This arroz con pollo is how they cook chicken with rice in Puerto Rico. I first made it over ten years ago when I lived in France — it must have been a quiet day for me to come across the recipe, but I'm glad I did. It's now one of my favourites and a great alternative to Chicken Basque.
When I serve this to guests it always gets tongues wagging. Where is Puerto Rico exactly? (Caribbean, next door to the Dominican Republic.) What's the capital? (San Juan.) What's the currency? (US dollars.) And so on. It's a good conversation starter as well as a good dinner.
This is a one-pot dish and serves four or more.
How to Make Arroz con Pollo
- 1kg bone-in, skin-on chicken drumsticks (thighs work equally well)
- 1 red onion, peeled and diced
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- Handful of green olives
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 2 tablespoons tomato purée
- 120ml tomato frito
- 2 or 3 sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 litre hot chicken stock
- 500g long grain rice
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
Season the drumsticks with salt, pepper, paprika and a little turmeric. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a deep-sided pan over medium-high heat and brown the chicken all over. Remove and set aside.
Reduce the heat and sauté the onion until soft.
Add the cumin and cook for one minute.
Add the tomato purée, olives, red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, capers and tomato frito and cook for five minutes.
Add the rice and stir gently so it gets a coating of oil.
Return the chicken to the pan, pour over the stock and bring to a gentle boil.
Cook uncovered until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid — around 20–25 minutes — then cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for a further 20 minutes, by which time everything will be cooked through and virtually all the liquid absorbed.
This dish is cooked in most households in Puerto Rico and throughout Latin America, and of course every cook has their own version. This one is mine. Somebody forgot the olives. I admit it was me.
Find more recipes in my Chicken Recipes.
Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef
What is tomato frito
Hi Chris
Tomato frito is a traditional Spanish fried tomato sauce with onion, garlic and then pureed. I always thought it was called Sofrito but the jar on the store shelf simply called it tomate frito. You could use passata which I know you can obtain in the UK supermarkets. I hope this helps.
Cheers