Puerto Rican Rice and Beans (Arroz con Habichuelas)

4.76 from 29 votes

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans (Arroz con Habichuelas)

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans or "Arroz y Habichuelas" is a traditional rice dish made with medium or long grain rice, red beans and seasoned with Puerto Rican seasonings. Excellent side dish to practically any meal!

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Puerto Rican

Servings: to 6 servings

Calories: 597kcal

Author: Catherine Arena

Ingredients

2 cups medium grain rice rinsed
1 15.5 ounce small red, pink beans or kidney beans liquid drained from can
3 tablespoon sofrito
⅓ cup pork fat (tocino) cut into small cubes
½ cup ham steak cut into small cubes
1 packet Sazon with Culantro and Achoite found in the Latin section of most supermarkets
2 chicken bouillon cubes or powder
2 tablespoon pimiento stuffed olives
handful fresh cilantro chopped for topping
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or corn oil
salt to taste
2-3 sprigs fresh culantro optional but flavors rice deliciously if you can find in your area

Instructions

Add the rice to a bowl and rinse it under cool water. Drain the rice and rinse again. Continue rinsing until the water runs pretty clear, about 3 rinses.
Note: This removes the talc coating (peril) that helps to preserve the rice)
In a caldero (dutch oven pot) over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the pork fat (tocino) and the ham and stir. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes until golden brown.
Add the sofrito and the sazon. Stir and cook for a minute.
Add the drained beans to the pot.
Add the chicken bouillon, olives and the water.
Add the rinsed rice to the pot and stir. Add salt to taste. (I use about a teaspoon).
*TIP: You know you have added enough water to rice when a large spoon is almost fully covered by the liquid in the pot.
Cook the rice for about 5 minutes on high heat until most of the water has evaporated.
Stir the rice with a large spoon and cover immediately with a lid. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes.
Note: DO NOT lift the lid during these 15 minutes or the rice will stun and never cook correctly.
Note 2: When stirring the rice, avoid stirring so hard as to remove some of the pegao (the crispy bottom layer) from the bottom of the pot. You do not want the pegao to be distributed into the rice.
After 15 minutes, remove the lid and stir the rice again. Cover the pot and cook for another 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the lid and stir the rice again. The rice is now fully cooked, top with chopped fresh cilantro.

Notes

Recipe Notes:

The key to making any Puerto Rican rice is to use the right cooking pot. A "caldero" is the traditional pot used for making Puerto Rican rice. It is made of cast aluminum that allows the rice to cook uniformly and creates a crispy bottom layer known as "pegao."

For the best results when making this rice, do not use a nonstick saucepan as the rice will not cook the same. If you do not have a caldero, use a Dutch oven pot instead.

Nutrition