Arroz con gandules is Puerto Rico’s national dish for a reason! Served for the holidays, this flavorful and authentic Puerto Rican rice with pigeon peas is made with gandules (pigeon peas), salty green olives and flavorful sofrito.
Jorge’s Recipe Notes
Arroz con gandules, or Puerto Rican rice with pigeon peas, is Puerto Rico’s national rice dish. Made with medium-grain rice, tender pigeon peas (known as gandules), and a rich, flavorful sofrito base.
It’s traditionally cooked in one pot, often flavored with pork (like ham or bacon), olives (or capers), and seasoned with ingredients like Sazón, tomato sauce, and annatto oil for that signature golden color.
The best part of any pot of Puerto Rican rice is the pegao! Pegao (pronounced peh-GOW) is the crispy, golden layer of rice that forms at the bottom of the pot when the rice is cooked just right. It’s a beloved treat in Puerto Rican kitchens that families will even fight over to see who gets the last crunchy spoonful!
Every family makes theirs a little differently, but this is how I grew up making arroz con gandules in my abuela’s kitchen in San Juan. It’s a must-have at Puerto Rican holidays and family gatherings and pairs perfectly with roast pork (pernil), tostones, avocado salad, and a glass of Coquito!
“I made this arroz con gandules recipe to serve with Pernil and it’s absolutely a keeper. It was super simple to make and a really nice change from black beans. We’d never tried the pigeon peas before, but really liked them. I may use chicken broth next time (instead of water) to add just a little more flavor. I also followed the directions to stir gently halfway through and leave the bottom alone. This produced a crispy crust on the finished rice that provided a great texture. Super delicious!!” — Shannon, skilled home cook for over 30 years.
Ingredients Needed For Puerto Rican Rice
Below you will find helpful notes and substitutions for a few key ingredients for this arroz con gandules recipe. Visit the printable recipe card below for the full ingredient list and amounts.
- Rice: Medium grain rice, like arroz Rico, is the traditional rice used in Puerto Rico to make Arroz Con Gandules. If for some reason you can’t find medium grained rice, the next best substitute is to use long grain rice. Short grain rice is the worst choice because the final dish will just be too sticky.
- Oil: I grew up using vegetable oil, however olive oil or avocado oil will both work just fine. Some families use achiote oil for an added layer of flavor and color.
- Gandules: Frozen or canned pigeon peas (small sized green peas with an oval shape that have a slightly nutty flavor).
- Green Olives: While optional, these add a great salty bite. You can leave them whole or slice them.
- Sofrito: Sofrito, a Puerto Rican cuisine staple, is a blend of tomatoes, onions, peppers, cilantro, and garlic. You can use homemade or store bought sofrito.
- Sazon: I used my homemade sazon seasoning, but you can also use store bought Sazon con culantro y achiote. This adds the classic flavor and color to the rice, you can not skip it.
- Seasonings: Besides sazon, you will need adobo, salt, black pepper and cumin powder.
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How to Make Arroz con Gandules
While there are a few steps, this Puerto Rican rice recipe is easier than it looks. Below is a quick step-by-step recipe overview with some helpful tips for success. Please scroll down to the printable recipe card for full instructions.
It is super important that you rinse your rice. This will remove the starch from your rice and prevents the rice from turning mushy. Use a fine mesh sieve and rinse your rice with water in the sink until it runs clear. This quick step will save you a lot of heartache later on!
Keeping the steam in the pot helps cook the rice without burning it. Traditionally the rice would be covered with a banana or plantain leaf. However, a tight fitting pot lid will work just fine! We use a traditional caldero, but a large heavy bottomed pot like a dutch oven will also work. If you don’t have a pot with a tight fighting lid, you can also make one with foil.
Once you have sautéed the gandules, tomato sauce, green olives, sofrito, and seasonings, you will add the water and rice. Make sure to measure both, don’t eye ball it, the ratios are very important to achieve the right texture. Let the rice simmer on low and keep that lid shut tight so the steam does its job.
