arroz con gandules

Comfort in a bowl! This Latin dish is a cross between a stew and a soup. If you want to eat it as a soup, serve it with some fresh avocado on top. If you prefer to have this over rice, try it with my Latin yellow rice (I had it both ways!).

Slow Cooker Pork and Gandules (Pigeon Peas) Stew

pork

olive oil

oregano

tsp cumin

tsp kosher salt

tsp black pepper

juice of 1/2 lime

tsp sazon seasoning (I used homemade)

(29 oz total gandules)

onion

garlic

red pepper

jalapeno

tomato sauce

tbsp olives w/brine

potato

carrot (diced)

celery (diced)

greens

water

Marinade the pork with oil, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, lime juice and sazon.

Refrigerate overnight for best results.

Transfer to the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients.

Cover and cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

Arroz con gandules - Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas. Seriously the best rice you've ever had!

Arroz con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice)

vegetable oil

sofrito

(15 ounces) gandules (pigeon peas), partially drained

alcaparrado

Sazón

ham flavoring (I use Goya brand Jamón)

adobo

garlic powder

cumin

Salt and pepper

Rinse rice well in water and set aside.

In a medium caldero or large pot (about...

In a medium caldero or large pot (about 6 quarts or so), heat oil and sauté sofrito until softened. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes.

Stir in gandules, alcaparrado, all of the spices...

Stir in gandules, alcaparrado, all of the spices and 4 cups of water. Taste and readjust seasonings, adding additional salt 1 teaspoon at a time. Broth should be heavily seasoned and on the salty side.

Bring to a rapid boil, then add rice...

Bring to a rapid boil, then add rice and stir. You may need to add more water to ensure rice is covered by 1 inch of water. Reduce heat to a soft boil and let most of the liquid absorb and evaporate, stirring occasionally, very gently, so rice does not turn gummy.

Carefully mound rice towards center of pot, top...

Carefully mound rice towards center of pot, top with foil and cover with lid. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Stir by folding rice from the bottom up, but do not disturb bottom of pan. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, testing after 20 to see if rice is tender and cooked through.

These Puerto Rican Rice and Beans (also known as arroz con gandules) are naturally vegan and gluten free and are loaded with flavor and protein.

Puerto Rican Rice &amp; Beans with Sofrito (Arroz con Gandules)

tbsp achiote oil

tbsp sofrito (see note for substitute)

(2 cans) gandules (with the liquid)

tomato puree

pimento stuffed olives, halved (optional)

tsp adobo seasoning (see note for substitute)

vegetable broth

white rice (short grain)

cilantro (for garnish)

Sauté oil with sofrito

In a heavy bottomed pot heat the achiote oil over medium high heat. Toss in the sofrito and cook until the onions are translucent. 

Add gandules, seasoning and broth

Once the sofrito becomes fragrant, add in the gandules (and their liquid), tomato puree, olives, adobo seasoning, sazon seasoning, and broth. Turn the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Add rice and lower heat

Once the liquid begins to boil, add rice, stirring and returning to a boil before covering and lowering heat to low. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked. 

Serve!

Serve the rice and beans with additional cilantro and a splash of hot sauce. Enjoy!

I love a good plate of rice and beans and these were so flavorful! Thanks for the recipe

That is cooked with love. I‘ve fallen out of practice of cooking rice with gandules. Your recipe will help me.

Looks so good! If I make your sazon and adobo seasoning substitute, is it considered a spice blend of both? So would I use 4 teaspoons total in this recipe? Thank you!

When using an electric stove do you still use just 2 cups rice to 2 1/2 c broth? Mine came out a little mushy but still tasted great

A great recipe and highly loved in my house. I purchased the Goya Sazon (the Con Culantro y Achiote version) and it was perfect. Made my own Adobo blend to use. Will be making again! Thank you.

I have tried to make to dish several times using different recipes for my son-in-law who has Puerto Rican and Dominican Republic background.  Have to say I was disappointed in how it turned out.  I tried to duplicate his mother who makes it by eyeing things.  Couldn't do that either.  I found this recipe little too tomatoey but that can be altered.  other than that, the flavors blended nice.  The flavors were also very robust.  I noticed 1 big difference your recipe have is the use of short grain rice. The dish did not turn out dry nor undercooked given the length of time for cooking it.  I was not disappointed in how the dish turned out.

This recipe is just amazing!! I can’t wait to make it again. Thank you so much for posting it

The flavors remind me of when my aunt used to make this for us. Such a great, nostalgic recipe, and so easy. This is officially going to be a regular in my home. Thank you for your help bringing these recipes to me and my family.

