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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I've been using this recipe very time I make it, & I follow the recipe to the T, this time I decided to put two packs each of the seasonings packets, and omg the flavor is 100 times better, don't get wrong it was always good with original recipe. This is soooo delicious I could eat this every day.!! Thank you for sharing.very good with potatoes
I don't think so. My mother-in-law was Puerto Rican and I have visited Puerto Rico and had red beans more times than I can count. No one I know there has ever used potatoes or olives. They use pumpkin (calabaza) and they start the dish by frying up either chorizo or hard salami if you can't find chorizo, with the sofrito and garlic, then adding the chopped calabaza, the tomato sauce, a little tomato paste,salt pepper and a leaf or two of fresh culantro. That is also the way we make it in Trinidad. I have never heard of potatoes in red beans? Think I'll stick with what I know and how I have been making red beans for forty years.
Hi Kathryn! Calabaza is definitely traditional, but all the Chicago area Puerto Ricans I know mostly use potatoes since they're more accessible. Cultures adapt. I love hearing how others make theirs - the chorizo sounds delicious.
@Kathryn Gómez, my good friends from Yabacoa PR make it like this! Maybe it’s the area! Not all Puerto Rican food is the same but has the same basics like Sazon and Adobo. Im Hispanic from Texas so our food is different than from cali or Arizona but same just different flavors but same base. I’m excited about her recipe cause it’s just like my friends from PR!
@Kathryn Gómez,
Maybe different parts of the island they cook differently. My best friend was born & raised in Ponce P.R. and she used pink beans, Vienna sausage or sometimes a couple slim jims.. always always ..always uses potatoes, sometimes a carrots especially if she made Carne guidada but always she cut a few potatoes. I always thought chorizo or hard salami was more Dominican style cooking
Thank you love I enjoyed making this dish I am Bahamian and my husband is Puerto Rican came home the other day wishing he could have some of his grandmothers Rice I listened to everything he said was in the dish and decided to google this was the most in depth recipe and it came out THE BOMB! I'll be making this dish again
I did it like the recipe said and it came out Great! Will be making it this way for now on. I’m Mexican but love Puerto Rican food.
For those who aren’t a fan of the ham flavor you can substitute the ham flavor pack for the chicken bullion. Still comes out great.
This recipe is very close to what my mom used to make. Only difference was she added pumpkin and a leaf of culantro(reckao) and she fried pieces of ham in the sofrito Sometimes even adding salted pigs feet. (Totally different recipe but delicious non the less even though I don’t eat pigs feet.)
Being Puerto Rican I love and take pride that people that aren’t from our culture like our food so much that they try to learn them.(not saying the creator of this recipe is or isnt). There is no official recipe for habichuelas guisadas, everyone makes them differently. So I have no idea what Letty’s problem is. We aren’t all self righteous and ignorant. Please don’t allow one rotten apple spoil the bunch.
@Letty, really is it all that necessary:. This is how she grew up this is what she knows. If you think something is lacking why not provide guidance. The culture of Puerto Rico and those who are actually willing to try and make that part of their daily life why is it such a problem to give guidance. I don’t really understand your hostility towards the post. Why even bother. Why does it make it worth your time. If the recipe she posted wasn’t the same what you made it why not again give guidance. Expand the culture to those who are wanting, able and willing to promote it. You just made yourself look like a donkeys behind. Next time please represent our culture in positive reflection.
All I can say is delicious! Thank you for an amazing recipe. Yes, this is authentic.
Thanks so much!
Well, I’m from the Caribbean and grew up eating Puerto Rican food. This tastes great, very authentic. Grateful to have found this recipe, thanks for sharing!
I am wondering if you are half polish and half mexican, why you say you are Puerto Rican. As a Cuban/Puerto Rican American, I dont get why others who are not from my country take what we have. I take pride in my heritage and people like you piggy back on our culture. You are not Puerto Rican so you should not claim to be. I notice you have many Puerto Rican dishes, honestly non are authentic. We are taught be grandparents from their parents and so on. Where are you learning how to cook Puerto Rican food? Also your Beans are missing many ingredients actually, all of which are part of a authentic PR meal. I am not impressed here and think you should stop trying to be Puerto Rican, as you are not.
Hi Letty, I am not claiming to be Puerto Rican. I grew up with Puerto Rican family and close friends. That was my family so I thought I was Puerto Rican too. My very first birthday we had lechon. At the holidays I got to make tamales with the Mexican side and pasteles with the Puerto Ricans. These are the recipes they taught me. I'm so thankful they shared their culture and I share the recipes here since most people have never tried the amazing food! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God bless.
@Letty, get over yourself it’s a recipe for Christ sake!