Whatever you do, do not stir the rice more than once or it can become sticky or mushy! Some Puerto Ricans insist that you don’t stir the rice at all to get the best pegao (crispy rice bits at the bottom). However, I find stirring it once cooks everything more evenly. So half way through cooking, I remove the lid and stir it just once. I gently fold the rice up from the bottom, making sure that I do not disturb the rice at the bottom of pan.
Once the rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid, remove it from the heat and let rest for 10 minutes. This is called letting the rice “steam”, which makes the final texture just right. Then fluff and stir the rice and serve!
Substitutions & Variations
No pigeon peas? You can substitute black beans, kidney beans, or even green peas in a pinch. The flavor won’t be exactly the same, but it’ll still be delicious.
Change up the rice. Medium-grain rice is traditional, but long-grain white rice works too. You can even use brown rice, but you will need to increase the liquid and cooking time.
Capers or Olives? I grew up with olives, but many families use capers instead. Both work great to add a salty, briny pop of flavor.
Starting with ham or bacon. Sautéing a little bacon or ham before adding in the sofrito can add more depth with a slightly smoky flavor. Want to keep it vegetarian? Skip the meat entirely, there’s plenty of flavor in the sofrito and spices!
Arroz Con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice and Pigeon Peas)
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon or ham, optional
- 2 tablespoons oil, vegetable oil, olive oil, or achiote oil
- 1 cup canned gandules, or frozen, drained from the water
- ¾ cup tomato sauce
- ½ cup green olives, sliced or whole, or capers
- ¼ cup sofrito, thawed if using store bought frozen sofrito
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon adobo seasoning
- ½ packet Sazon con culantro y achiote, or homemade sazon seasoning
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 ½ cups water, or chicken broth
- 2 ½ cups arroz Rico, medium grain white rice, rinsed
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Instructions
- 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 to trap the steam and keep the moisture in, which leads to softer, more evenly cooked rice. Using a banana or plantain leaf will also infuse the dish with a subtle earthy aroma. However, a tight fitting pot lid will work just fine too!
- Optional: 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 as some Puerto Ricans insist that you don't stir the rice while cooking to get the best pegao (the crispy, golden layer of rice that forms at the bottom of the pot). However, I find stirring it once helps it cook more evenly. Whatever you do, make sure if you do stir it, 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 "steam". 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!
Notes
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Nutrition
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How To Serve Arroz con Gandules
Traditionally, this Puerto Rican rice and pigeon peas is served with pernil or pasteles. And in my family, it’s simply not the holidays without ensalada de doditos or ensalada de coditos con jamon!
However, if you are Puerto Rican, you know that just like rice and beans, we serve arroz con gandules with everything! This rice is also great with a bowl of carne guisada, or served with achiote chicken or a chuleta frita. We also always add a side of sweet fried plantains or crispy fried tostones!
More Puerto Rican Recipes To Try
- If you like this Puerto Rican rice with pigeon peas, you should also try this arroz blanco.
- Queso flan is my favorite as it’s extra creamy, but you also can’t go wrong with a traditional flan recipe or chocolate flan!
- This Puerto Rican sancocho recipe is so hearty and comforting.
- For more traditional desserts, try tembleque (coconut pudding) or soft Mallorca bread.
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I’ve made this exact recipe probably 10 times now and it’s so good! I cook up some cubed Spam and throw it in in place of bacon or ham It’s a family favorite.
Made this tonight and it was delicious. However my rice is a bit sticky? I used the medium grain rice as instructed. Any suggestions on how I can fix this next time?
Hi Christina! Did you rinse the rice well before adding it? If you didn’t rinse the rice, then that is definitely why! If you did rinse the rice, my next suggestion would be to use just a little less water next time, I’d try 3 1/4 cups water instead of the 3 1/2 cups.
