Puerto Rican Rice
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
If you don't have one a large pot will do, however, a caldero will help achieve a crispy crust of rice at the bottom of the pot.
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 which will help it be less sticky.
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 making it 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 and as a side dish for every holiday, party or get together.
When I think of grilling out, Puerto Rican Rice comes to mind just as much as potato salad.
Pin this to your Puerto rican food board!
Arroz con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice)
Arroz con gandules - Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas. Seriously the best rice you've ever had!
Ingredients
- 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)
- ½ packet ham flavoring (I use Goya brand Jamón)
- 1 teaspoon adobo
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon ground oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste (start off with 2 teaspoons of salt)
- 4-6 cups hot water
Instructions
- 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.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 146Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 426mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 5g
Nutritional information provided is an estimate only. Please consult the labels of ingredients you use for more accurate results.
Puerto Rican Rice Pot
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My mother in law makes this with pork meat inside the rice. Of course, she does an amazing job. I am so nervous because I'm starting my first attempt at this for my husband tonight!
I love it with pork bits! Hope he likes it...rinse the rice well and practice makes perfect. 🙂
@Chi, my mother in law and her sisters always made better tasting rice than me till i found out their secret - start with pork. So now i use salt pork and cook some bits of that first. It does make a difference. I don't always use a ham packet if i do that - i go by taste.
I tried this recipe today and it turned out good except it was a little sticky? Was it because I added water after it had already absorbed the water I put in it the first time?
Sometimes it turns out a little sticky but definitely don't add more water. The rice is supposed to soak up the water and then steam to perfection.
How are there 150 calories in a cup when a cup of cooked white rice is 204-250? Good recipe either way
Hi Heather, thanks for pointing that out! The auto-generated nutrition is not always accurate so it's good to know your stuff.
How would this turn out with tomatoes based sofrito??
I've used that kind before - just eliminate the tomato sauce in the recipe.
For added flavor and authenticity, rather than foil use plantain leaves...can find in some grocery stores, most bodegas, and usually in the freezer section.
Yes, great tip! Gracias
I would help to know how much time is suppose to elapse (how long the rice is supposed to boil) for the water evaporation process for it to NOT turn out gummy?
I will try to remember to time it next time I cook this. I'd say it's around 10-15 minutes or so.
My rice either gets sticky overdone or under cooked. Love this rice and I have tried so many times
throwing it away at the end
I usually let it cook for about 20 minutes then check and put the lid on for maybe anoth 10-20 minutes. It all depends on how done the rice is.
Have you ever doubled this? I've made this recipe twice before and it was great. I'm making this for a holiday party where there will need to be more than 8 servings. The other thing I thought was to have two pots going at the same time. Do you have any suggestions?
Yes, we make huge batches for parties all the time. You just need a really big pot! Two pots at the same time works too 🙂
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.
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!
Finally someone who makes rice the right way. Exactly how my mom taught me.
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.
I love cast iron! Especially my frying pan and comal, but I've never seen a cast iron caldero 🙁
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”.
Sounds delicious! Some of the older ladies I know also make their sofrito fresh every time they cook 🙂
@Frank, yah I'm sensitive to MSG, however is annatto easily found? My guess is no. I'm all for using things with less additives because i am sensitive to them!
Would it be better to use chicken stock for an even better flavor?
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!
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.
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!
I made this yesterday. Came out awesome! thank you so much for posting this!
Thank you!
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
My husband doesn't eat pork either but the jarmon does not contain pork. The ingredients lists artificial ham flavor.