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Carmen’s Arroz con Gandules, the Best Wedding Gift from Puerto Rico

Arroz con gandules

This arroz con gandules family recipe was pressed into the palm of Cynthia Fuentes by her husband’s aunt Carmen when she was a newlywed. “This is one of Steve’s favorite dishes, and you’ve got to learn how to make it,” Cynthia remembers her husband’s tia telling her, welcoming her into the family.

Cynthia had already heard a lot about this beloved Christmas side dish Puerto Ricans make every December on the island and here in the States, she says. “Steve would always talk about when he was growing up that he would go to his aunt’s house on Christmas. And she would always make this arroz con gandules. And sometimes, before Christmas, she’d send a special plate home with him for his dad,” says Cynthia. “But it would never make it to him, because Steve would eat the entire thing.”

The History of Gandules or Pigeon Peas

Arroz con gandules is a festive dish anticipated every December at the Puerto Rican holiday table. Its defining ingredient is gandules or pigeon peas: small, stewed-brown beans that originated in India. This legume journeyed to Africa first and in the 1600s was brought to Puerto Rico by enslaved people, along with other staples from their homeland: plantains and yams. This legume is a favorite in cuisines throughout the Caribbean and goes by many names. In Barbados, it picked up the name pigeon pea, because it was (yep, you guessed it) used as pigeon feed.

Watch how this arroz con gandules recipe is made, step by step, for one homecook’s Christmas feast.

To make traditional Puerto Rican-style arroz con gandules, simmer gandules in broth or water to cover in a huge caldero or Dutch oven. Gently fold the beans into savory, long-grain white rice. Or save yourself the 2 hours or work and open a can of prepared gandules, like Cynthia and so many Boricua homecooks do. Not an onza of sabor is sacrificed, Cynthia promises. “I like using canned gandules. I think they have a pretty authentic flavor.”

Pernil and arroz con gandules
Pernil and arroz con gandules are a traditional Christmas feast combo in Puerto Rico.

Updating the Family Recipe

Other tweaks Cynthia has made to the original family recipe over the years include using olive oil instead of lard and occasionally subbing in sausage for ham. “I vary what kind — I often use turkey sausage — depending on who’s eating it, because we have some vegetarians in our family and some people who don’t eat red meat. But I keep it pretty authentic otherwise.”

This arroz con gandules recipe is from Cynthia.
This handwritten arroz con gandules family recipe was gifted to newlywed Cynthia by her husband’s aunt Carmen.

This family recipe goes back to Steve’s roots in the northwest Boricua city of Arecibo. The aunt who taught Cynthia to make this dish, Carmen Rodriguez, moved from the island to Chicago’s traditionally Puerto Rican neighborhood of Humboldt Park, where she lived for more than 50 years.

Cynthia Fuentes and family
Cynthia Fuentes with her husband of 27 years Steve and two sons—all fans of this arroz con gandules.

Since marrying Steve 27 years ago, Cynthia has learned to master his tía Carmen’s recipe. Today, she is honored to share husband’s arroz con gandules. “Oh, I thought it was wonderful,” she recalls of the first time she made this gandules recipe. “I had never had anything quite like it. My mom used to make something that she called Spanish rice when I was growing up, but I’d m sure that it had no authenticity.”

Cynthia didn’t stop at arroz on gandules. She learned to cook many more traditional Puerto Rican classics, like fried-plantain tostones and sofrito, the essential base that provides the flavor foundation of so many Boricua dishes. “My mother in law, oddly, does not cook and never really cooked. So everything I learned about Puerto Rican cooking, I learned from my husband.”

gandules arroz Cynthia
Cynthia prefers making this dish with canned gandules, she says. They have ”an authentic flavor”

Sadly, Steve’s aunt Carmen passed away about five years ago. To honor her memory, Cynthia continues the family tradition of making a big pot of arroz con gandules every Christmas. “If we have turkey or a roast beef or a ham or something like this, people always ask me to make this as the side dish.” Just like it was gifted to her, Cynthia is honored to pass this family recipe onto the Familia Kitchen community. She hopes it will inspire the next generation of Latino homecooks, including her two sons, 18 and 21, who also love this dish. Now it’s their turn to learn the family tradition of making aunt Carmen’s arroz con gandules, just like she did as a newlywed.

Ready to Make Carmen’s Arroz con Gandules?

Carmen’s Arroz con Gandules, the Best Wedding Gift

Recipe by Cynthia Fuentes
5.0 from 1 vote
Cuisine: Puerto Rican
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

45

minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp achiote oil (recipe here)

  • 5 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 onions, large, chopped

  • 1 tsp oregano

  • 2 cups rice, long grain

  • 3 cups chicken broth or water if you’re keeping this dish vegetarian

  • 1 cup sofrito (recipe here)

  • 8 oz cooked ham, diced

  • 15 oz gandules or pigeon peas (1 can)

  • 1/2 cup Manzanillo olives, sliced

Directions

  • Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Set aside.
  • Sautée the chopped garlic, onions and oregano in achiote oil, a flavored oil made when annatto seeds are sautéed in olive oil.
  • Add the rinsed rice to the oil mixture and let it cook on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the sofrito and the ham. Stir into the rice and let them cook for a few minutes.
  • Add the chicken broth with 3 or 3 1/2 cups broth. The liquid should rice above the rice by about 1 inch.
  • Let the rice and broth come to a boil on medium heat, until small bubbles of broth start rising through the rice to the surface.
  • Gently fold in the chopped Manzanillo olives and gandules. Be careful not to overwork the mixture, or the rice and gandules will become mushy.
  • Cover and turn the heat to low. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
  • Halfway through the cooking process, lift the lid, and turn over the rice once, gently, being careful not to overwork it.
  • At 30 minutes, or when the rice is ready, turn off the burner and let the pan steam, covered, for 10 minutes.
  • Fluff with a spoon and serve hot.

Notes

  • For the liquid to cook the rice, use 3 or 3 1/2 cups of either broth or water. Cynthia was taught by her husband’s aunt to make sure the liquid covers the rice in the pot by 1 inch when you start the cooking process.

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