Girl Meets Fire

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Traditional Puerto Rican Classics
  • About me
  • Subscribe

subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Traditional Puerto Rican Classics
  • About me
  • Subscribe

ร—
Home ยป Recipes

Rice, Pasta, and Grains

In Puerto Rican kitchens, rice is the foundation of countless meals, while pasta and grains offer creative and hearty sides. Every dish turns a simple ingredient into something rich, colorful, and flavorful.

Cook up Arroz con Gandules, Asopao de Pollo (Chicken and Rice Stew), or Seafood Pomodoroย for meals that feel like comfort food with a big island punch.

  • A hand holding a white bowl of funche topped with a dab of butter.
    Funche, Puerto Rican Grits
  • Overhead view of Puerto Rican arroz con habichuelas (rice and beans) in glass bowl and two white bowls with avocado slices and peach peonies.
    Arroz con Habichuelas (Puerto Rican Rice with Beans)
  • Cooked gandules (pigeon peas) with split skins draining in wire mesh strainer over a stainless steel pot.
    Gandules (Pigeon Peas)
  • Close-up overhead view of stuffed pasta shells filled with a ricotta and spinach mixture, arranged in a rich red meat sauce in a large skillet.
    Stuffed Pasta Shells with Meat Sauce
  • Arroz con gandules covered with banana leaves, served alongside carne frita on a holiday table.
    Arroz Con Gandules Recipe (Puerto Rican Rice and Pigeon Peas)
  • Close-up of a forkful of arroz mamposteao, Puerto Rican rice and beans, held above a bowl on a blue patterned cloth.
    Mamposteao, a Puerto Rican Leftover Rice Comfort Food
  • Overhead view of Puerto Rican Crab Rice (Arroz con Jueyes) in a red Dutch oven, showing rice simmered with crab meat, olives, red peppers, and sofrito. A wooden slotted spatula rests beside the pot on a terrazzo countertop.
    Puerto Rican Crab Rice, Arroz con Jueyes
  • Close-up of Puerto Rican chicken paella with bone-in chicken thighs, longaniza sausage, pigeon peas, and sliced plantains, garnished with fresh cilantro in a large paella pan.
    Puerto Rican Chicken Paella with Sausage and Plantain
  • Close-up of Seafood Pomodoro pasta with linguine, topped with culantro gremolata and shredded Parmesan in a white bowl.
    Seafood Pomodoro Pasta with Linguine
  • Large pot with cooked yellow rice.
    Arroz Amarillo, Puerto Rican Yellow Rice
  • Red Dutch oven filled with chicken in a stew-like broth with vegetables and rice. Serving bowls are placed near the pot.
    Asopao de Pollo, Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice Soup
  • There are three containers with cooked white rice: the top right is an orange Pyrex container with rice. Below to the left is a bowl of white rice, and at the bottom right is a small wooden bowl with "pegao," the rice that sticks to the pan.
    Arroz Blanco, Puerto Rican White Rice
  • A spoon full of stewed beans hovering over a bowl of cooked beans.
    Habichuelas Guisadas, (Puerto Rican Stewed Beans)
  • Wooden spoon with cooked beans hovering over a pot of rehydrated beans.
    Rehydrated Beans
  • Bowl of Caldo Gallego served in bowls.
    Caldo Gallego, Galician Broth
  • Green Dutch oven filled with cooked arroz con pollo. There is a wooden spoon resting on the handle of the Dutch oven as well as a black kitchen towel on the other handle.
    Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo, Chicken and Rice
  • Servings of arroz con dulce.
    Arroz con Dulce, Puerto Rican Rice Pudding
  • a spoon full of black beans
    Puerto Rican Black Beans. Frijoles Negros
  • Green Tomatillo Chicken Enchiladas
    Green Tomatillo Chicken Enchiladas, Guaranteed to Amaze!
  • Pizza fresh out of the oven
    Steak, Mushroom, And Gorgonzola Pizza
Woman holding a wooden spoon and smiling in a kitchen with hanging utensils and a vase of flowers on the counter.

Hola! I'm Zoe. I love all things food and enjoy cooking. I created this site to reconnect with my Puerto Rican heritage while living in the United States. This is a great place to reconnect if you are floating in the diaspora. I would love to hear from you!

About Zoe โ†’

Summer Sizzlers

  • empanadas inside a paper towel lined bowl.
    Puerto Rican Empanadillas
  • Two highball glasses of sangria decorated with a fruit skewer of maraschino cherries, oranges, kiwi, and plums.
    Tropical Red Sangria with Rum
  • Whole Puerto Rican fried red snapper on a plate with tomato sauce, lemon slices, and plantains.
    Puerto Rican Fried Red Snapper, Chillo Frito
  • Close-up of a creamy pistachio limber topped with cinnamon, shredded coconut, and chopped pistachios, partially popped out of its plastic cup on an orange surface.
    Creamy Limbers de Pistachio, Homemade Ice Pops
  • Guineitos en escabeche served in a bowl with onions and green olives, a traditional Puerto Rican green banana salad
    Guineitos en Escabeche, Puerto Rican Pickled Green Bananas
  • Bowl lined with paper towels and filled with fried mero chunks. A small bowl with cut lemons and a small bowl with tartar sauce.
    Grouper Bites, Chicharrones de Mero

Popular Recipes

  • A plate of polvorones cookies with three semi-stacked cookies on top of the table resting in front of the plate.
    Puerto Rican Polvorones (Shortbread Cookies)
  • A blue and white dessert plate with a slice of bread pudding and caramel sauce on top of it.
    Budรญn de Pan (Puerto Rican Bread Pudding)
  • Large pot with cooked yellow rice.
    Arroz Amarillo, Puerto Rican Yellow Rice
  • Close-up of a Limber de Coco topped with cinnamon and shredded coconut in a clear plastic cup.
    Limbers de Coco, Creamy Puerto Rican Coconut Ice Pops
  • Whole Puerto Rican fried red snapper on a plate with tomato sauce, lemon slices, and plantains.
    Puerto Rican Fried Red Snapper, Chillo Frito
  • Overhead view of Puerto Rican arroz con habichuelas (rice and beans) in glass bowl and two white bowls with avocado slices and peach peonies.
    Arroz con Habichuelas (Puerto Rican Rice with Beans)

Iโ€™d love to hear from you! Did you try this recipe? Leave a review and rating below. Letโ€™s connect on Instagram, and donโ€™t forget to join my weekly email list for fresh new recipes.

Footer

Get new Puerto Rican recipes in your inbox every week!

Subscribe
โ†‘ back to top

Explore

  • About Me
  • Firestarter Planner
  • Subscribe and eBook
  • Media Kit
  • Portfolio

About

  • Contact
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of service
  • Accessibility Statement

Copyright ยฉ 2025 Girl Meets Fire LLC โ€ข Powered by Feast+ โ€ข This website contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link, we may receive a commission in return. Girl Meets Fire LLC participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

.