Mom’s Authentic Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

Mom's authentic Puerto Rican Rice and Beans with savory homemade sofrito and sazon. You'll love this incredibly flavorful, comforting homemade meal that will fill your home with unbelievably delicious smells. The perfect recipe to serve a crowd or just savor leftovers for a few days!

INGREDIENTS

For the beans:

• 1 pound dry pinto or pink beans, sorted and damaged beans removed (about 2 cups dried beans), soaked overnight for 6-8 hours, no longer
• 6-8 cups water or vegetarian broth
• 1-2 bay leaves

For the sofrito (for the beans):

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• ½ cup finely diced yellow onion
• ½ cup finely diced green bell pepper
• ¼ cup finely diced cilantro
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup no salt added tomato sauce (from one 15 oz can -- reserve extra sauce for rice)
• 3 teaspoons (2 packets) Sazon Culantro ey Achiote* (see note in recipe for how to make your own)

For the rice:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 1/3 cup finely diced green bell pepper
• ¼ cup finely diced cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup no salt added tomato sauce
• 3 teaspoons (2 packets) Sazon Culantro ey Achiote* (see note in recipe for how to make your own)
• ⅛ teaspoon adobo (or just a pinch)
• 1 (15 oz) can Goya Green Pigeon peas** (see note in recipe for a sub)
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups basmati white rice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Soak the beans and bay leaf for 6-8 hours in 6-8 cups of water or broth; you want about 1 inch of liquid on top of the beans. I recommend soaking your beans for no more than 8 hours. You can soak at room temperature.
2. After you soak the beans, bring beans to boil for 1-2 minutes, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 1-2 hours or until beans are tender and soft. The last half hour that your beans are cooking you can begin to make your sofrito (see below), or once the beans are done cooking you can turn the heat off and allow the beans to sit while you cook your sofrito. It’s just up to your advancement level of cooking and preference. REMOVE THE BAY LEAF BUT DO NOT DRAIN THE BEANS. The liquid is essential to the recipe!

Full read at https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/video-moms-authentic-puerto-rican-rice-and-beans/