Arroz con gandules along with pernil is the national dish of Puerto Rico. It’s a combination of rice and pigeon peas cooked with aromatic sofrito, annatto oil, herbs, and spices. Its popularity compares to no other dish in Puerto Rico. No matter the occasion, you will always find a caldero of arroz con gandules at every party or family gathering.
What is arroz con gandules?
Arroz con gandules is a savory dish made with yellow rice and pigeon peas. To achieve its traditional yellow color, achiote oil is added but you can also use sazón. Achiote is annatto in Spanish. Other ingredients like sofrito, annatto oil or aceite de achiote, herbs, and spices give this delicious dish bold flavor!
How to make arroz con gandules?
Everyone has their own version of arroz con gandules. Authentic arroz con gandules typically has ham or bacon in it. However, I prefer to omit the pork. It’s healthier and honestly tastes just as good! But you decide what works best for you!
To cook the arroz con gandules you will need a caldero. A caldero is an aluminum pot with rounded sides, a tight fitting lid and superior heat distribution. Calderos are used to cook rice, beans, braise meat and also simmer stews and soups. Basically, you can cook ANYTHING in a caldero and every Puerto Rican household has one.
Calderos are rich in history and also culture. They are passed down generation to generation and are cherished like prized possessions in most families. “This was my Abuela’s caldero,” I’d sometimes hear Mami say proudly as she cooked her arroces and guisados.
First, place your caldero over medium heat and add your aromatics. Next, add the water or stock and seasonings. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. The liquid should be heavily seasoned to ensure very flavorful rice! Then, add rice, gandules, olives, and rice. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Allow the rice to cook for 25 minutes, covered.
Ingredients for making rice with pigeon peas:
- Rice
- Gandules (pigeon peas)
- Annatto oil
- Sofrito
- Tomato sauce
- Chicken bouillon paste
- Gandules (pigeon peas)
- Pimento stuffed olives
- Bay leaf
- Adobo
- Sazón
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Ground oregano
- Cumin
- Cilantro
I also love to use Healthy Rican seasonings because they are free of harmful ingredients like MSG and dyes. Use my code: madewithsazon for 10% off your Healthy Rican order!
Why is my arroz con gandules mushy?
If your rice is mushy, it means you added too much liquid to the pot. In the flip side, if you add too little liquid, the rice will be grainy and also hard in the center. It’s very important to get the ratio of rice to water perfect.
This will also depend on what type of rice you are using. My favorite rice to use is Jasmine rice. This rice requires 1 1/2 cups of water for every cup of rice. Make sure you follow the cooking instructions on your package of rice.
Can I make arroz con gandules without pork?
Yes! In fact, I never add pork to my arroz con gandules and it’s just as flavorful as the rest of the recipes out here!
The key to achieving maximum flavor is not pork but SOFRITO! I use my mother’s sofrito recipe for all of my food and it really takes my dishes to the next level! Mami’s sofrito is top notch! Be sure to give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
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Arroz con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice and Pigeon Peas)
Equipment
- 1 Caldero
Ingredients
- 2 cups Jasmine rice
- 2 tbsp achiote oil see notes
- 1/4 cup sofrito
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp chicken bouillon paste Better than bouillon
- 3 cups water or homemade chicken stock
- 7 oz gandules (pigeon peas) 1/2 of 15oz can
- 2 tbsp pimiento stuffed olives
- 2 tbsp pimiento morrones optional
- 1 bay leaf optional
- 1/2 tbsp adobo Healthy Rican
- 1/2 tbsp sazón Healthy Rican
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground oregano
- 1/8 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- salt to taste
- 1/2 bell pepper optional
- 4-5 sprigs fresh cilantro optional
Instructions
- Place your caldero over medium heat and add your achiote oil, sofrito, tomato sauce and chicken bouillon paste. Stir for about 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Add the water or stock and seasonings. Stir well. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. The liquid should be heavily seasoned to ensure very flavorful rice!
- Add gandules, olives and bay leaf (if using).
- Add the rice. Stir well to evenly distribute the rice and pigeon peas. Add fresh cilantro on top. Allow this to boil for 2-3 minutes.
- Cover the pot and lower the heat to medium low. Allow the rice to cook for 25 minutes, covered.
- After 25 minutes, uncover the caldero and remove the cilantro springs.
- Carefully fluff the rice by lifting and flipping over spoonfuls of rice with a large kitchen spoon. The grains of rice should be fluffy and fully cooked.
Video
Notes
Tips:
If your rice is too wet and mushy (amogollao) that means you added too much liquid. The best way to fix this is to uncover it and cook for about 10 minutes, uncovered on super low heat. This will allow some of the excess moisture to evaporate. But don’t keep it on the heat for too long or the rice will overcook. If your rice is too grainy and the grains are hard in the center, that means you added too little liquid. Add about 1/2 cup of water and cook covered for 15 more minutes. This should fix it. If it’s still grainy, repeat the steps.Annatto Oil:
To make achiote oil, simply warm annatto seeds in your oil of choice. Allow the oil to warm over low heat for about 5 minutes. You could also add aromatics like garlic, cilantro, culantro and black peppercorns. Allow the oil to cool and strain into a glass bottle. Store at room temperature for up to 2 months. See full recipe here.Check out more Latin recipes!
