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Seasoned, pan seared, crispy skin chicken served in a skillet with yellow rice and manzanilla olives and garnished with cilantro and a lime wedge served in a deep stainless steel skillet

Arroz con Pollo (Rice with Chicken)

Published on October 12, 2021 | By
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    • Prep Time
    • Minutes
    • Cook Time
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Over the years, I have had eaten and made so many variations of chicken and rice. In Barbados, we have Cookup Rice (aka Bajan Pelau), which is a one-pot meal made from rice, chicken wings, saltfish, pigeon peas, veggies, coconut milk and a bunch of various seasonings. Cookup Rice is my earliest memory of chicken and rice.  But right on the heels of that is Arroz con Pollo from Caridad, a chain restaurant in The Bronx. I can vividly remember walking up the block from my high school to place my lunch order of arroz con pollo with a side of fried plantains. Since then, I have tried chicken and rice dishes from all across the globe and have enjoyed each and every one of them. This recipe is a reflection of all of those experiences and one that I hold near and dear to my heart.

All right. Enough talking about it. Let’s get cooking.

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Ingredients

  • 3 chicken quarters (cleaned and split, skin on)
  • 3 limes
  • 1 Tablespoon of salt
  • 1 Tablespoon of Adobo
  • 1 teaspoon of onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons of ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of paprika
  • 1 medium-sized yellow onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 1 jalapeno pepper
  • 1 bunch of cilantro (appx. 1/2 cup chopper plus extra for garnish)
  • 3 Tablespoons of sofrito
  • 1 packet of Sazon
  • 10oz of tomato sauce
  • 1, 16oz can of dried pigeon peas
  • 2 cups of yellow rice
  • 3 cups of water
  • 6oz of manzanilla olives
  • Vegetable or canola oil (for frying)

Instructions

  1. Wash and drain the chicken. Place the chicken into a large mixing bowl and season with the juice of three limes and salt. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  2. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, rinse it off, drain and pat dry. Rinse out the mixing bowl and place the chicken into the clean mixing bowl. Season the chicken with the Adobo, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and paprika. Use your hands to rub the seasonings all over the chicken; be sure to get under the skin too. Then, cover the bowl with Saran wrap or foil and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, but if you have time to let it marinate overnight, even better.
  3. Wash your hands thoroughly before beginning this step. While the chicken is marinating, mince the garlic then peel and chop the onion. Remove the seeds from the bell pepper and jalapeno pepper, chop the peppers and set all three ingredients aside.
  4. Remove the cilantro leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop. Reserve 1-2 teaspoons of chopped cilantro for garnish at the end of the recipe.
  5. In a large skillet, bring the vegetable or canola oil to a medium heat. Put enough oil so that you have a depth of at least 1/2 inch of oil. Fry the chicken for about 5-6 minutes per side or until golden. (Note, if you opt to use boneless chicken thighs, you will need to reduce the frying time.) Once you have finished frying the chicken, set them on a paper towel lined plate; the paper towel will help absorb some of the excess oil.
  6. In a large, deep skillet, bring 1 Tablespoon of cooking oil to a medium heat. Add in the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno. Saute until the onion is translucent and smells fragrant.
  7. Add the garlic, cilantro and sofrito to the skillet and stir for 2-3 minutes. Then, add in the tomato sauce and allow to simmer for another 2 minutes.
  8. While the veggies and sofrito simmer, open the can of peas and drain the peas well. Add the peas, rice and water into the skillet, give everything stir, turn the stove down to a low heat and cover the skillet.
  9. Allow the rice to cook for about 15 minutes or until at least half of the water is no longer visible. Gentle nestle the chicken into the rice, add in the olives, and then cover the skillet. Do not stir the rice.
  10. Allow the chicken and rice to cook for about ten more minutes, garnish with cilantro, plate, serve and enjoy.

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