This is my mom's Congri Recipe, it's white rice cooked with black beans and bacon. It makes for the perfect side dish to any Cuban meal or great on its own.
This Cuban congri rice recipe has been passed down from generation to generation. When my dad was a chef in Cuba, he would make this recipe at a much larger scale for diners. I’ve been eating this arroz congri for nearly 40 years and I still love it. My mom makes this recipe at least 10 times a year and it’s one of my son’s favorites.
Is it Moros or is it Congri?
Much like the pop vs soda debate in the US, depending on what part of Cuba you're from dictates what you call this dish. I grew knowing it as Congri, however many people refer to this dish as Moros y Cristianos (moros for short) For the sake of avoiding snarky comments, I'll use the term congri and moros interchangeably throughout this post.
Arroz Moro Ingredients
| Dry black beans Salt Bay Leaves Bacon Yellow Onions Green bell pepper Garlic | Red pepper Black pepper Cumin Long grain rice Bean broth Olive oil Sazon completa |
Equipment
For this recipe you'll need a casuela and a food processor.
How to make Congri
- Rinse the beans and place them in a casuela or dutch oven along with 8 cups water, 1 teaspoon of salt and the 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer, partly cover and cook until tender, about 1 to 2 hours.
2. Make your sofrito. Place the onion, garlic and green pepper into your food processor. Pulse until you reach your desired size. I personally hate giant chunks of green pepper and onion in my Congri, so I let the food processor run until they're minced.
3. In a large frying pan add your sliced bacon, onion, garlic and green pepper. cook on medium-high heat until your veggies and bacon are completely cooked through.
4. Drain the beans, reserving 3 cups of the broth or "black water" and being careful to not break apart the beans. Leave the cooked black beans in your casuela.
5. Add to the casuela the olive oil, rinsed rice, red pepper, black pepper, Sazon completa, cumin, sofrito, "black water" and 1 ½ teaspoon of salt.
6. Bring to a boil, stir, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 20 -25 minutes until rice is cooked through.
Congris Cubano Variations
- Vegetarian/vegan Congri, looking for a meatless option to this rice? Omit the bacon and adjust the salt to your preference and viola! Vegan/Vegetarian Congri
- Don't own a food processor? Chop your onion, garlic and bell pepper as big or as small as your prefer
How to serve Arroz Congri
Congri is the perfect side dish to any cuban protein such as vaca frita, bistec de pollo or even lechon.
Storing Moro Rice
To store your moros rice, place it in an airtight container and refrigerate. The congri will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
More recipes to try
Check out these other Cuban recipes
Mami's Arroz Congri
Ingredients
- 14 oz. package of dry black beans
- 2.5 teaspoon of salt adjust to taste
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 6 Slices of thick cut bacon cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 Medium sized yellow onion chopped
- 1 Large green pepper chopped
- 5 Large cloves of garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon of red pepper optional
- ½ teaspoon of black pepper
- 1.5 teaspoon of cumin
- 2 Cups of long grain rice
- 3 Cups of "black water" water the beans soaked in overnight
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- ½ tablespoon Sazon completa
Instructions
- Rinse the beans and place them in a caldero along with 8 cups water, 1 teaspoon of salt and the 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer, partly cover and cook until tender, about 1 to 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, make your sofrito. Place the onion, garlic and green pepper into your food processor. Pulse until you reach your desired size. I personally hate giant chunks of green pepper and onion in my Congri, so I let the food processor run until they're minced.
- In a large frying pan add your sliced bacon, onion, garlic and green pepper. cook on medium-high heat until your veggies and bacon are completely cooked through.
- Drain the beans, reserving 3 cups of the broth or "black water" and being careful to not break apart the beans. Leave the cooked black beans in your caldero.
- Grab your rice and rinse it. To rinse, place the rice in a large bowl, cover with water and swirl around. The water will get cloudy. Pour out the cloudy water, use a strainer to keep the rice from making a giant mess. Repeat until the water is clear.