This was great.  However, consider renaming to Puerto Rican Rice and Pigeon Peas (Gandules).  Puerto Rican Rice and Beans (Habichuelas) is another dish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-6xtZJonXc

Learn how to make arroz con gandules, a traditional Puerto Rican rice & beans with sofrito and achiote oil.

Arroz con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice & Beans)

Creamy, hearty, and flavorful, this Vegan Arroz con Guandules is a classic Puerto Rican dish. Perfect as a side, but also delicious enough for a main! 

Vegan Arroz con Guandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas)

tbsp Neutral Cooking Oil (can sub with Water

½ Yellow Onion, diced

¼ each Red, Yellow, Green Peppers

Garlic, minced

tbsp Tomato Paste

Vegan Chicken-Flavored Bouillon

tsp Capers

Bay Leaves

tsp Salt-Free Seasoning Blend*

tsp Cumin

½ tbsp Badia’s Sazon Tropical

tsp Goya’s Sazon con Azafran

tbsp Tamari

15.5 oz can Guandules Secos,

13.5 oz Can Full-Fat Coconut Milk

White Rice

Cilantro,

Black Pepper and Oregano, to taste (Optional)

First, add the cooking oil to a medium pot and raise to medium-high heat. Add the Onion, diced Bell Peppers, ½ of the bunch of chopped Cilantro, Bay Leaves, and Garlic to the pot. Sauté until the Onions are translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to cook everything; plastic and metal affect the final flavor of the dish!

Add the Vegan Chicken-Flavored Bouillon and Tomato Paste to the pot and use the spoon to “mash” them into the Vegetables. Sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Then, add the Capers, entire can of Guandules Secos, Tamari, Cumin, and Sazon con Azafran. Sauté until the spices are fragrant and evenly distributed, about 3 minutes.

Add ½ of the remaining Cilantro to the pot along with the can of Coconut Milk and remaining spices, then bring everything to a simmer over high heat.

Rinse the Rice under cold water, then immediately add it to the simmering mixture. Once a few grains of rice start to float to the top of the mixture, add the rest of the Cilantro, mix well, and cover. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork, serve, and enjoy! Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

This looks so yummy!! If I may, Pigeon Peas in spanish is spelled GANDULES.
Going to try this recipe tomorrow. Thank you for posting it.

Your recipe sounds great! I should poinjt out that Debbie's is statement is correct; the only correct translation and hence spelling of pigeon peas in Spanish is GANDULES, no other variation. Thank=s for posting such a delicious recipe. I have made this many times; in  its original version from Puerto Rico.

@Jess, when the water starts to evaporate and it s at the same level as the rice (or slightly below) you cover it and put it on the lowest setting. Do not open the lid. The steam is what finishes the cooking. If you find it is still not done, leave the lid on another 5 minutes with the flame off. Glad you can please your Dominican MIL! My cousin who is a great cook and grew up in PR taught me how to make her arroz con gandules. Love it!

Hi! I’m actually puertorriqueña, norm and raised. I have always lived there. Anyway I have never seen any arroz con gandules with cilantro in Puerto Rico, so if you don’t like cilantro, you don’t have to use it baches el arroz con gandules típico doesn’t have it.

Hey Caitlin, This sounds like a great vegan alternative to our traditional Puerto Rican Arroz con Gandules. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Could I make a slight correction about Sofrito? It is not sautéed peppers and onions.  It is actually a blend made in a food processor of cilantro, culantro (two main herbs in the recipe), peppers (green, red, yellow, and/ or Puerto Rican sweet peppers aka Aji Dulce), onions, and fresh garlic cloves (some people add Parsley and Olive oil). It is then stored in a jar, sometimes frozen into ice cubes and then used as a base for many of our dishes.

Wow. Super impressed with this dish.  The flavor is unique, and you can easily swap veggies in/out.  Thank you!

After my illness, my life changed, I decided to switch to a vegetarian diet too, your recipes helped me a lot, thanks for the post!

Arroz con gandules, also known as Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas, is Puerto Rico&#039;s national dish for a reason! It&#039;s a flavorful rice dish made with gandules (pigeon peas), green olives and sofrito.

Arroz Con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice and Pigeon Peas)

bacon or ham (optional)

oil (vegetable oil, olive oil,

gandules (or frozen, drained from the water)

green olives

sofrito (thawed

salt

adobo seasoning

½ packet Sazon con culantro y achiote

black pepper

arroz Rico (medium grain white rice, rinsed)

Heat a large heavy bottomed pot like a dutch oven, or a caldero if you have one, over medium heat. If using ham or bacon, slowly cook the meat until crispy, remove meat from pot and set aside leaving the drippings. If not using meat, add oil before continuing with the next step.