@Letty, first your doing too much when it comes to cooking anyone can make any food that feels and taste good. If she feels like or thought she was from pr who are you to tell her not to represent! Also it wasn’t missing many ingredients just maybe one or two. Also that’s the blessing of a recipe they differ from person to person.
@Letty,
She never said she was Puerto Rican, but she is qualified to post a recipe because this is America - a melting pot and we all no matter what nationality experiment with recipes and some come out better with experimentation. Please be kind in your posts and next time try to channel your best loving self before giving feedback.
@Letty, I grew up in Puerto Rico as a kid. I am not from Puerto Rico but I love the food. I don’t think you should be discomfortable because someone wants to share experiences.
@Letty, if you read her intro, you would have an answer to your question. You should be honored that she enjoys Puerto Rican dishes. Additionally, I’m sure that you do NOT only eat or cook Puerto Rican/ Cuban dishes. Please relax and stop being a hateful individual. If you had such a problem, you should have left her page once you saw that she is Mexican and Polish.
@Letty,
Hi Letty. This is one of the most delicious authentic recipes I've found on Pinterest. The author does an incredible job with explaining the steps.
Letty, I'm sure you're the tia who comes to the parties with the sticky white rice and dry beans. Please have several seats and shut your mouth if you have nothing nice to say.
@Letty, @Letty, 4/23/22 I am 68
& PR/Cuban, born & raised in LA Country. We are STILL a minority within a minority. I identify more as a PR .... until I get around a bunch off Cubans .. lol As for your beliefs of "culture pilfering & stealing" .... you must be aware that not everyone who was BORN & RAISED in Spain & Latin America have Hispanic/Latino blood. Yes? (Pope Francis, for one & he is as "Hispanic" as the day is long.
Shakira is ½ Lebanese, & many others.) Argentina & Brazil have the highest numbers of at least 3rd generation native born that are of DIFFERENT ethnicities, & if you were to accuse any non-ethnic Hispanic/Latinx of NOT being Hispanic/Latinx enough, or, let's say, "Chileno" enough - you"d be in for a nice "face breaking." Did you know that on most US GOVT FORMS, the definition of Hispanic/Latinx reads something like this: "Anyone who IS or WHO IDENTIFIES as Hisp/Latinx." What does that mean? That means ppl who've immigrated to the US from Latin Am or Spain & have last names such as Jrazinsky, Smythe, Feinberg, etc, AND WHO FULLY IDENTIFY AS LATINX/HISPANIC ....A.R.E. SUCH. With your narrow minded, small world view, this may offend you. But being Hispanic often has NOTHING to do with bloodlines! In short, if your PREDOMINANT CULTURE is overall Hispanic .... in the US, you may LEGALLY claim to be ETHNICALLY Hispanic. As for the writer being confused about her own bi-ethncity as a kid, most kids, especially those lucky enough to grow up in diverse AND integrated neighborhoods can very easily get confused - if the parents/family don't step in & teach/correct their children about their own history. If the parents themselves are aware of their family ethnicity, they need to teach their kids about where their family came from & show photos of ancestors (having photos always on display is much better) & re-tell the same stories often. Letty, it's long overdue for you to open your mind & educate yourself about us Hispanics/Latinx. We are as diverse as the stars in the sky & cannot be neatly labelled & put in a box. ¡Guepa! 🇵🇷
@Rebekah,
I know this is an old post, but I wanted to comment. My mother who is 100% PR from Isabela used to make the best red beans and rice. Your recipe is very close to hers.. home made sofrito is the best! My wife who is not PR makes a great sofrito. Anyways I wanted to make some red beans and rice and googled recipes, this is a very close recipe to what she used to make, though my mom was one who added a pinch of this and a pinch of that 'extra' lol. Thanks for the recipe and to heck with @Letty... she's just trolling.
@Letty, \
Stay off the post! You are a miserable person with nothing better to do..
@DeAna, Well said!
Can I use sweet potatoes
Yes, you can use sweet potatoes or squash.
Well, I read your recipe I am 100% Puerto Rican. Just wanted to tell you that you missed a couple of ingredients. Use recadito or sofrito, both Goya products. And yes you can use a variety of beans but pink beans are the favorite. Your beans will be more authentic if you add those ingredients.
Thank you..I could eat the pot of beans all by myself. Yummy
Hi can I use tomato paste in place of the tomato sauce
Yes you'll just use less, about a tablespoon or two.
I was looking at your Puerto Rican Beans recipe but like to know that one ingredient calls for Olives or Manzanilla? What is Manzanilla? Tea?
Manzanilla are a type of Spanish green olive. You may see them labeled as any of those names. They're usually stuffed with pimento.
If I don't use potatoes, how much water do I need to use?
I'd use at least a cup. You can always add more or let some boil out if it's too watery. I love that broth all over my rice though!