Puerto Rican rice and beans
Pinto beans simmered in a garlicky pepper and tomato sauce with little cubes of potato that melt into it, spooned over white rice the way Puerto Rican families eat them every week.
- 45 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.69 a serving
- 590 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped, divided
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 2 cans pinto beans, not drained
- 1 russet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
From your pantry
- 3½ cups water, divided
- 1¾ tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp paprika
Each serving has about 590 calories, 19 g protein, 109 g carbs and 9 g fat, and costs about $1.69 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 green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No pinto beans? Black beans or kidney beans work.
- No russet potatoes? Yukon Gold potatoes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the rice, 2½ cups water and 1 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 for 18 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave the lid on.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring now and then, 6 to 7 minutes, until soft.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Stir in the garlic, half the cilantro, the cumin, oregano and paprika 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
Pour in the tomato sauce and cook 2 minutes, stirring, until it darkens a shade.
Medium heat
Add the beans with their liquid, the potato, 1 cup water and ¾ teaspoon salt. .
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
and 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the potato is tender and the sauce is thick.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
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.
Low heatTimer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: The potato breaks down a little and makes the sauce creamy. That’s exactly what you want.Taste and add salt if it needs it, then stir in the rest of the cilantro.
Fluff the rice with a fork and spoon the beans over it.
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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