Add the gandules, tomato sauce, green olives, sofrito, salt, adobo seasoning, sazon, ground black pepper and ground cumin. Stir to fully combine.

Once the mixture becomes fragrant, pour in the water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the rice. Stir until rice is submerged and pigeon peas are distributed evenly.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 25 minutes. You can add your ham or bacon back in now if you want, or wait to add it in again before serving. Traditionally the rice would be covered with a banana or plantain leaf. However, a tight fitting pot lid will work just fine!

About half way through cooking, remove the lid and stir by folding rice from the bottom up, but do not disturb the rice at the bottom of pan. (This is a very touchy subject - some Puerto Ricans insist that you don&#39;t stir the rice while cooking to get the best pegao, crispy rice bottom. However, I find stirring it once cooks everything more evenly. Whatever you do, make sure you only stir it once or the rice will become sticky/mushy.)

After simmering for 25 minutes, remove the arroz con gandules from the heat and let it sit for an additional 10 minutes before serving. This is called letting the rice &quot;steam&quot;.  The rice is done once all the liquid is absorbed.

After letting the rice rest for about a half hour, remove the lid. Fluff and stir the rice, then serve warm!

This recipe was so easy to make and delicious.  It was my first time making it and it won’t be my last

SO delicious and easy! I've tried to make arroz con gandules many times and this is the best recipe. Thanks!

Hi, 
If I want to do 4 cups of rice how much water should I use?

Thank you for this!! I cannot cook worth the dollar in my pocket, but these directions were on point! My children live for this and even share with their friends. I don’t eat meat and still this recipe boasts of real Puerto Rican flavor! Again, I CANNOT COOK, but this recipe gives some hope to my name lol.

Delicious! 
I’ve tried a few different recipes, this one has come out perfect every time. I highly recommend making your own sofrito, put in ice cube trays with a lid and freeze for later use.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1699561558/bfcsqrcy3xzsxgtai5ow.mp4

This Arroz con Gandules is a flavorful Puerto Rican rice recipe made with gandules (pigeon peas), green olives and sofrito. Learn all my tricks on how to get perfect rice every time!

Arroz con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas)

Arroz Con Gandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas) is a popular Carribean and Puerto Rican side dish.

Arroz Con Gandules (Rice and Pigeon Peas)

onion (finely chopped)

scallions

cilantro

green bell pepper

tomato (diced)

pigeon peas ((gandules), drained)

long grain white rice (I like Carolina)

chicken bouillon cube

Sazon (or 1 packet Sazon with Achiote)

kosher salt (to taste)

Chop all sofrito items in a food processor or chopper.

Heat oil in a medium caldero or heavy pot on medium heat.

Stir in the sofrito (chopped onion, scallion, cilantro, bell pepper and garlic) and cook about 5 minutes, until soft.

Add the tomato and 1/4 teaspoon salt, cook another minute until soft.

Stir in rice and mix well.

Add the gandules, water, bouillon, sazon, and salt and taste liquid for flavor (the liquid should be salty enough to give it flavor).

Mix well. Add more salt as needed.

Reduce flame to medium-low and let water boil down until it is completely absorbed.

Once water barely skims the top, set flame to low and cover for 20 minutes without stirring or lifting the lid.

Remove from heat and let it sit 5 minutes. The steam will cook the rice.

My picky toddler loved this rice! He won’t eat beans but he ate these legumes!!! I am thrilled he ate it with some hidden veggies in the sofrito too! (My rice was more green than yellow).

My kids also love your Peruvian green sauce recipe! They drown their food in it!

This was so amazing!  Flavorful and easy to make.  One of my favorite ST recipes!

This was delicious. I did modify it by adding one 8 oz can of tomato sauce in place of some of the water. I will definitely be making this again. My husband loved it said it had great flavor. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Finally a receipt that reminds me of my childhood!!! I was in a Puerto Rican household in Jersey City NJ, from 9-14 when I was in foster care and I am always searching for receipts that are like how my foster mom used to cook. This is exactly they way she made her rice. Delicious and thank you for taking me back in time. Now to find her stewed chicken recipe...... Maybe you have one?

I've loved this recipe for nearly a decade. It's delicious.   It introduced me to pigeon peas and sazon.  Two of my favorite things.  I've used them ever since!

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