- Add to the caldero the olive oil, rinsed rice, red pepper, black pepper, Sazon completa, cumin, sofrito, "black water" and 1 ½ teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, stir, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 20 -25 minutes.
- Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Once the rice is tender, you're ready to eat!
Notes
- Looking for a meatless option to this rice? Omit the bacon and adjust the salt to your preference and viola! Vegan/Vegetarian Congri
- Don't own a food processor? Chop your onion, garlic and bell pepper as big or as small as your prefer
- To store your moros rice, place it in an airtight container and refrigerate. The congri will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Lissete says
You're lucky that you have recipes. My mami's recipe is "in poquito de esto, in chorrito de esto, etc." 🙂
fatgirlhedonist says
My mom does the same thing! I have to shadow her while she cooks and write down everything!
Unknown says
This sounds absolutely delicious! I can't wait to make it!
Claudia says
The flavor in this is absolutely spot on, but my texture came out a little mushy. I like congri really try. Did I leave too much water maybe? Any tips to make it dryer next time?
Unknown says
This looks absolutely delicious! I can't wait to make it!
Kaizen Fashion Project says
Leche Flan hands down.
🙂
Jamie says
My favorite thing about Noche Buena is the food! 😉
Jamie | http://asassyspoon.com
AbsolutMiami says
Best thing for Noche Buena is Pig, Pork, Lechón, Chancho, Carne Puerco, ����
Unknown says
I like to eat potato enchiladas with mole sauce!!!
Unknown says
Congri,I've never made it, but I'm gonna try you recipe. Thanks for sharing it.
Tyneisha says
I love to eat pupusas on Noche Buena!
AnnaZed says
I'm in SoCal, and Noche Buena is a 'thing' here. My sister-in-law's mother (who is Mexican) makes the most divine Tamales ever all during December. The ones that I love just have vegetables in them.
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1froglegs says
I like beef and chicken tamales.
Rusthawk says
I'd love to try this recipe! I also love pork enchiladas and tamales with queso.
Unknown says
I would like to make this recipe, however for the beans were they soaked in water 24 hours prior or were they pressure cooked?
Unknown says
I'd like to try this recipe. I'd just like to confirm for the beans, were they soaked in water for 24 hours prior, or pressure cooked to soften?
fatgirlhedonist says
No soaking needed! You can use the pressure cooker or bring to a boil then drop heat down to low for 2 hours til soft
Gabe B. says
Very good recipe. However, I am Cuban and I have sadly noticed that the longer time goes by, these recipe names appear to get wrongly used by the newer generations. Lately, in my 60 yrs of age, I have name seen so many people argueing back and forth between "moros" (or aka "moros and cristianos") and "congrì (or aka "congrì oriental"). You can ask any really old Cuban grandmother and she will tell you the moros is cooked with black beans and congrì is with red beans. Only in Oriente, Cuba, you will find that indeed, people will call it congrì when using the red beans, but that's it. The rest would call it accordingly. In Miami, this was well known until the new Cuban arrivals, which had forgotten their culinary history, (and also due to lack of sustenance in the island) started this dilemma, along with the younger 3rd+ Cuban descent generations. You can verify this via the old and very well known Cuban recipe book written by the famous Cuban chef Nizza Villapol. That book was and still is the Bible of traditional Cuban recipes/cuisine. It is probably over 50 urs old, and still counting. So please, stop this nonsense and let's call it for what it really is. Next thing we know, we will lose the name to "gallo pinto de black or red beans". In the mean time both dishes are very good, alone or properly paired with most Cuban dishes. I hope my humble explanation helps in clarifying this Cuban culinary issue to the readers. Good luck to all!
Lorelei says
The idea of Congri is to use leftovers, not necessarily start from scratch!! If today you had rice and beans, next day you fried some pork and mixed the rice and beans in there. Some others used tasajo, or pork jerky. The leftover beans were already savory, so no need for anything else.