How To Prepare Puerto Rican Arroz Con Dulce

Christmas isn’t complete without sweets, so the Arroz con dulce is a perfect choice. The sweet rice pudding is made from coconut milk and spices that reference the Christmas season, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Raisins are usually added to the top of the dish, along with additional grounded cinnamon and cinnamon sticks to add flavour and garnish. 

Ingredients to make Arroz con Dulce

1 cup rice

Two teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

2 cups chicken stock, or as needed to cover

1 cup green peas

½ cup sliced black olives

½ cup raisins

¼ cup chopped pimento peppers 

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 (4 to 6 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces

1 onion, chopped

One green bell pepper, chopped

Two cloves garlic, minced

Two cloves garlic

1 (14.5 ounces) can stewed tomatoes

Cooking Directions 

 Instructions Checklist 

 Step 1 

 Preheat oven at 350 degrees F (175 degree C). 

 Step 2 

 Cook vegetable oil in the Dutch oven on medium heat. Cook and stir the chicken until golden brown for five to ten minutes. Remove the chicken using the help of a spoon slotted in and set on a platter. Stir and cook onion and green bell peppers, minced garlic, and whole cloves of garlic inside the Dutch oven until the onion has softened, which takes about 5 minutes. 

 Step 3 

 Return the chicken to the onion mixture. Add rice, tomatoes, salt, oregano, salt, black pepper, bay leaf. Add enough chicken broth to cover all of the ingredients. 

 Step 4 

 Bake the chicken-rice mix in the oven that has been preheated until the rice is cooked through and the chicken no longer pink in its center, and the juices run precisely, approximately one hour, thirty minutes. A thermometer that is instant-read placed near the bone should be reading the temperature as 165° F (74 degrees Celsius). 

 Step 5 

 The chicken rice mixture combines olives, peas, pimento peppers, and raisins. Bake until warm through about 15 minutes more.