If you want to make the best side for any dish, try this Puerto Rican Rice and Beans. It is an easy recipe that everyone will love.
For Latinos, rice is a must and in Puerto Rico is no different. One of the many classic rice recipes we have is the Puerto Rican Rice and Beans. It is just as popular as the classic white rice.
We call it arroz guisado con habichuelas while in the Dominican Republic and Cuba, it is called Moro and they all taste different.
In Puerto Rico what gives our rice recipes that distinct flavor is the fresh sofrito, the classic sazón, the adobo spice seasoning, and the achiote seed oil.
Once all the flavors combine and get cooked what you get is rice that has an appetizing yellow color, and loose, flavorful, and fluffy grains.
This rice is so good that I can eat it by myself. But I like to serve it with fried Puerto Rican chuletas or Puerto Rican fried chicken drumsticks or a pollo al horno. If you want to add some sweetness also make a few ripe fried plantains
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Why This Recipe Works
- This is the perfect recipe for meal prep. You can use the leftovers to use as your work lunch.
- All the ingredients you need are easy to find or make at home with the recipes here on the blog!
Recipe Ingredients
- Oil- I use vegetable oil but you can use your preferred cooking oil.
- Spanish olives- While olives are optional they bring a lot of flavors.
- Sofrito- I use a homemade sofrito that has garlic, onion, peppers, and most importantly recao/culantro. Read more on what is culantro. If you can’t find any sofrito I have a good substitute for sofrito you can use.
- Tomato sauce- I used tomato sauce but you can use tomato paste.
- Seasonings- This recipe uses sazón, adobo, and ham flavoring.
- Beans- I added pink beans but you can change it up and use a different one.
- Water– I use water, no need for stock.
- White rice- I used medium grain but you can also use long.
How to make Puerto Rican Rice and Beans
- Photo 1: In a large caldero over high heat add the oil, tomato sauce, sofrito, beans, and all the seasonings and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Photo 2: Then add your water and bring it to a boil. This can take anywhere from 5-8 minutes to boil.
- Photo 3: Once the water is boiling you want to add your rice, stir, and cover until all water has evaporated.
- Photo 4: When the water evaporates, lower the heat to medium. Fluff your rice. Cover and cook for another 20 minutes.
Common Mistakes and How to Fix
- Hard rice- If your rice is still a little hard you can always salvage it. because it only means that your rice is still a little raw. All you have to do is add 3 tablespoons of water and cook for another 5 minutes. The water will create more vapor to help cook your rice.
- Burn rice flavor- That burnt rice flavor in Puerto Rican we call it ajumao and is super easy to fix. The trick to removing the burnt flavor in rice is to add a whole onion chopped in half. Add the onion and cook for an extra 5-8 minutes and the onion will absorb the smell.
Recipe Tips
- The caldero- Traditionally all Puerto Rican rice is made in calderos. But the reality (controversial) is that you can make the rice in any pan as long as you have a lid. I even make this in a rice cooker! Even in schools in Puerto Rican, they use huge industrial pans to make rice, not calderos, and believe me that rice is delicious.
- Storing- Let the rice cool and store it in the fridge in an airtight container and keep it no more than 4 days. Freeze and keep no longer than 3 months. When you are ready to eat you can reheat it in the microwave or stovetop. If reheating from the freezer just make sure you thaw the rice before.
Frequently Asked Questions
I have always used medium-grain rice. This is the most popular type of rice in Puerto Rican recipes. But a lot of people like to use long-grain rice like jasmine or basmati.
The type of bean I always use is savory canned beans. The reason for this is really out of convenience because dry beans take a little more work. You have to leave them in water to soften. In this recipe, pink beans are used but you can use any type of beans you like. You can use white, black, pink, white, and pinto beans.
You can make fried rice balls. Take a scoop of rice, bread it, and fry for the ultimate crispy rice balls. You can make a rice Burrito or even a copycat Chipotle bowl.
The short answer is no. While Puerto Rican rice and beans are sometimes referred to as yellow rice or even Spanish rice to some people, they are not the same. Yellow rice is made with turmeric which is the ingredient responsible for its color. In comparison, Puerto Rican yellow rice is completely savory. Made with tomato sauce and sazón which are the ingredients responsible for that yellowish, kind of orangy color.
More Puerto Rican Rice Recipes to Make
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Puerto Rican Rice and Beans
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Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups water
- 4 cups white rice
- ¼ cup oil
- 1 can pink beans 15.5 oz can
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- ½ cup sofrito
- 1 teaspoon ham flavor concentrate
- 1 ½ teaspoons sazón
- 1 ½ tablespoons adobo
- ¼ cup manzanilla olives about 12
Instructions
- In a large pot over high heat add the oil, tomato sauce, sofrito, olives, beans, ham flavoring, sazón and adobo. Mix it well and let this cook for about 2 minutes.
- Then add the water, stir and wait for it to boil. Rinse your rice and add it to the pot once the water is starting to boil. Cover the pot and let all the water dry. This can take about 8 minutes so it is best to keep an eye on it.
- Once all your water is evaporated you want to lower your heat to medium. Now you want to stir your rice. Cover with your lid and cook for 20 minutes. Serve and Enjoy.
Stephenie says
Thank you for visiting, I am glad you liked it 😊.
T Williams says
Perfect authentic recipe! Came out perfect!
Stephenie says
Hola Evelyn, adding a little water to microwave sounds like a good tip. Thank you for trying the recipe and commenting!
Evelyn Alessi says
I have made this several times. It is delicious. I make the full recipe and then freeze it in smaller containers. It works so well on those evenings when you don’t have time to cook. Thaw, add a little water, microwave it. Yum!
Stephenie says
Hi Skye, you can definitely half the recipe. In fact most of the time, I only make 2 cups of rice unless I am making more to have leftovers for lunch on the next day. Just keep in mind that the can of beans have about 1/2 cup of liquid. So make sure you make up for that when you half the recipe. Thank you for the visit and I am very glad your family enjoys it.
Skye says
I love this recipe I’ve made it a few times now and my whole family loves it, it’s definitely a keeper! I was wondering would it still work if I half it?
Stephenie says
Thank you Kanita for visiting and trying out the recipe. Let me know how it went.
Kanita says
I am only at the stage of waiting on the water to boil and its absolutely delicious 😋 ..i used red and green sofrito before actuallyreading through the comments and its already taking my back to my childhood with my PuertoRican friends !! This will be on repeat!
Msjudi B says
Hello there, I was wondering what type of measuring cup ur using for this recipe, my cup doesn’t have these measurements.
Stephenie says
Hi Gloria, thank you for coming back! Goya recaito and green sofrito are very similar. The only difference is that sofrito contains recao(culantro) which is very flavorful and very fragrant. But the goya recaito is still a good substitude and the rice will taste very good.
Gloria says
Hi! Is the Goya recaito the same thing as green sofrito? I made it last time with the red and it was delicious !! I want to try it with the green like you said but I wasn’t sure if it will taste the same if I use the recaito.
Stephenie says
Thank you so much for the comment. It is always nice when we eat something that reminds us of home.
T says
Tasted like my moms I almost cried
Stephenie says
Thank you Maria for visiting us. I am glad you found us. Stick around for more rice recipes.