Arroz con Gandules

Puerto Rican rice dish with pigeon peas and green olives. A classic Puerto Rican recipe made in a rice cooker!

Arroz con Gandules made easy and foolproof!

Puerto Rican cuisine is somewhat new to me, my loss for sure. My first experience with this recipe was as a grateful recipient of a large serving of hot, steamy and savory deliciousness. The scene was circa 1995, U.S. Army field operations. The food was decent on the food line but not special. The mess sergeant was from Puerto Rico and so was my squad leader. Need I say more? I don’t think so… I was just a lucky tag-a-long when the head cook gestured toward my squad leader to follow him into the back recesses of the kitchen, I felt special and trespassing at the same time. Before I knew it, I had a canteen cup full of Arroz con Gandules in my grateful hands. That’s my first experience with this amazing rice dish, what’s yours?

If you can’t find Sofrito, make your own, pssst it’s easy! Follow my recipe here.

Try other grains in this recipe like Quinoa. Don’t know how to cook Quinoa? Check out this article How to Cook Quinoa – The Ultimate Guide!

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Yield: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

A classic Puerto Rican rice made in a rice cooker.

Ingredients

2 cups rice, long grain white
4 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 Sazon packet, small
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 Tbs Sofrito
1 cup green olives with pimiento
1 can gandules (pigeon peas)
Salt to taste, I don't think you will need any
Note* Sazon and maybe Sofrito is in your ethnic aisle of your grocery store. You can make your own Sofrito though.

Instructions

Add ingredients to rice cooker, stir.
Cook rice until done in cooker, alternatively you can cook this on the stove top in large sauce pan, just simmer on low heat, covered for 20 minutes (without peeking), let rest (still no peeking) for 10 minutes more.
Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 252Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 851mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 3gSugar: 1gProtein: 7g

Anna

Sunday 7th of November 2021

Did I miss it? Where do the pigeon peas come in?

Tina

Hello Anna, the pigeon peas are also known as gandules. In the recipe card it's located right under the olives. You use one can of the pigeon peas. I hope this helps!

Carlos

Friday 6th of November 2020

Thank you for this recipe. I laugh when people are amazed at cooking Arroz Con Gandules in a rice cooker, that's the way we do it in my house (for years) but do it the other way too, if there are a lot of people coming. Sazon from Goya is fine...I still use it with the Annatto Oil. I use the low sodium Sazon packet. And Goya Sabor A Jamon (low sodium) packet if you don't have any cooking ham around, which is great for anything, needing a smoked ham flavor..

Monday 9th of November 2020

I'm glad to know somebody else who cooks this in a rice cooker. I use my rice cooker all the time for food other than white rice. I didn't know that about the Goya Sabor A Jamon, thank you for that nugget. I still want to try substituting Sazon for Annatto seed. I'm curious.

Jeni @ Biscuits & Booze

Wednesday 22nd of November 2017

I love Puerto Rican food, but would never have thought of making this in the rice cooker. It's a great idea and now has me thinking of other rice based dishes I could make that way too!

Saturday 25th of November 2017

I know right?! It's so easy in a rice cooker:)

Jill

I'm not familiar with Puerto Rican food, but this looks delicious. I'll try anything with green olives!

This is a great gateway dish, it's so easy and so flavorful:)

Marie - Not Enough Cinnamon

I really don't know much about Puerto Rican cuisine unfortunately but this rice dish sounds fantastic - would love to give it a go!

This is a great gateway dish, it's easy and not hot-spicy. The rice cooker makes this a weeknight go-to:)