Tacu tacu (Peruvian crispy rice and bean cakes)
Leftover rice and beans mashed with garlic and spices and fried into crisp golden cakes, topped with a zingy lime and red onion salsa, the Peruvian way to turn leftovers into a real dinner for two.
- 45 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $1.49 a serving
- 670 calories
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- ¾ cup long-grain white rice
- ½ red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 lime
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and thinly sliced (optional)
- ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 large eggs (optional)
From your pantry
- 1¼ cups water
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
Each serving has about 670 calories, 17 g protein, 102 g carbs and 23 g fat, and costs about $1.49 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 red onions? White onions work.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No yellow onions? White onions work.
- No pinto beans? Black beans or kidney beans work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the rice, water and ½ teaspoon salt in a 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
Cover and cook on low 18 minutes. Spread it on a plate to cool for 10 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Dolly’s tip: Have 2 cups of leftover rice? Use it and skip this step. It works even better.the red onion with the lime juice, cilantro, jalapeño and of salt in a bowl. This quick salsa while you cook.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium nonstick over medium heat. Add the yellow onion and cook 4 minutes, until soft, then stir in the garlic, cumin and paprika for 1 minute.
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: 4 min
Add the beans and mash them roughly in the pan, then the rice and ½ teaspoon salt until it sticks together like a thick paste.
Fold. Folding means mixing gently by scooping from the bottom and turning it over the top, instead of stirring hard. It keeps light mixtures airy and soft things like berries or herbs in one piece.
How you’ll know: You use slow, wide strokes and stop as soon as there are no streaks left.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: It should hold a shape when you press it. If it falls apart, mash a little more.Scrape it into a bowl, wipe out the pan, and heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Press the mixture into 2 oval cakes about ¾ inch thick in the pan.
Medium-high heat
Cook without moving 6 to 8 minutes, until a deep crust forms, then carefully flip with a wide spatula and cook 5 minutes more.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: The crust is what holds it together. If it sticks when you try to flip, give it another minute.If you want eggs on top, fry them in a second over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the whites are set.
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: 3 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Slide the cakes onto plates, add the eggs, and pile the onion salsa on top.
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.
More dinners like this
Korean steamed eggs (gyeran-jjim)
30 min
Huevos a la cubana (Cuban rice with fried eggs and plantains)
40 min
Mushroom fried rice
25 min
Air fryer salt and pepper tofu
45 min
Vegetarian dinners ›Pantry dinners ›What to make with eggs and rice ›