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Arroz con Pollo

This Costa Rican style arroz con pollo is a great way to put your pantry rice to use. Switch up from basic rice dishes with this international recipe.

Ingredients

For chicken stock

  • 2 lbs Chicken breasts
  • 5 cups Boiling water
  • 4 sprigs Thyme fresh
  • 4 sprigs Oregano fresh
  • 2 stalks Celery cut in half
  • 4 cloves Garlic
  • 1 large Yellow onion cut into quarters
  • 2 Chicken stock cubes optional

For rice

  • 2 ½ cups Uncle Ben rice
  • 1 large Red pepper diced
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • 2 medium Onions diced
  • 3 stalks Celery diced
  • 4 medium Carrots diced
  • 1 can Tinned seas
  • ½ cup Cilantro chopped
  • 2 tbsp Achiote or Amarillo food seasoning
  • 3 tbsp Salsa lizano optional
  • 1 tbsp Salt or to taste
  • ¾ tbsp Black pepper or to taste

Instructions

Chicken stock

  • Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, oregano and thyme and place on a frying pan at high heat to sear. The chicken does not need to be entirely cooked at this point, we just want to get a nice golden exterior.
  • In a pot on medium heat add the boiling water, the onion, celery, thyme, oregano, garlic, chicken breasts and chicken carcass (if you have saved it). It will cook here for approximately 2 hours to give the stock flavor. The broth should have a lot of flavor. You can add in some chicken stock cubes to add flavor if you are not satisfied with the broth.
  • Once the chicken breasts are completely cooked, take them out of the stock pot, shred them and set them aside for later. Strain the stock into a large bowl since we will be using it to cook the rice.

Rice

  • Pre heat a pot and add oil then sauté onions, celery and red pepper. Once the onions are golden brown add in the rice and the chicken broth and lower the heat to medium. You need to have double the amount of broth as you do rice, so if necessary add additional water with chicken stock cubes if too much of the broth evaporated while cooking the chicken. Add in bay leaves, salsa lizano and the yellow food seasoning or achiote to give the rice the yellow color.
  • After about 10 minutes add in the carrots. The carrots should be added while there is still sufficient broth in the rice and it has not fully absorbed or cooked yet.
  • Once the rice has finished cooking (after about 20-25 minutes) add in the peas and cilantro. Once it is all mixed in you can add the shredded chicken and stir everything together.
  • Now it is ready to serve. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro.