Arroz con pollo (similar to paella) is a dish that I grew up eating on a weekly basis at Abuela Nena’s house. I honestly just noticed it translates to rice with chicken instead of chicken with rice, and I am assuming that it is because its mainly rice in the dish. Kind of like when I put ketchup on my picadillo and my dad would always tell me, “would you like picadillo with that ketchup?” Anyhow, this is definitely a traditional Cuban recipe.
I remember as a child, watching my grandma pour beer into the arroz con pollo when it was cooking and always thinking how cool it was going to be that I was technically drinking a beer while eating my food. I know, I know, I was an alcoholic in the making. Just kidding, not really an alcoholic here…I mean a few glasses of wine a night does not make you an alcoholic and its extremely socially acceptable…well in my world it is.
Arroz con pollo is one of those dishes that I can never truly estimate how much I am going to make and it doesn’t matter the portions I use, it can always feed an army after its done. Somehow three cups of rice turns into six, and two chicken breasts turns into three whole chickens…and my wife says I’m not Jesus, I want to see her perform that miracle. It’s a perfect recipe when having people over, throw everything in a pot, let it cook and you have enough portions for left overs. Just make sure that you tell everyone to bring over tupperware because if your gente (people) are anything like mine, you’ll never see yours again.
Well, give it a try and please let me know how it goes in the comments below!
Ingredients
- 4-5 lbs Chicken Breast, thighs, or drumsticks
- Adobo (All purpose seasoning)
- 1 cup Onion
- 1/2 cup Green pepper
- 4 Garlic cloves
- 3 cups White rice
- 12 oz Beer
- 4½ cups Water
- 2 packets Sazón Goya with Saffron
- 1/4 cup Olives
- 1/4 cup Sliced red peppers
Instructions
- Season the chicken with the adobo. Coat a pot with oil, and heat on medium heat. When hot, place the chicken in the pot, and brown each side. About 5-10 minutes. (You may do this in batches if your pot does not fit all the chicken at once.)
- While the chicken is cooking, dice the onions, peppers and garlic. Once you have browned the chicken, remove it from the pot and set aside. Using the oil and juices from the chicken that are left in the pot, cook the onions, peppers and garlic. About 3 minutes.
- Combine the rice with the onions, peppers, and garlics and mix thoroughly.
- Add the beer, water, Sazón Goya with Saffron and olives. Stir. Add the chicken back in and stir once again. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for about 25-30 minutes. Until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked.
- Dress with the sliced red peppers and enjoy!
Such a yummy take on Abuela’s arroz con pollo. Brought me back to Sunday’s around Abuela’s table with a huge pot in the middle of the table. It’s definitely a sticky version but it’s delicious.
The closest thing I’ve had to my grandma’s arroz con pollo since she passed! Comfortably fed 10 people with this recipe. The rice was the perfect amount of sticky and it was loaded with flavor. This will definitely be a staple in my recipe book.