very saucy! And you added the cup and a half of water? Sometimes I’ll put a lid half on to prevent splatters, but it’s not necessary. Definitely do that if you’re losing that much liquid.
Turqueya Ferren-Bey says
You cook the rice separately
Marianne says
Hi, can Kalimata olives be substituted? It’s all I have right now. Thanks.
Rebekah says
I would just leave them out.
Eve says
Growing up I made this dish dozens of times my mom and grandma taught me how to make the dish from scratch we cleaned the dry pink beans then boiled the beans for a 1/2 in salt water. Added fresh sofrito recaitos, cilantros, ajos, cebolla y pimientos blended and stored for everyday use. Added black pepper olives and calabaza (pumpkin) mmm you could taste the flavor of the calabaza in the beans we also added potatoes. I once asked why we add potato to our beans and was told the starch of the vegetables thicken the sauce. We also added tomato paste to our beans. My mom cooked for eight six girls and parents. Grandma for six as well when we lived with her. So early on my sisters and I learned to help in the kitchen and learned to cook in large quantities. The rice of preference was small grain but for yellow rice I loved my long grain rice it was flaky and soft delicious. My favorite yellow rice is arroz amarillo con gandules. Yellow rice with pigeon peas or arroz amarillo con frijoles verdes green beans, or con frijoles negro black eyed peas. I love my Puerto Rican heritage and the meals I once made. My children are grown so I don’t get much of an opportunity to cook big meals. Our signature holiday meals are arroz amarillo con gandules or frijoles, Pasteles, pabo turkey, ensalada de yucca, yautia, guineos verde con aceite de oliva y bacalao Spanish vegetable salad with shredded cod fish, ensalada de papas potato salad, batata al horno baked sweet potato y guineo maduro al horno baked sweet plaintain y aguacates avacado y ensalada de lechuga, tomates, pepino Lettuce, tomato, and cucumber salad, para postre for dessert flan bread pudding in caramelized sugar, arroz durce con pasa rice pudding with raisins and I added the pumpkin pies and apple pies to my traditions as well. Oh for the fiesta resistance our signature coquito Puerto Rican eggnog with rum we make it entirely different from regular eggnog and I also make regular eggnog for the kids of course. We also used to serve Manichevits grape concord wine. I was told they still make that wine. I wonder. My titi would make an eggnog with Manichevits wine and serve it to us young ones to fortify our blood and growth. It was more egg than wine and she serve it in shot glasses to us. I loved growing up in the 60’s those were happy times.
Rebekah says
I wish I could eat at your house! This sounds like an incredible feast of food and family. <3
La_Sandunga says
Wish I could be in that kitchen to learn a thing or two. I love Caribbean food but Puerto Rican food just holds a special place in my heart.
helen says
hello don’t you have any recipes for white beans guisados or just white beans and rice recipes
Rebekah says
No sorry, just the habichuelas rosadas but you can use red beans, kidney beans or any beans you like.
Amy says
Can u use green cabbage instead of potatoes?
Rebekah says
If you want to, or you can leave it out all together. A lot of people use calabaza (pumpkin) or sweet potato. Any vegetable you cook in the stew is going to taste amazing!
Kate says
I’ve made this a few times and my Boricua husband loves it! I ask him to make the rice to go with it because I still haven’t mastered it the Puerto Rican way with that delicious pagao. I have used both acorn squash like his mother used to use and potatoes from our garden at different times. Thanks for the recipe! Would you happen to have the nutritional info for this? I’m counting calories…
Rebekah says
Oh yes, the pegao is my favorite part! Sorry I don’t have nutritional data, but I think there are some website calculators or apps you can use.
Jessica Amato says
I have made other recipes of rice & beans, but this one is by far the easiest & best tasting. I am 100% Italian & love to cook Puerto Rican style food & Italian food. My daughter who is 5 ate 2 helpings of this recipe. She is not a picky eater but she does not eat a lot in 1 sitting. I have also made your Empanada’s to go with this & they were fabulous as well. Thank you so much for all your Delicious & awesome recipes.
Rebekah says
Thank you so much!!! You just made my day! 🙂
Kimberly says
I made your empanadas and puerto rican rice n beans n it was a BIG HIT thank you so much! Please post more recipes!! Im puerto rican, cuban, Italian and Scottish and My husband loves puerto rican food!!!
Sandra says
Hello
I live in the San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles county) in California. I moved from Massachusetts where I was able to get sofrito, or make it as I could find the ingredients easily. But I can’t find it in California. Goya’s Recaito is good but not exactly the same as a good homemade sofrito, which we could freeze extra.
