Arroz con Jueyes is a delicious crab rice that is full of flavor. A dish that is so tasty that can be served by itself!
Arroz con Jueyes is made with onion, garlic, peppers, cilantro, rice, and crab. It also has delicious sofrito as a base flavor and sazon seasoning to give it color.
It is a classic dish made in Puerto Rico. It is a very delicious crab rice with fluffy loose grains and a popular dish during Semana Santa (Holy Week). As popular as the Puerto Rican sierra en escabeche.
I like to serve it with an easy Puerto Rican ensalada verde and as always a few plantain tostones on the side.
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Why This Recipe Works
- This is a popular summertime seafood dish that you can make year-round, like the Puerto Rican codfish salad, Puerto Rican Crab Salad, or stuffed plantain cups.
Recipe Ingredients
The crab commonly used by Puerto Ricans to make crab rice is the blue land crab. You can use whichever crab meat you find. Usually found in the seafood section in the supermarket.
- Oil- I used 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to saute everything. You can substitute it with oil with achiote to give the rice and smoky flavor a yellowish color.
- Olives- I used ¼ c of manzanilla olives mainly for flavor. You can leave them out if you don’t like them.
- Vegetables- I used ¼ of a yellow onion, ½ of a cubanelle pepper, and 2 ounces or half a small jar of pimiento morrón. You can use any type of onion and substitute de cubanelle for green pepper.
- Cilantro- I use 6 twigs of cilantro, and the best substitute is recao or culantro.
- Sofrito- I use 2 tablespoons of green sofrito. Use any type you can find or have.
- Tomato sauce- I used 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce, which you can substitute for half of the amount of tomato paste.
- Garlic paste- I used a tablespoon of garlic paste. I always measure my garlic because you can add different amounts depending on the size of each clove.
- Crab- I used 8 ounces of crab, but you can add more if you like. I find 8 ounces to be a good balance.
- Water- I used 2 ½ cups of plain water. Some people like to use fish stock, but is not necessary because the crab will infuse the water and give it that seafood taste.
- Seasonings- I used 1 ½ teaspoons of sazon and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt. You can substitute the salt for 1 teaspoon of seasoning adobo.
- Rice- I used 2 cups of medium-grain rice. I usually use arroz rico, but any brand will do.
How To Make Arroz Con Jueyes
- Photo 1: Chop all the vegetables. I cut them into small half-inch cubes. But don’t worry too much about the size. You can roughly chop them because most of them will break down while cooking.
- Photo 2: Add the oil to a caldero or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and saute the veggies for 2 minutes. This is done to release the aromas in them.
- Photo 3: Add the garlic, tomato sauce, sofrito, and crab and saute for 1 minute.
- Photo 4: Add the water. Some people like to add the rice first, then the water, but I don’t taste the difference between both two methods.
- Photo 5: Add all the seasonings. This is a good time to taste the water to see if you feel it needs more seasoning.
- Photo 6: Add the rice, stir, and cover to cook until the water has evaporated. It can take anywhere from 10-12 minutes.
- Photo 7: Once most of the water has evaporated, stir the rice.
- Photo 8: Cover and finish cooking for 20 minutes.
Recipe Tips
- While typically Puerto Rican rice dishes are made in calderos, you can use any pan as long as you have a lid or something to cover while the rice dries. The advantage of using a caldero is that it makes pegao (crispy rice at the very bottom).
- Finish your rice by squeezing a wedge of lime over it, trust me when I tell you it is delicious!
Recipe Questions
To make crab rice, you shouldn’t use imitation crab because it simply doesn’t have the same flavor that real crab meat has.
I like to store crab rice in a glass container because it usually leaves a strong smell on the plastic. Keep for up to 3 days in your fridge.
Yes, you can freeze. Use a freezer bag or an airtight container. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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Arroz Con Jueyes
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ¼ onion
- ½ cubanelle pepper
- 2 ounces red pimientos (pimiento morron)
- ½ cup manzanilla olives
- 6 cilantro twigs
- 2 tablespoons sofrito
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- 8 ounces crab meat
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon sazon or 1 packet
- 2 cups medium grain rice
Instructions
- Cube into small half-inch pieces the peppers, onion, and cilantro. Set aside.
- In a large pot with a lid add the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, peppers, and cilantro and saute for 2 minutes while stirring.
- Add to the pot the sofrito, tomato sauce, garlic, and crab to saute for 1 minute.
- Add the water, the seasonings, and the rice, stir and cover the pot. Cook covered for 12 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Stir, fluff the rice and cover. Lower your heat to medium and finish cooking the rice for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
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Recipe Notes
- You can use any crab meat you can get. But you cannot use imitation crab for this recipe.
- I suggest finishing your rice with a squeeze of half of lime, it is really good.
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