Best Abuelitas Spanish Rice Recipes

ABUELITA'S SPANISH RICE

Steps:

• 1. In a large saucepan, cook bacon until fat is rendered. Use a bit of olive oil if necessary to crisp up the bacon or salt pork.
• 2. Stir in oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, and vinegar, and cook a couple of minutes over medium heat until fragrant. Add in tomatoes and cook until their liquid is released.
• 3. Stir in the rice mix until rice is well coated, then stir in the chicken stock or water. Bring to a boil.
• 4. Stir well. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover pot, and cook very slowly without lifting lid for 20 minutes. Then, remove lid, stir well, and allow to cook uncovered until rice dries out slightly, stirring occasionally.
• 5. Top with sliced green olives, if desired. Another option is to stir in 1 cup peas, or chickpeas, or pigeon peas and heat through.
• 6. NOTE: My mother-in-law used to make this with plain rice and real saffron. But the cost of real saffron has skyrocketed, and she is OK with using the rice mix. She sometimes also adds 1 packet of the Goya Sazon Azafran. I usually leave that out because it is mostly MSG.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• 1. Heat a large heavy bottomed pot, 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 olive oil before continuing with the next step. 2. Then, add the gandules, tomato sauce, green olives, sofrito, salt, adobo seasoning, sazon, ground black pepper and ground cumin. Stir to fully combine. 3. 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. 4. 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. However, a tight fitting pot lid will work just fine! 5. About half way through cooking, remove the lid and stir, making sure to scrape up any rice stuck at the bottom of the pan. This is a very touchy subject - some Puerto Ricans insist that you don't stir the rice while cooking. That the crispy bottom bites are the best part! While others would prefer more evenly cooked rice. Whatever you do, if you do stir the rice, make sure you only do it once or the rice can become sticky. 6. After simmering for 25 minutes, remove the arroz con gandules from the heat and let it sit for an additional 30 minutes before serving. This is called letting the rice "steam". The rice is done once all the liquid is absorbed. 7. After letting the rice rest for about a half hour, remove the lid. Fluff and stir the rice, then serve warm with fresh cilantro, if desired.

EASY AUTHENTIC SPANISH RICE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir onions and jalapeno peppers in the butter until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir Mexican-style tomatoes into onion mixture; add rice, salt, and black pepper. Bring rice mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is cooked, 40 to 45 minutes. Garnish with sour cream and Cheddar cheese to serve.