Out of all my favorite traditional Colombian recipes, my mom’s Arroz con Pollo ranks in my top 10. This is a big deal, considering that I’m in love with the more than 750 recipes I’ve posted on mycolombianrecipes.com 🙂 I love my mom’s Arroz con Pollo so much that I find myself eating the cold leftovers for breakfast in the morning. It’s total comfort food for me.
Just the other day I was craving my mom’s Arroz con Pollo, but didn’t have any chicken breast in the house. So, I decided to make a simple version using chicken legs and baked in the oven instead of prepared on the stove. My goal was to simplify the recipe without compromising the flavors and texture. It was a simple and wonderful version of my classic Arroz con Pollo.
Buen provecho!
Ingredients
- 8 chicken legs
- Salt and ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sazon goya with azafran or color
- 1 cup long-grain rice
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup peas, frozen
- 1/2 cup frozen diced carrots
- 1/2 cup frozen diced green beans
- Fresh cilantro for garnish
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Melt the butter with the oil in a large oven proof pan, with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until well browned, about 7 minutes.
- Turn chicken and cook until other side browns lightly, about 2 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook, stirring often, until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add the red pepper and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes.
- Add the sazon goya, cumin, rice, and season with salt. Stir until the rice is coated. Add the broth, stir well and increase the heat to high and boil until liquid begins to be absorbed into the rice, about 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken to the rice. Cover and transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the rice is soft and chicken is cooked, about 25 minutes.
- Remove the cover, fluff the rice and stir in the peas, carrots and green beans. Move the chicken to the top to make the skin crispy. Cook for 10 minutes more. Cover and let sit, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle fresh cilantro and serve.
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Belinda @zomppa says
I think I can see why this is in your top ten!
Anonymous says
I made your arroz con pollo recipe. Came out delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Karen says
I love chicken and rice dishes… this looks wonderful!
grace says
i’ll bet it’s just as good with legs instead of breasts–what a great recipe!
rebecca says
looks wonderful and wow thats a lot of recipes you need to do a cookbook seriously
Ami says
Yes!
Ami says
thanks so much for all the recipes you post!
I can’t have MSG, so I don’t want to make this with sazon goya with azafran. Do I just leave it out? You only add it for color?
Thanks!
Erica says
Yes,Ami! you can use ground achiote for color.
Ami says
Thank you, Erica! 🙂
Diane says
a cookbook??!! I’ll purchase one, especially with the pictures from the website!
Joanne says
This is some serious comfort food! Yum!
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
My kind of comfort food, Erica. Looks really yum!
Chris says
I haven’t made arroz con pollo in quite a while, this makes me crave it, Erica!
Jenn and Seth says
this sounds like such a wonderful dinner! YUM!
Jessie says
One of my favorites! I use boneless skinless chicken thighs and when dish is done press the thighs with the edge of a spatula to break them up into large chunks. It makes the dish healthier and easier for my kids to eat. Fabuloso!
Angelica Pena says
I just made your colombian recipe and it came out wonderful..thank you! Made my mother feel at homw again ♥
Mike says
I tried this and the rice ended up crunchy. I left it the oven an extra twenty minutes and it still was. The second time I tried it, I added the broth and boiled it ten minutes and then after the oven for 25 minutes it was still crunchy. I tried letting it bake an extra ten minutes and it was still crunchy.
I followed the recipe to a tee but haven’t been able to figure it out.
Erica Dinho says
Hi Mike,
Every oven is different.Cook the rice longer next time.
Elaine says
Estba rico!
You should include some photos of the rice cooking process for Mike. American living in Puerto Rico with my PR esposo… I had no idea how to cook rice until I was shown the process.
Nini says
In the picture it appears mushy – is this intentional?