Arroz Con Pollo A La Chorrera

5 from 11 votes

A Cuban style chicken risotto made with rich spices and finished off with beer

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: cuban

Servings: servings

Calories: 808kcal

Author: Cari

¼ cup of olive oil
½ a green bell pepper chopped
½ a red bell pepper chopped
1 medium sized yellow onion chopped
1 large red tomato chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
2.5 lbs of chicken meat, cut into 1 inch cubes if using bone-in chicken, use 3lbs
¼ teaspoon of black pepper
3 ½ teaspoon salt
1 cube chicken bullion
½ cup red cooking wine
3 cups of water
½ teaspoon of bijol saffron or anatto may also be used
12 oz of Valencia/pearl rice
12 oz of light beer of choice or less if desired
½ cup of frozen peas
minced parsley for garnish
red bell pepper slices for garnish

In a large sauté pan or dutch oven over medium high heat, add your olive oil, chopped bell peppers, onions, garlic and tomato. Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add chicken, salt and bouillon cube to pan and increase heat to high, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.
Add red cooking wine, bijol and water, drop the heat to low and cover. Allow to cook for 20 minutes.
While your chicken is cooking, rinse your Valencia rice.
Add your rinsed Valencia rice to the chicken and increase the heat to medium. Stir occasionally to ensure the rice doesn't stick to the bottom. Once it reaches a boil, drop the heat to low. Partially cover the pan and stir every couple of minutes to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
Once your rice is cooked through (about 10-15 minutes), add your beer and lastly your frozen peas. Carefully stir in the beer and peas so they don't became mush and can retain their shape. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Add minced parsley and red pepper slices as garnish and serve immediately.

Can't find Valencia rice? Opt instead for any other short grain rice like Arborio. You can also opt for a medium grain rice, do not use long grain rice.
Can't find bijol in your supermarket's international section, opt instead for saffron or anatto to give the rice the rich color.
Don't like chicken breasts? Opt instead for chicken thighs, or bone in chicken.
Don't want to add beer to your arroz con pollo? Simply omit it.

In the off chance that you have left over arroz con pollo, you can place it in an airtight container and store in your refrigerator for 3-4 days.