Churrasco with Chimichurri Sauce
Alcapurrias (Puerto Rican Fritters)
Bacalaitos (Cod Fish Fritters)
Puerto Rican Potato Salad (Ensalada de Papa)
Puerto Rican Meatballs In Sofrito Sauce
Puerto Rican Beans (Habichuelas Guisadas)
Pollo al Horno (Baked Chicken)
English 
Spanish 
Thank you for sharing!
Yes I am happy to share my recipes! Thank you so much for the love! I hope you enjoy!
Do you drain you peas if using them? I’m goingvto try this recipe for my son. He doesn’t like Pigeon peas. If I don’t use them should I add my liquid. I’m half PR but can’t make rice for the life of me . IkIk I need to hand in my PR card. Lol
Yes I drain the pigeon peas because the canned liquid is slimy. If you don’t add the pigeon peas just follow the recipe as is. Water ratio depends on the type of rice you use. Don’t worry, practice makes perfect! Please let me know how it turns out!
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing recipes with your followers!!
Hi Sharde, thank you so much! I love sharing recipes with my beautiful community!
I’m so glad I came across your page. I absolutely love everything you make. I want to reach through my phone and try it all!!! Keep posting! ❤️❤️🔥❤️❤️
Everyone LoVED the arroz con gandules. I had made it before but this recipe is the best and not complicated!! Thank you my family was so happy🩷
Trying to use this to meal prep my bfs lunch (I’m Arab and don’t know how to cook his type of food) what should I serve this with for a work lunch ?
Hello! Thank you for visiting my website. This rice dish pairs well with baked chicken (pollo al horno). Please leave a 5 star rating if you like this recipe, I would greatly appreciate it!
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I made this with your Pollo al Horno and both were so delicious! I love how easy both recipes are and yet the flavor packs a punch. My family really enjoyed the meal and both recipes will be added to our rotation. Thank you!
Thank you Lynsey! I’m so happy you enjoyed these recipes. Pollo al horno and arroz con gandules go perfectly together!
Easy recipe and very good
Thank you so much for the feedback! I really appreciate it.
This was the best recipe I have ever made!! Thank you for sharing!!
I am so happy you enjoyed it!!!
Q:
I’m making rice for a party. How much of rice and ingredients do I use?
For about 10 people, I would cook 5 cups of rice. If you are feeding more people adjust accordingly. Also, make sure to use a pot big enough to cook a large quantity of rice because it will double in size as it cooks. Enjoy!
She knows what she is doing. As soon as she gave me this recipe I started to make it for my my brother baby shower and let me tell you when I went to the baby shower with this arroz con gandules they thought I bought it and when I told them I I learn this recipe from a Puerto Rican chef on Instagram they was all shock how good it was. So I wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing this amazing recipe and i look forward to cooking more of your yummy delicious recipes.
Thank you Michael for your kind words! This recipe is definitely one of my favorites. I am so happy you and your family enjoyed it so much!
El mío lo hice con 1/2 sodio. Agregué tocino y camerones al lado. ¡PERFECTO, OTRA VEZ!☆☆☆☆☆
Gracias mi amor! I am so happy you are enjoying my recipes! Thank you so much for the love!
The Family left half of this recipe. I have hide the rest. Lol. ¡”PERFECTO! ♡♡♡♡♡
Thank you so much for the amazing compliment! I’m so happy your family enjoyed the recipe!
Loved this recipe! Easy to follow, and it came out great! Usually I mess up the water to rice ratio but this time it came out great! Would definitely make again, thank you Elena!
Thank you Fatema for your kind words. I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe! I hope you check out other recipes as well!
Whenever I get a chance I would ask family and friends how do they make their Arroz con Gandules, which West Indians call it Rice and Peas. Being that I am from Panamanian decent and west Indian, and have Puerto Rican friends. I have made this rice so many different ways, but this Recipe was the truth! It came out so delicious and my family loved it. I’m happy I found you on Instagram, and will continue to make more of your Recipes. Thank You for Sharing Chef!
Thank you Janet for your amazing feedback! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Hi! I think I’m going to try this recipe on Thanksgiving. Can it be doubled? I usually make one small pot, I haven’t tried for a larger quantity yet. Any tips?
Hi Dalilah! Yes, you can double the recipe. Just make sure the pot is big enough. It should be twice the size of the rice and water combined so that the rice can cook evenly throughout. I hope you enjoy!
I had so many people asking me for this recipe nd I had to share it! So delicious
I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing Chelsea!
Elena,
I just want to say that I’m Puerto Rican 🇵🇷 and I grew up on arroz con gandules and I still make it but I lost the touch. I was disappointed in my rice recently. I just tried your recipe tonight and Oh My Goodness 👋 it was the bomb! Thank you so much for sharing! Definitely making again! 5. Stars 🌟 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you for this recipe! My son and i love Puerto Rican food, especially rice and chicken. We made your rice tonight and it came out delicious! Who would have thought an Italian mama can cook rican food too :). ( thanks to you)
Thank you so much for sharing!
This was amazing. Thank you for the recipe. If I want to double the recipe do I just double all of the ingredients or just the rice?
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Yes, if you double the recipe you have to double all of the ingredients.
I’ve made arroz con gandules before but this recipe was absolutely delicious!
🔥🔥🔥🔥 Made it according to your recipe came out fireeee.
Made it yesterday for our Thanksgiving dinner. Normally we do Thanksgiving a day or two after the actual date. Followed your recipe except I used Loisa’s adobo and sazon. Family loved it. I have arroz con gandules before but never came out as good. Thank you