I made this last night and it was absolutely amazing! I am definitely not a cook and had anxiety the whole time that it would not turn out right. I did not stir at all after the initial adding of rice. I somehow scorched my pot though and the “crisp bottom” was burnt. I wonder if I had the pot too high during the 25 min… but the rice still came out cooked properly.
This recipe was so easy to make and delicious. It was my first time making it and it won’t be my last
This was delicious! Thank you!
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?
Hi Madeline! If you click the PRINT button in the recipe card, it will take you to the print version of the recipe which allows you to adjust the number of servings which will adjust the ingredient amounts. For this recipe, if you change it to make 11 servings, it will adjust all of the ingredients to use a little over 4 cups of rice. Hope this helps!
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.
This cracked me up, so glad you all enjoyed it!
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.
Wow! I made this today and it really came out amazing! Will definitely make this again…..❤️❤️
I dont eat pork, is there another type of meat that would work well with this recipe??
Hi Darlene! The pork (ham/bacon) is optional, so I’d recommend just skipping it. It will still be delicious!
You can use other meat. Pork is the tradition. Instead of cumin we use oregano
Hi there, i just tried making this, but I’m sure i did something wrong. I added all the water you stated and the correct amount of rice. But after the 12 minutes (halfway point), i stirred it, but the water was almost all gone by then. I left it for the remainder of time, but it was completely dry and raw. What did i do wrong? I also had it on medium low. Thank you for any help.
Hi Jean! Hmm, did you also include the tomato sauce and sofrito? That adds extra liquid as well, but it definitely shouldn’t be dry like you are describing.
Typically when I use tomato sauce it makes the rice really soggy. Any idea why? Or any tips?
Hi Mari! When you add sauce, are you subtracting some of the water? If you add sauce and keep the same amount of water, it’s usually too much liquid for the rice and you will end up with soggy rice.
Can tomato paste be used instead to cut back the water instead of sauce
If you use tomato paste instead of tomato sauce, you will need more water, not less. Tomato paste is highly concentrated, so you will need extra water to make up for taking out the tomato sauce. Hope this helps!
Hi, what size caldero do u use to could this serving size?
Hi Christine! 4.8 quarts or larger!
Thanks you for the recipes.What brand of the pot do you use?
Hi Marthin! This was a Le Creuset cast iron enameled dutch oven. You can use any large heavy bottomed pot and it should work just fine!
Very good! I can see this becoming a staple. Definitely can’t wait to add my own flair to this too.
Can you freeze this? If so, please let me know what’s the best method. There’s a lot of leftovers and I hate for it to go bad
Hi Jessie! Yes, you can freeze it! I place it in a freezer safe container (personally I like to use ziplock freezer bag) and freeze it for up to 3 months. Then I reheat in a pan with a little water and oil.
Can I use Goya Pinto Beans (15.5 oz. cans) & how many cans for this recipe?
Hi Judy! I would not recommend pinto beans, they are very different and would not taste correct and be off texture wise as well. If you can not find gandules, you can make the rice without them.
Hi! I’m very excited to try this rice as it look absolutely delicious!!! But, I can only find uncooked guandules instead of canned. Does someone know it the recipe would work if I cook the guandules beforehand and
add them when you add the canned ones? thanks!
Hi Isabella! Yes, you can cook them separately and then add them! I cook mine for about 1.5 hours, until tender.
i love rice
Are you supposed to add the meat, if so when?
You can add it in step number 4 or you can wait and add it back in at the end!
I grew up in a Puerto Rican neighborhood and always Loved the rice and beans. This came out Amazing! I didn’t stir and didn’t wash the rice, which made the rice come out with a great starchy texture!!! Love! Thank You.
I’m Puertorican for three cups of rice I would use two cans of gandules and please don’t drain the liquid that’s flavor. Count it in the amount of water. And also the tomato sauce is unnecessary, it makes the rice mushy, If the water is tasty there’s no need for it.
I use Chicken Stalk instead when I have Chicken in it.