Does anyone know where I could get sofrito shipped out to me or at least the culant
Sandra says
Sorry for the typo, I meant Culantro
Rebekah says
Hi Sandra, I hope one of my readers can help you out! Some people have had luck finding culantro at Asian markets (like 99 Ranch). It also goes by the name sawtooth coriander.
Sandra says
Thanks a bunch!!!
I will try to find an Asian market. Wish me luck
Pam says
Be careful!. It’s salty enough. Add salt only after completely cooked and just before serving.
Rebekah says
Agree! I taste my food constantly when I’m cooking. Also salt content varies from brand to brand. Thanks!
Jo says
Please can you make the receipe words a bigger and darker. They ate very light against the white background and hard to read . Please Thank you for posting Puerto Rican receives.
Rebekah says
Hi Jo! I made the font darker but I still can’t figure out how to make it bigger…I’ll keep working on it but I hope that helps for now.
John Ortiz says
Awesome recipe Rebekah, but I need help with the measurements of ingredients for a large party. My plan is to make this for my annual Christmas Eve supper but I am not sure how to measure the ingredients properly for a party of 30 people. PLEASE HELP!!!
Thank you in Advance
Rebekah says
Thanks! I always make this for Christmas too! I would quadruple the recipe. Just taste as you cook to see if anything needs adjusting:
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sofrito
4 cups tomato sauce
8 cans of beans
6 cups water
4 packets sazon
4 packets jamon (optional)
4 teaspoons adobo
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
Black pepper (to taste)
1/2 cup olives
2 pounds potatoes
Eve says
How did your dinner go? Did it turn out how you expected? I noticed that you didn’t ask about the rice portion of the meal how did that turn out, I’m curious?
Sara says
Hi Rebekah, I cannot WAIT to try these. I love a good bowl of beans & rice, and I love that these are authentic. Thanks for sharing.
Rebekah says
Thank you!
Yolanda says
So we use cooked beans for this, like the ones found in a goya can?
Rebekah says
Yes! This is a quick recipe for using already cooked/canned beans!
Kristine R. says
Made this today. Tweaked it to make more (4 cans of beans) and added carrots (cuz I like carrots). This recipe is fantastic! I highly recommend it. I’m already looking forward to lunch tomorrow so I can eat it again! Thank you!
Rebekah says
I could probably eat any veggie if it was cooked in this broth – totally going to try it now. =) Thanks so much!
Diana says
I’ve made this several times now and it’s become a favorite dish. I went to college in New York City and ate a lot of Puerto Rican food while there, and this tastes like what I used to eat.
Rebekah says
That is so awesome! I’ve been to NYC one time and LOVED it, but it was only for a weekend. I definitely have to go back.
Niq says
I love this recipe my fiance is Hispanic and this is his favorite. I’m going to try it Tuesday night! ! Thank you
Rebekah says
It’s our favorite too! Hope he likes it! 😀
Donna says
Been making this since 1980 with a recipe given by my friend’s mom. The main thing I do differently is add sliced Goya Chorizo; I’ve never used the ham concentrate. Sometimes I add potatoes, sometimes not, and I prefer olives with the pits left in…and have to warn everyone not to break their teeth…hahaha.
Rebekah says
My mom used to make it with un-pitted olives too! I like them better than the pimiento stuffed olives, but they can be a real doozy to bite into! I will have to try it with the Goya chorizo 🙂
sue|theviewfromgreatisland says
I love the sound of this dish, and I don’t know nearly enough about Puerto Rican cooking, thanks!
Rebekah says
Thank you so much, Sue! I love your blog!
derekthezenchef says
Hi Rebekah, thanks for sharing this! I think I’ve heard of sofrito before but haven’t tried it. Once I get back to the states – in one month – I will!
BTW, this has ham concentrate – would it fatally alter the product to find a vegetarian alternative?
Best,
DH
Rebekah | The Kitchen Gidget says
Thanks for stopping by, Derek! If you eliminate the Jamón you will still have an amazing dish. I should have added that’s it’s purely optional and I only use it when I have it on hand. The mains flavor comes from the Sazón and sofrito, so that’s the part you can’t alter without drastically changing the dish. Let me know how it turns out once you’re stateside!
Kathy Rod says
I have vegan and vegetarians in my family and don’t put any ham or ham flavor in mine. It’s still delicious!
Enjoy.😊
Annie says
Goya sells ham flavored seasoning packets.
Joseph says
I had some, full of flavor. Of course if you made it everyday I would eat it everyday too. But I still like, “Pollo Guisado” (Chicken in red sauce) better.