Ingredients
- 14-16 oz. bag of frozen gandules
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- ¼ lb. salted pork
- ¼ lb. cooking ham with bone
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 heaping tbsp. Sofrito
- 1 envelope Sazon seasoning
- ½ tsp. oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1-1/2 tbsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. ground pepper
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- 3 cups rice
- 3 cups water
- 2-3 bay leaves
- ¼ cup sliced Spanish olives
- 2 banana leaves
Directions
- In a medium pot, put gandules in one cup of water and bring to a boil over medium heat, about 7-8 minutes, uncovered. Meanwhile, you will be making the base for this dish:
- In a dutch oven pot, add the canola oil over a medium flame.
- Dice the salted pork into about 1-inch cubes, add to the pot and then lower the flame.
- Cut ham into about 1-inch cubes and add to the pot, and give a short stir.
- Let this cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, mash 2 of the 4 cloves of garlic in a pilon, then add the rest, mashing one at a time and then add to the pot. Give it a short stir.
- By this time, the gandules will be boiling. You can now turn off the flame. Then, to your dutch oven pot, add the Sofrito and stir.
- Add the Sazon, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper and tomato sauce. Then give it a nice big stir.
- Add the rice and the water to the pot. Turn up to medium flame. Add the gandules, bay leaves and the sliced olives. Stir and taste.
- Cover the pot and cook for about 15 minutes. Then check to see how the rice looks.
- Stir a bit and then lower the flame. You can now make a “mountain” with the rice, if you wish.
- Cover rice with the 2 banana leaves and then cover the pot and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Uncover and fluff the rice. You’re done!
Enjoy!
our chefs
I used your recipe to make arroz con gandules for the first time for Thanksgiving. It came out perfectly; there were no leftovers. Thank you!
I am so glad. Thank you for your support.
Hi Chef Lopez, my name is Sonia and I was looking through your recipes in YouTube. I’m in bed with COVID and was happy to see that you sell nationwide. I live in Pueblo, CO. I was born and raised in the Bronx and was so used to getting everything I needed for my recipes, but living here is very difficult. If you can please send me what is available for purchase I would greatly appreciate it. Thanking you in advance.
Wishing you a speedy recovery. We ship to CO. Here are the spices and condiments we sell. https://thefreakinricanrestaurant.com/cooking/
Do you ever plan to open a restaurant in the Boston area? I have made a few of your recipes and they have come out awesome! However, I don’t always want to be the cook and I bet you make it better than me anyways. 🙂
We’ll send it out into the universe and see what happens. 💖
Hello chef I’m African American and making this dish always been hard, just get me some Goya rice in a box and we good but for Thanksgiving I had to try something different and man I followed your recipe to the exact and my family thought I paid someone to make and nope these hands did this now I make it almost everyday. Thank you chef will be ordering some pasteles from you.
I am so happy it worked for you. This is an awesome story of determination. Thank you so much for the love.
Hi Derrick, thank you for sharing your delicious recipes. You’re an old soul. Many of the way you prep foods remind me of the old school ways like how my granny used to cook. It brings me joy to watch you enjoy your passion for cooking our Puerto Rican cuisine. I wish you much continued success in all your future endeavors. Merry Christmas Happy New Year! Blessings!
Thank you so much Alice. It is a dying art and I’m doing my best to keep it alive. So glad it is appreciated. Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to you and your family.
HiChef! Is your restaurant in Queens still opened? If not please open one in the lower East side of Manhattan. The only PR restaurant is Adela’s. Was looking to go to your restaurant . Looking at your menu it says your closed. Looking to taste your food!
We are open. We are closed Monday and Tuesdays. See you there soon.
Hey chef! Awesome site, thank you for sharing your recipes. My mom always comes over and makes ARROZ CON GANDULES for me and my son. She makes it without any meat though, would the amount of water change for your recipe if you excluded the meat. And is there a certain rice, long grain you use and do you soak before hand! Thanks again and I’m gonna definitely order some pasteles!
That is so sweet. You wouldn’t change the amount of water for the meat. You can use any rice you’d like but we mostly use long grain. Let me know how it comes out.
Hi ,
Have you ever thought of opening a restaurant in Chicago. Chicago would enjoy having your wonderful Puerto Rican delights. Hope to see one of your restaurants here.
Kind regards,
Proud Puerto Rican Mary from Chicago