Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

by Kimberly Hickok

I’ve always liked rice and beans. I’ve made them for years and our recent trip to Puerto Rico got me thinking about making them again.

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans | Kimversations

Rice and beans top the list of my all-time favorite comfort foods.

The rice and beans we had there were fantastic and I’m going to try to recreate the recipe based on how I’ve made them before and from my recent memories of them in Puerto Rico.

The main ingredients are sofrito, sazon (Goya), adobo (Goya), rice and beans.  Sofrito is a combination of green peppers, onion, garlic, tomatoes and cilantro. It’s really easy to make. Just toss everything in the food processor and process till smooth.

Back in August I whipped up a batch of sofrito because I had an abundance of fresh peppers and tomatoes from the garden. I use it in soups, stews and for dishes like rice and beans. What I don’t use right away I freeze in ice cube trays, pop them out when frozen and store in a plastic bag in the freezer.

There are lots of Puerto Rican sofrito recipes on the internet. Find one that you like and just go for it.

 

My thawed sofrito.

My thawed sofrito.

The sazon and adobo are both spice Goya spice mixtures that you should be able to find in the “ethnic” aisle. I had some adobo in my pantry but no sazon so I had to figure out how to get that ‘flavor’ in the beans. I must have figured it out because the beans turned out great!

For the beans I used half a bag of dried pinto beans. I like to boil them for a minute or two, let them sit and then proceed with the recipe. (Complete recipe below)

 
 

Rice and Beans - ingredients (2)

Combine all of the ingredients and simmer until the beans have absorbed the flavor of the cooking liquid. This isn’t an ‘exact’ recipe. You’ll have to taste it and adjust as needed. I ended up adding a bit more cumin and a shake or two more of adobo to get it just right.

In the meantime cook the rice. Use a short grain rice. I always rinse mine until the water runs clear. I don’t like it to be super starchy. Serve the rice with the beans. Yum!

Served with garlic roasted pork tenderloin and a salad.

Served with garlic roasted pork tenderloin and a salad.

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
  • 3 cups cooked (if dry) pinto beans - (about 2 cans)
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • ⅓ cup salt pork, finely chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 heaping tbsp. sofrito
  • 1 tsp. Goya Adobo with pepper
  • ¾ tsp. cumin
  • ½ tsp. paprika
  • ¼ tsp. garlic powder
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Rice
Instructions
  1. Combine all of the ingredients and simmer until the beans have absorbed the flavor of the cooking liquid. This isn’t an ‘exact’ recipe. You’ll have to taste it and adjust as needed. I ended up adding a bit more cumin and a shake or two more of adobo to get it just right.
  2. In the meantime cook the rice. Use a short grain rice.
  3. Serve the beans over the rice.

 

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