Puerto Rican Rice and Beans
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 ½ 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)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons Manzanilla or Spanish pimento-stuffed olives
- ½ 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
Nutritional information provided is an estimate only. Please consult the labels of ingredients you use for more accurate results.
*see Puerto Rican Resources page for more information on products and ingredients.
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LOVE this recipe my GO TO!!!!! I love it !!!!!
Yay glad to hear that!
Howdy! Mrs. Rebbekah:
Out of curiosity I searched for arroz con dulce recipes and ran into your blog. I had a good laugh reading that you are a Midwestern girl.
Want to go real old school? Grate a green plantain, add a little salt to the plantain dough, make balls about 1 inch in diameter and drop them in the beans along the potatoes and pumpkin. The plantain balls turn into something akin to boiled bread.
BTW, fresh pumpkin gives the guisado it's sweetness and color.
Merry Christmas from a coqui in Texas.
My husband's Mom's side of the family is Puerto Rican and loves this dish. His mom and grandpa make it by memory and don't really have a written recipe, so this has become my go-to. Thanks!
Can I just double the ingredients to make twice the amount ? Would the time double too ?
Double ingredients, no need to double the time.
Loved the recipe. Delicious!!! My husband requested it to have some sausage, so today, I added slices of andouille sausage. I made sofrito by combining fresh cilantro, garlic, mild peppers and onions in the blender. I put the mixture in an ice cube tray then popped into freezer bag. Handy when I need them. Thank you!!!!
Hi. This looks amazing! As far as the rice is concerned I dont see any instructions on that aspect of this dish. Obviously the beans are the main event but is there anything special done for the rice or should it just be plain white rice?
White rice, or you can serve with Arroz con Gandules
So delicious and very easy to make! Reminds me of being at my dad's and grandma's house.
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
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!
Just made this but used garbanzos and alcaparrado - as good as I remembered from growing up in Santurce. Thanks for a great recipe.
I love alcaparrado! Some people don't like the capers for some reason.
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 : )
Yes! I think any piece of pork is yummy 🙂
@Tony,
I was just about to say I want to give it a try with dice bacon. Throw it in with the sofrito to get all that flavor
Can you buy the Sofrito, if so, should I buy the tomato based one? Or do I have to make it from scratch?
Yes you can buy it - get the green one (sometimes called recaito).
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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
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.
Hey Nurse Bee, did you use dry beans or canned? Thanks!
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.
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!
Your water has to cover the potatoes.
It's the potatoes. Happened to me before. I only use Russet potatoes now and never have a problem.