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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While the rice Is absorbing most water before the foil do you cover it
No I don't
Hi! This looks just like mamis rice, mmmmm! How do I adjust the recipe for 2 ppl and not a whole party lol?
Hi! Is there a subsitute for the ham flavoring? i want to make this for New Years Eve. 🙂
You can use real pork for flavoring or omit altogether.
I made this recipe when my tamale guy ran out. Love it, but I did add a twist. I fried pork belly first and then mixed it back in to the final product. The acidity of the olives goes great with the smokiness of the pork belly!
Hi - I made both this and the chicken stew recipe you have listed and both came out amazing! Only thing that I didn't like was the rice was a little mushy instead of more well formed. Any advice? Did I use too much water maybe? I was thinking of trying it with long grained rice instead of medium.
The rice can be really tricky - usually takes a couple tries to get it just right. Next time try using less water. Long grain rice can also be used!
Omg I made it today and it came out PERFECT! I only used 4 cups and the extra long grain rice!!! Thank you for this recipe. Can’t wait to try your others!
Woohoo!!
Can you make this in a rice maker?
I've heard of people doing it that way! Just make sure to use the rice/water ratio your cooker calls for.
This was amazing - thank you so much for the awesome and easy to follow recipe! Definitely adding to the repertoire.
Hi, thank you for this recipe I've been wanting to try this!! When you mention the adobo are you talking about the red lid adobo or the green lid? My MIL calls the both adobo so I'm just trying to use the right one. Thank you!!
I use the red one! You can use either - I think the green one just has extra cumin.
Thank you!! And thank you for the tip to use recaito, it's more like the sofrito that I've been used to! I LOVE this rice and I can now make it myself thanks to you! I also add Vienna sausages it's good also!
There speaking of the red lid adobo
I’ve been making this rice for years. The rice always turned out ok, but sometimes comes out kind of bland. It was always missing something even though I already cook with all these seasoning. This sentence “Broth should be heavily seasoned and on the salty side.” Took my rice up 10 notches. Such a simple statement, but I NEVER taste tested the broth to make sure it was salty enough. Seems like common sense, but it made a HUGE difference in the taste of my rice. Thank you!
After mounding the rice do I not stir for the first 20 minutes?
Correct. After mounding let it steam for 20 minutes, stir to redistribute (like a ferris wheel, everyone changes places), then steam until cooked through. Hope that helps.
When you stir after 20 mins do you put the foil back on for the remainder of cook time?
Yes I leave the foil on.
@Rebekah, I use plantain leaves to give it a tamal flavor. plus fewer chemicals in the food.
I understand the importance of a caldero in Puerto Rican cooking and do in fact own one for certain things. However, I would like to use my regular non-stick pot for this. I do so all the time when I make arroz con salchichas or just white rice and it comes out great. I only cook for me and my husband and neither of us is a fan of pegao so I'm not bothered by not getting caldero quality pegao. My question is, is there perhaps something about this particular rice recipe , besides maybe the pegao factor, that makes using only a caldero a must? P. S. I've tried a couple of your other recipes and they come out awesome!
Thanks! You can definitely use another pan. My dad uses a non-stick pot and he still gets a semi-crispy bottom if he doesn't stir it all the way. There's really no reason I know of except that it's traditional cookware.
Thanks for replying. You're recipes are awesome. Happy Holidays!
I just saw that you are in Okinawa! I don’t know if you’re still here but we are also here. My husband’s late grandmother taught me to make arroz con gandules and sofrito early in our marriage and it’s been years since I’ve made it. I was looking up recipes to make sure I do it right. Yours is the most similar to hers I could find. I’m making it for Christmas this year. Fingers crossed I get it right! Thanks for sharing.
Yes I'm still here!! What a small world lol.
I was stationed in Okinawa 97-99 and worked at AFN! I miss it so much!
Are you familiar with the spicy, milky white sauce served with choncholi at La Cabaña? I would love the name of the sauce and the recipe if anyone has a good one.
How about the recipe for rotisserie chicken at the place just outside Futenma? They didn’t sell rice or even drinks at the place with that amazing chicken back then. Not being able to read the name of the place bc it was in kanji, I name it “Nothin’ but Chicken” and that’s what my friends and I called it 😂 Aftwr leaving. I found out it was called Koko...something.
Such a small world! I love it! I've never been to La Cabaña...in fact I think they just reopened recently, but with all the corona stuff going on we've been on a semi-lockdown. I've also never been to the chicken place but if it's the same place I'm thinking of it's called Bueno Chicken. I've heard it takes 2 days to make the chicken and it has garlic and vinegar marinade. It's very famous and on my list to try!
@Rebekah Crazy but we are stationed currently in Yokosuka. Lock down sucks but food makes it better.Love the recipe closest to the one my Titi made growing up. Happy Holidays
We just moved back to the states in August! It was such a bummer leaving Japan and not being able to go out and do our favorite things one last time. I hope it gets better soon!
I am SO excited to try this for my family. No one in the family can give me a written recipe and Abuela passed before I could be taught so I am very glad I stumbled upon this recipe!
I do not have an aluminum pot, but I DO have an enamel cast iron caldero - someone in the comments said that this worked over their induction stove. I am nervous to use mine over a flame stove because I am terrified the yummy pegao won't come up easily and I will scratch the enamel trying to remove it. Has anyone tried? Does it come up easily?
Thanks in advance!
I hope someone will respond to this! I've never tried in my enamel pot but I think it should be ok. Mine has never scratched in years of use. Add plenty of oil at the beginning and if you can wedge a spatula under the pegao it should pop up!
Yes please use extra oil! I tried it in mine and it was too burnt... The bottom ended up scratched. I switched to a metal enameled and it comes out perfectly.
I just made it and it tastes like PR! So good!
@Sarah, I like to avoid aluminum too because of heavy metals. I used to use a calderon and used foil to produce tight fit. I think enameled cast iron or other cookware as mentioned can produce a good result and the benefit - no heavy metals.
I made this and turned out great but my peigon peas were green? I want them dark like your picture. I did use frozen got a peigon peas
If using fresh, frozen or dried pigeon peas, boil them according to the package instructions before adding to the rice.
I used Green and they darkened up as they cooked!!!!! How did yours turn out?!