Arroz con Pollo

The epitome of home-cooked comfort food, arroz con pollo is a beloved dish in Latin America, Spain, and far beyond. The Spanish name directly translates to "rice with chicken" in English, but this dish is so much more. In addition to rice and chicken, the braised one-pot meal has layers of flavor, from an aromatic vegetable puree known as sofrito to convenient and flavor-packed adobo and Sazón seasonings. A rich and hearty chicken dinner like this pairs perfectly with refreshing avocado salad or crunchy cucumber salad!

What does arroz con pollo contain?

Beginning with the arroz, this dish is usually made with medium-grain white rice. This makes for a rice dish that is moist and tender, with a slight chew. As far as the pollo, some recipes require the cook to break down a whole chicken while others call for boneless, skinless chicken thighs. This recipe uses bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks because they braise beautifully. In fact, all of the goodness from the bones and fatty skin flavors the rice in a way that boneless cuts simply cannot! 

For the seasoning, a fragrant and flavorful sofrito not only makes the kitchen smell magical, it also is super easy to blitz up in a blender. The sofrito contains onion, green bell pepper, jalapeño, lots of garlic, and cilantro. Adobo and sazón seasonings perfume and further color arroz con pollo; you can find them among the spices or in the Latin food section of the grocery store. Whether you choose to toss in green peas, olives, pigeon peas, or more bell pepper, arroz con pollo wouldn’t be complete without some vegetables!

Can arroz con pollo be made ahead of time?

Much like your favorite chili or stew, a richly flavored dish like arroz con pollo tastes even better the next day. This dish is perfect for large gatherings since it can be made all the way through, cooled completely, and refrigerated for up to 5 days. The best way to reheat a large amount of arroz con pollo is in the oven. Place it in an oven-safe dish and cover it with foil or a tight-fitting lid. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until heated through, 35 to 45 minutes.

This meal is also freezer-friendly! Allow the arroz con pollo to cool completely before packing it up in a freezer bag or air-tight container. It can be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost the arroz con pollo overnight in the refrigerator and gently reheat in the oven using the same instructions as for the refrigerated dish.