Gallo pinto (Costa Rican rice and beans)
Day-old rice fried with black beans, onion, pepper and plenty of cilantro until every grain is speckled, the Costa Rican dish that turns leftovers into something you’ll crave.
- 45 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.34 a serving
- 460 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans black beans, 1 drained, 1 not drained
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 avocado, sliced (optional)
- ¼ cup sour cream (optional)
From your pantry
- 1¾ cups water
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Each serving has about 460 calories, 18 g protein, 80 g carbs and 8 g fat, and costs about $1.34 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No black beans? Pinto beans or kidney beans work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No avocados? Guacamole works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the rice, water and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium and over high heat.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir once, cover, and cook on low 18 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Dolly’s tip: Have 3 cups of leftover rice? Use it and skip straight to step 3. Day-old rice is even better here.Spread the rice on a to cool for 15 minutes, so it fries instead of turning mushy.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Timer: 15 min
While the rice cools, heat the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring, 6 to 7 minutes, until soft.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Stir in the garlic and cumin and cook 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add both cans of beans, with the liquid from the one you didn’t , and the soy sauce. 3 to 4 minutes, until the liquid has cooked down by half.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Add the rice and keep turning it with a spatula over medium-high heat 4 to 5 minutes, until evenly speckled and the liquid is soaked up.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
Dolly’s tip: It should look speckled, not soupy. Keep turning until the pan looks dry.Stir in the cilantro and ½ teaspoon salt, taste, and serve with avocado and a spoonful of sour cream.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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