Arroz con Gandules

top view of 2 white bowl with arroz con gandules over a banana leaf.

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5 from 5 votes

Arroz con Gandules is a popular rice side dish to make for every Holiday. It is fluffy and very flavorful.

Prep Time5

Cook Time35

Total Time40

Course: Dinner, lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine: Puerto Rican

Servings:

Calories: 481kcal

Author: Stephenie

Ingredients

¼ cup oil
½ cup sofrito
½ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup manzanilla olives
1 teaspoon ham flavoring concentrate
1 ½ teaspoon sazon
5 teaspoons adobo
15 ounces pigeon peas (15 oz can)
4 ½ cups water
4 cups medium grain rice

Instructions

In a large caldero or large pot over high heat add the oil, sofrito, tomato sauce, sazon, adobo, ham flavoring, manzanilla olives, and pigeon peas. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add the water, stir and wait for it to boil. Rinse the rice and once the water starts boiling, add it in. Stir and cover. Let it cook for 10 minutes or until all the water on the surface has evaporated.
Lower your heat to medium. Stir your rice and cover. Finish cooking for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

Substitutions:

Oil- You can substitute regular oil for bacon fat, lard, or achiote oil.
Ham Flavoring (cubito)- You can use chicken or vegetable bouillon.
Sofrito- This is an essential component of a dish but you can use any kind of sofrito you can find. From recaito to red sofrito.
Optional (Banana leaves)- If you have banana leaves cover your rice with it in the last 20 minutes. This gives the rice a very unique flavor.

Water ratio- This arroz con gandules is fluffy and the grains are loose. The water ratio is one cup of rice to 1 ¼ cup of water. To make the rice more moist use a water ratio of 1 ½ cup of water per cup of rice. Remember to factor in the ½ cup of liquid from the canned gandules.

Serving size- The serving size is about 1 ½ cups of cooked rice per person.

Storing-Let the rice cool and store it in an airtight container or freezer bag. Keep it in the fridge for no more than 5 days or freeze for 3 months.

Nutrition