Serves a Crowd

Colombian Mama's Arroz Con Pollo

April 22, 2010
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0 Ratings
  • Serves 6-8
Author Notes

My Colombian grandmother made Arroz Con Pollo every time we went to visit her. My mother is not known for her cooking skills, but she kept this dish alive in our family, and now I make it for everyone I know. —CatherineTornow

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 3 cups long grain white rice
  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 cans of tomatoes, diced
  • 1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • salt to taste
Directions
  1. In a large stock pot, make the 'sofrito' by heating olive oil and adding garlic, onion, bellpepper. When onion has softened, add tomatoes, salt and cumin and cook over low/medium heat for 15 minutes.
  2. While the sofrito is cooking, trim off any excess fat from the chicken thighs. Add to the sofrito, making sure the chicken is fully covered. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
  3. While chicken is cooking, cook three cups rice according to package directions. Add salt to taste. Set aside.
  4. Once chicken is cooked, remove the thighs from the pot onto a large plate or platter and shred using two forks. Add shredded chicken back into the tomato goodness.
  5. Add cooked rice one cup at a time to the chicken/tomato mixture, until you reach desired consistency. You want it to be juicy but not too runny.
  6. Stir in fresh cilantro and any additional salt if needed.
  7. Enjoy!

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1 Review

pierino April 24, 2010
Let's just say that I love cilantro. Unfortunately my research has proven that some people are genetically predisposed to hate it. I'm now convinced it's not an acquired taste, so no use trying even though millions of people love the complex background flavors. There is still that bunch that can only taste soap. A recent article in the NY Times confirmed this theory for me. I wish I could get everyone to like cilantro but I can't.