Arroz con pollo! A classic, one-pot Cuban-style dish made with chicken, rice, tomato sauce, bell peppers, and spices. The best comfort food!
Growing up, this was the perfect Sunday comfort food meal in my family. Today, arroz con pollo is the ultimate one-pot meal. Think fluffy yellow rice cooked in a tomato-based sauce with veggies and spices and flavorful chicken thighs. YUM!
Every culture has its own variation of this traditional dish but this is my mom’s arroz con pollo recipe. So, of course, it’s the BEST. I may or may not be biased though. ;)
How To Make Cuban Arroz Con Pollo
Ready for the easiest one-pot meal? First, you season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, and cumin.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and brown both sides of the chicken. Transfer to a plate. In the same pan, add remaining olive oil and sauté onion, garlic, and red pepper until the onion is translucent and the garlic is fragrant. BEST smell ever!
You then add the rice, chicken stock, tomato sauce, annatto powder, bay leaf, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil then add the chicken thighs. Cover the skillet or dutch oven with the lid and reduce heat.
DON’T LIFT THE LID! Seriously, don’t “check” on it. It’s fine, promise. The rice gets nice and fluffy with the steam so no peeking. ;)
After about 45-60 min, open the lid, take in all those delicious smells, stir in some frozen peas and that’s all folks! You fluff the rice with a fork and serve. YUM.
Video on How To Make Arroz Con Pollo
Whenever I make this classic dish, my whole house smells like the epitome of home. Fragrant, garlic, spices. The result is an aromatic rice dish that is creamy and risotto-like with tender chicken thighs. Reminds me so hard of my childhood.
Best of all, leftovers taste just as good as the first day. I’d even make this for meal prep too. Why not eat this deliciousness all week long, right? I hope this Latin staple becomes part of your weekly rotation.
I know you will freaking LOVE it!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 lb chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
- Pinch of salt, pepper, cumin for chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups uncooked long-grain white rice, rinsed and washed (you can use Valencia rice too)
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon annatto powder, bijol, or turmeric, to color the rice
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- Salt + pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Season chicken thighs with salt, pepper, and cumin. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Over medium-high heat, place chicken thighs in the pan and brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate.
- In the same pan, add remaining olive oil and sauté onion, garlic and red pepper, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent and the garlic is fragrant.
- Add rice, chicken stock, tomato sauce, annatto powder, bay leaf, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add chicken. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
- Simmer until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 45-55 min. Add frozen peas, stirring until warm. Fluff rice with fork, serve, and enjoy!
This post is sponsored by Staub. I was not compensated for this post however I was provided with the cast-iron cocotte pictured above. All opinions are my own.
Jamie, this looks so delicious! My mouth is watering! I really need to add more Cuban recipes to my repertoire, and this is gonna be on the dinner table soon! :)
So glad to hear! Thank you! :)
What is annatto powder? What can be substituted for it?
Annatto powder is what gives the rice it’s color. You can substitute it for turmeric.
To add to Jamie’s comment: outside of Florida and maybe New York, annatto powder is often found in the Mexican food section of your grocery store as “Achiote molido” (I live in California and always scratched my head about “Bijol” in Cuban recipes– then someone told me “it’s achiote!” and the light went on).
This recipe looks great. I have made a similar recipe using saffron instead of achiote and throwing it in the Instant Pot. Expensive thanks to all the saffron, but o Dios mío, ¡qué rico estuvo! For those who worry about the low amount of liquid– don’t forget about the tomato sauce and all the liquid in the sofrito. The cook who threw in a little beer probably had a slightly more stew-ish preparation, but I bet it was delicious! Once you have the technique down, you can go nuts!
Are the chicken thighs bone-in/skin-on? Or boneless/skinless?
bone in, skin on :)
What worries me is the ratio of rice to chicken stock 1/1. All rice dishes i know are 2/1 (2 liquids one rice). Also, are you sure as long as 45 minutes? All my rice dishes takes about 12 minutes. I’m going for it this evening. If it turns out that my fears are justified you are in big trouble-:)
The recipe has been tested many times so don’t worry. Let me know how it goes, Simon!
Same here!! I’m going to trust it this time! I hope it’s not a waste! It looks so good!
Can this be baked in the oven?
No, I’d highly recommend to make this on the stove.
Jamie,
The first time I made this, the rice at the bottom of the pan burned pretty badly. Most of it was salvageable. Is there any way to avoid this?
Hi Manny, you can try removing the pot from the heat as soon as the timer hits. This will prevent any residual heat from burning the rice. Hope that helps!
How important is leaving the skin on? I have a pound of frozen skinless bone -in thighs that I’d like to use for this recipe. Thoughts?
It would just be added flavor. It’s not absolutely vital for the skin to be on.
Hi Jamie,
Can I use long grain parboiled rice instead of plain white rice? If yes, do I need to change the cooking time?
Thanks,
Joise
Nope, the cooking time stays the same!
Jamie, Your recipe was a success! I had forgotten my mom’s recipe. I did substitute the thighs for chicken breast and added 1/2 cup of beer (mom’s secret) to the rice. To keep the meat moist, I cooked the chicken in butter and covered with a moist paper towel until it was time to add with the rice. My Cuban mom would have been so proud. Everyone had 2nds!!
I have some questions . Can I add beans? Where can I find Annato powder? And do I wash the rice first?
Hi Krystle, you can add beans. Annato powder is found in the spice section of any grocery store. You may also use turmeric powder if you prefer. Yes, always wash the rice first. :)
I undetstand that the chicken must be cooked previously you add the rice, right? Is that part missing from the recipe? We used to cook the chicken in a stew and when soft put the rice and equal parts of liquid plus 1/2 cup extra. After that it would take about 20 minutes max to cook sow heat.
Nope! You sear the chicken first and then you add it back in Step 4. :)
I made this last night and it was fantastic. The flavor was outstanding and my wife loved it as well. This is definitely a dish that is on our permanent recipe rotation. I looked over your site and saved it to my cooking folder as there are quite a few more recipes to try. Thanks for sharing…..since it’s starting to warm up, the margarita cocktail recipe looks pretty tasty!!
So happy to hear, Tasdebil! :)
How low do you reduce the heat to? Low or medium?
Medium-low!
Both of my parents are Cuban so I grew up eating this and later cooking it for my family. My recipe is almost identical to yours except I’ve never used annato powder. I season with paprika, along with the other spices, and the paprika together with the tomato sauce color the rice yellow. I think it’s time to make some since it’s been a while :) Thanks for sharing
Hope you love it! :)
I made this for dinner last night and it was a hit!! Definitely will be added to the dinner rotation
Flavor is great, but some of the rice is crunchy, not consistent all the way through, I even added more liquid & tried to cook a little longer. Still some harder grains. Maybe it’s me??? I’ve had this with other arroz con pollo recipes
Hmm, could be maybe the pot you used? Not sure, it’s hard to tell when you’re not present when making the recipe. Glad you enjoyed it though! :)
Does annato taste the same as turmeric?
I am Mexican and we don’t use that often mostly just tomato sauce or if we make paella I use saffron….so this is new to me. Thanks in advance
It’s not really for flavor, its primary use is for giving the rice its beautiful color. :)