I’m still working on it, but here is a list of products from my kitchen to help you cook amazing Puerto Rican food! These are all tools and ingredients that I actually use and highly recommend. I am not affiliated with any of these companies, however, the links will take you to Amazon and if you choose to purchase I may receive a small commission from them. Thank you for helping me sustain this blog!
Update: please see all of my recommended products in my Amazon store! There you can see pictures of the items!
First up is a caldero, which is an essential! Every Puerto Rican cook I know has one, and it’s necessary to make proper pegao, which is the crispy bottom on Puerto Rican Rice. They come in all different sizes and we have several. I use a smaller one for making Puerto Rican Beans. Plus they’re solidly constructed cast aluminum, which means they’re light, and they last almost forever!
Goya Adobo Seasoning – I use this stuff on everything! Seriously, it’s not just for Puerto Rican food. It’s like seasoning salt only 10 times better. Use it on beef, chicken or pork, vegetables, soups and stews! If you want your food to be flavorful, this is the way to go!
Sazón is an important ingredient in Puerto Rican Rice. The annatto seed is what naturally gives it the golden yellow color. This seasoning is not just for yellow rice though. Like adobo, sazón can be added to just about anything and make it taste better. My husband uses it in guacamole and even tuna salad! Try it in my pork chops.
I use Goya Jamón in many of my recipes. It’s like a pork flavored bouillon cube, but with a wonderful smoky flavor. Some cooks will use actual bits of pork in their food for flavoring, but I find this easier and more economical. I don’t always have pork on hand when I want to whip up a batch of beans. For vegetarians, this can be left out entirely.
This is what I use if I can’t purchase fresh sofrito or make it myself. It’s not the brightest of flavor, but it works in a pinch! Notice it’s called recaito. I’m no expert on semantics, but this is the one you want. In all my recipes it’s sautéed with tomato sauce and becomes sofrito, which is what we call it.
