If you enjoy delicious rice dishes, you are going to love our Arroz con Gandules. Our Puerto Rican rice recipe, made with pigeon peas, savory homemade sofrito, and sazon, is an incredibly flavorful example of Puerto Rican cuisine.
Arroz con gandules is not an everyday side dish in Puerto Rican households. This delicious recipe is usually reserved for special occasions.
But it’s delicious all year long, and I enjoy serving it at family gatherings, and especially on game day. It’s become one of my favorite rice dishes.
Puerto Ricans often serve arroz con gandules with Pernil (Puerto Rican roast pork), creating an amazingly delicious and unforgettable meal. It’s no wonder this is the national dish of Puerto Rico!
If you enjoyed this Puerto Rican rice dish, try our Cowboy Fried Rice and Pork Fried Rice recipes.
Ingredients to make Arroz con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice)
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make our Arroz con Gandules recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
What are Gandules?
Gandules (aka pigeon peas) are a common ingredient in Caribbean cuisine. Pigeon peas are small, oval beans with a nutty, slightly sweet, earthy flavor and a firm, crisp texture similar to edamame.
If your local grocery store doesn’t carry them, check with any Latin food markets in your area. You can find them canned, dried, frozen and fresh (fresh pigeon peas, they should be a bright green color). *Fresh or frozen are the best options as they have a more robust flavor.
Can I use another type of bean to make Arroz con Gandules?
If you can’t find gandules, you can substitute with canned pinto beans, pink beans, dark red kidney beans, or chili beans. It won’t be quite the same, but it will still be delicious.
Everyone has their own version of rice and beans, but this is how I was taught to make the dish in Puerto Rico.
What other ingredients can I add to the Arroz con Gandules?
For added flavor, you can add diced pork belly, salt pork, pancetta, or uncured thick-cut bacon at the beginning of the recipe. Fresh chopped garlic or shallots can also be added at the beginning of the recipe, depending on your taste preference.
Spanish olives and capers can also be added for a more robust flavor when you add the pigeon peas to the mixture.
Fire-roasted tomatoes can be used as a substitute for tomato sauce if you like to see chunks of tomato in the rice.
How to make Arroz con Gandules
- Rinse the white rice well until the water runs clear, and set aside until needed. Drain and rinse the pigeon peas and set aside until needed.
- Add olive oil to a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the fresh sofrito (or store-bought) to the hot oil and saute until the sofrito has softened.
- Add the tomato sauce and sazon seasoning to the sofrito mixture and stir together to combine.
- Allow the sauce to cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the adobo seasoning, garlic powder, cumin, dry oregano, sea salt, and black pepper to the mixture and stir to combine.
- Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Add 2 cups of water to the mixture and bring it to a light boil. Taste and re-season as needed.
- Add the rice and pigeon peas to the saucepan and stir the rice into the mixture. The rice should be covered by about 1 inch of liquid. *Add more if needed.
- Lower to medium heat and keep the rice at a light boil
- Once the rice has absorbed most of the water *fold the rice, then cover it loosely with aluminum foil, and place the lid on the pot.
- Cover the pan with the lid.
- Reduce to low heat to a simmer for 25 – 30 minutes. Then, fluff the rice using a fork.
- Continue to cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the rice is tender.
*Fold the rice from the bottom of the pan up, but be careful not to scrape the bottom and disturb the pegao that’s forming on the bottom of the pan. Do not stir the rice more than twice, or it will become mushy.
Arroz con gandules is one of my favorite Puerto Rican dishes. It’s the perfect side dish for Pernil or just about any roasted beef, pork, or chicken dish you serve. Add a fried egg or two on top, and you’ve got an easy and delicious main dish.
Don’t confuse Puerto Rican rice with Spanish rice (aka yellow rice). They are two completely different rice dishes.
Leftovers should be stored refrigerated in an airtight container for 3-4 days. They can also be frozen for up to two months, but the rice will get a little mushy when reheated.
Recipe FAQ’s
Puerto Rican sofrito is a blend of garlic, onions, sweet peppers, cubanelle peppers, olive oil, cilantro, and culantro.
There are many versions of sofrito depending on what part of the world you’re from.
Medium grain rice or long grain rice should be used to make this classic Puerto Rican dish. You can use brown rice to make this dish, brown rice, but adjust the cooking time and amount of water accordingly. Rule of thumb for brown rice is 3 cups of water for every cup of brown rice.
Using too much water can make the rice mushy. Also stirring too much during the cooking process will release starch making the rice sticky and mushy.
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Arroz con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice)
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain white rice or medium grain white rice, or brown rice
- 2 cups water or chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon sofrito homemade or store bought
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup grandules verdes green pigeon peas
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- 1 packet sazon seasoning
- 1 teaspoon adobo seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Rinse the rice well until the water runs clear set aside until needed.
- Drain and rinse the pigeon peas set aside until needed.
- Add olive oil to a heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the sofrito to the hot oil and saute until the sofrito has softened.
- Add the tomato sauce and sazon seasoning to the sofrito mixture and stir together to combine.
- Allow the sauce to cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the adobo seasoning, garlic powder, cumin, dry oregano, sea salt, and black pepper to the mixture and stir to combine.
- Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Add 2 cups of water to the mixture and bring it to a light boil. Taste and re-season as needed.
- Add the rice and pigeon peas to the saucepan and stir the rice into the mixture. The rice should be covered by about 1 inch of liquid. *Add more if needed.
- Lower to medium heat and keep the rice at a light boil.
- Once the rice has absorbed most of the water *fold the rice and cover loosely with aluminum foil and place the lid on the pot.*Fold the rice from the bottom of the pan up, but be careful not to scrape the bottom and disturb the pegao that’s forming on the bottom of the pan. Do not stir the rice more than twice or it will become mushy.
- Cover the pan with the lid.
- Reduce to low heat to a simmer for 25 – 30 minutes. Then, fluff the rice using a fork.
- Continue to cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the rice is tender.
Notes
There are many versions of sofrito depending on what part of the world you’re from. What kind of rice should I use? Medium grain rice or long grain rice should be used to make this classic Puerto Rican dish. You can use brown rice to make this dish, brown rice, but adjust the cooking time and amount of water accordingly. Rule of thumb for brown rice is 3 cups of water for every cup of brown rice. Why is my rice mushy? Using too much water can make the rice mushy. Also stirring too much during the cooking process will release starch making the rice sticky and mushy.
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