Mamposteao: How to Make Puerto Rico’s Rice and Beans Combo

Mamposteao is a time-honored Puerto Rican side dish made with leftover rice, cooked beans, salted pork, sofrito and spices. “It’s like a kitchen sink of ingredients brought together that can stand on their own,” says Michelle Ezratty Murphy, one of our favorite Puerto Rican food cooks. (Check out Michelle’s Grand Prize Award-winning arroz con pollo, the No. 1 dish in our first-ever Familia Kitchen Recipe Contest.) This is another of her crowd-pleasing Boricua recipes. Gracias, Michelle, for sharing your delicioso mamposteao with our Familia Kitchen community. Watch her make this dish in this how-to video.

The word mamposteao is Spanish slang for mixed together, which is what happens to this delicioso plato’s savory, simple ingredients. Mamposteao has long been a Puerto Rican homecook’s way to make the most of day-old rice and beans and fold them into a hearty side that feeds a big group. ”I love to serve mamposteao with plantain maduros (also called amarillos )or crispy-fried tostones. If everyone’s starving, I serve it alongside a main dish like bistec encebollado or chicken fricassee,” says Michelle.

Find more of Michelle’s Puerto Rican family recipes here!