Yellow rice is a staple in most Latin cooking, namely in the Caribbean. Puerto Rican and Cuban meals typically serve this alongside roasted pork and chicken. My easy to make Arroz Amarillo uses a mix of vegetables, seasonings like sazon and long grain white rice.
What is Cuban yellow rice?
Cuban rice starts off by sautéing diced onions, bell peppers and tomato and adding sazon seasoning for flavor and color. Then the long grain white rice is tossed in and it’s steamed.
Diced pimentos and peas are added and the fluffy rice is typically served along side roasted pork or chicken dishes. The vibrant, yellow, red and green colors are secondary to the rich flavor of the rice.
What I love about Cuban and Puerto Rican foods is that they don’t have spicy heat, but are super flavorful. There are so many techniques to boost flavor and add another dimension. It doesn’t always have to be done with heat or chiles.
Some people are afraid to try new foods from other cultures because it’s not something they’re comfortable with, but I love it and am always up for new flavors. I hope that’s one of the reason you continue to come back to Kevin Is Cooking, too. 🙂
Arroz Amarillo
This Cuban rice dish is a great example.
The yellow rice here starts with sautéed onions and bell peppers. Sazon seasoning is added along with chicken bullion for an added flavor boost.
Pimentos and peas are mixed at the end and the rice dish is complete. Perfect as a side for Cuban Ropa Vieja any roasted pork like my Balsamic Roast Pork Tenderloin or chicken dish. Enjoy!
Arroz Amarillo (Yellow Rice Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1/2 green bell pepper diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper diced
- 1 roma (plum) tomato diced
- 1 chicken bullion cube
- 1 1/2 tsp Sazon Seasoning
- 1/8 teaspoon saffron crushed
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 4 oz pimentos (in jar) drained diced
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in diced onions, chicken bouillon and Sazón seasoning until soft, 5 minutes. Stir in diced bell peppers, tomatoes (See Note 1). Stir to mix and cook 5 minutes more.
- Add rice to the pot, stirring to coat. Cook rice a minute or two. Pour in 2 cups hot water, stir to combine. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium-low and simmer 25 minutes, covered, or until rice is tender and water is absorbed completely.
- Remove lid, fluff with fork and add frozen peas and pimentos. Toss to mix in and cover. Allow to rest 5 minutes. Fluff again, season to taste if needed and serve.
Notes
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
HI,
I will be making a Cuban dinner and wanted to try the yellow rice. I am finding the #2 direction confusing. Add rice to the pot, stirring to coat. Cook rice a minute or two. Pour in hot water, stir to combine.
Do I add the rice to the pot that has the boiling water? If not, where should I put the rice to coat it? Then I add it to the boiling water? Thank you.
I apologize for the confusion, Karen. The rice goes into the pan with the vegetables you’re sauteing. Stir it in and let it toast it for a minute or so in the hot oil, then pour the boiling water into that pan of vegetables and rice.
Hope that makes more sense. Please let me know if you need any other help! 🙂
This is so good! I’m making it for a second time this week! Was searching for a Spanish rice recipe and came upon your Keviniscooking website and thought yeah! I’ve made his homemade bbq sauce before and chicken pineapple dish so you were already tops in my mind. Made the first batch with what I had on hand which was brown rice, and made your homemade sazon seasoning mix – little hiccup there in that in my haste I read “achiote” as “ancho” and threw a tablespoon of ancho chili powder in the mix, THEN read that turmeric could be… Read more »
I made it. But I changed it a little. I didn’t have any Sazon packets, so I added some more fresh diced garlic and onion, dried parsley, turmeric, sweet paprika, Amarillo pepper paste, a tablespoon of tomato paste instead of the fresh tomatoes, a hearty pinch of golden saffron and a dash of cayenne for a spice kick. Delicious.
Great way to make it work for what you have! I am glad you enjoyed it! I hope you find more recipes to try!
The ingredients for this recipe sound fantastic! I’m about to attempt this recipe. I have a quick question sir, why the tomato? Doesnt it become mushy or turn the rice mushy like mashed potatoes or even change the color of the rice?
Thank you 😊
It’s all about the layers of flavor and no, it does not turn mushy Sara. 🙂
Can I add some corn to this as well?
I think that would be a good addition!
What vegetable side would you serve with pernil, black beans and yellow rice on Super Bowl Sunday?
Hi Luna! There are a few veggies in this recipe! Sounds like a great Super Bowl meal!
peas and pimentoes are not listed in the ingredients – how much of each would you add?
Not sure why that got cut off, but it’s corrected now Sandy. It’s a 4 ounce jar of drained, diced pimentos and a half cup frozen peas. Thanks!
This rice is really tasty. I didn’t have any tomato products so I substituted fresh salsa. YUM!
Thanks so much for coming back to let me know Pam!
Can I double this recipe.
Sure. Just use a larger pot!
Could this rice be eaten with garlic shrimp? (Camarones al ajillo)
Definitely Romina!
Thanks!
Regarding the hot water for the rice, is the amount of water 2 cups? This looks so good, looking forward to serving this with pork chops. Could brown rice be substituted for the white rice? Would the amounts be the same? Thanks!
I honestly have not used brown rice, but check the package directions as I know time and water may differ. The water for this white rice version is indeed 2 cups Donna.
I’ve never had Cuban rice before, but clearly that needs to change. Complete with your homemade spice blend of course!
Simple and tasty, gotta love that right? Thanks Marissa.