Puerto Rican Food: 29 Traditional Dishes of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a large island in the Caribbean Sea about 1,000 miles off the coast of South Florida. On its west is Hispaniola, the land mass shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
On its east are the island clusters of the British and US Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico is a US territory and travel between the island and mainland USA is freely permitted. The currency used is the US dollar.
Puerto Rican culture is different than anywhere else in Mainland US. The primary language spoken is Spanish and its indigenous people are called the Tainos. The ethnic makeup of most Puerto Ricans is a mix of African through slavery, mixed European through colonization and Taino.
The Tainos are credited for creating the first barbeque as they slow roasted their food over open fire, a method they called barabicu.
Puerto Rican cuisine consists of typical ingredients found all over the Caribbean. Tropical fruits like mango, guava, soursop, papaya, coconut and bananas grow abundantly all over the island.
The typical diet consists largely of meat and the most consumed meat is pork. Staples are rice, beans, ground provisions, vegetables and seasoning.
Puerto Rican seasonings include onions, garlic, herbs like culantro and oregano, spice mixes like sazon, adobo and sofrito. Sofrito is a mixture of onions, peppers and herbs that are made in batches and used in many dishes. The most popular cooking methods are stewing, frying and roasting.
Pernil
Pernil is a dish of marinated pork that is slow cooked until the meat is very tender while simultaneously keeping the skin crispy. The crispy skin is called cuerito.
When made at home, the pork leg or shoulder is used. In an outdoor setting such as a cookout, usually a whole young pig is roasted. Though eaten all year, pernil is a typical food cooked for Christmas.
Arroz con Gandules
Arroz con gandules is often considered Puerto Ricos national dish. It is made with a thick short grain rice, sofrito, pork, tomato, sauce, olives, and spices cooked in a traditional pot called a caldero.
Calederos are usually cast aluminum with a tight-fitting lid. Cooking this dish requires the perfect ratio of water to rice and is cooked with the lid on so that when the pot is uncovered, the rice is completely cooked and moist with no remaining water.
Gandules are also known as pigeon peas have a distinctive dark green color. It is a tropical pea that is grown on the island.
Arroz con Habichuelas
Habichuelas are red beans. Other ingredients include tomato sauce, sofrito, pork and sazon. This dish can be made two ways. One method cooks the rice and beans together in the same pot.
In the other method the two are cooked separately then plated together before serving. When cooked separately the beans are called habichuelas guisadas or stewed beans.
Morcillas
Morcillas are a Spanish style blood sausage which is made with rice. Besides rice, it uses pork blood, herbs like oregano and cilantro, peppers and garlic, all encased in hog casing.
They are cooked in salted water which solidifies the blood making it easy to slice after cooking. Morcillas are eaten as a street food.
Sancocho
Sancocho is a hearty soup made with vegetables, meat, root vegetables, herbs and seasons. While many Spanish speaking countries have their own version, Puerto Rican sancocho is a simple version.
It is made with one protein, the choices are usually, chicken beef or pork and it almost always contains corn on the cob, chopped into shorter pieces.
Bacalao
Bacalao is dried, salted codfish that must be rehydrated, and the excess salt removed before preparing to eat. This done by soaking or boiling and tossing the salty water then repeating the process until the desired saltiness is reached.
Bacalao is used in a range of ways in Puerto Rican cuisine but the most popular is stewed, bacalao salad and bacalaitos which are fried fish cakes.
Mofongo
Mofongo is a dish made with green plantains. The plantains are fried then mashed and mixed with garlic, oil and sometimes water if the plantain is too hard to mash.
The thick mixture is usually pressed into a mold and served shaped and topped with sauce, meat or seafood such as shrimp.
Pasteles
Pasteles are a dish of mashed root vegetables and pork cooked in a banana leaf wrapping. Besides root vegetables like yams and sweet potatoes, it typically contains pumpkin and green bananas. It is a Christmas staple.
Pastelon
Pastelon is an Italian fusion dish of sliced yellow plantains, spiced ground beef and cheese. The plantains are roasted then sliced or sliced then fried before using.
They are layered into a baking dish then baked. This dish also called plantain lasagna. Some regions in Puerto Rico call this dish pinon and it may be made with mashed plantains.
Guineos en Escabeche
Guineos en escabeche means green bananas in marinade. This a popular side dish that is made ahead of time using a short pickling method. The green bananas are boiled then sliced.
The marinade is made with onions, garlic, vinegar, salt and seasonings. Once ready, its poured over the sliced green bananas where it sits for several hours to absorb the flavors. In Spanish cuisine escabeche can refer to any vegetables that are pickled.
Cuchifritos
Cuchifrito is used to refer to a variety of traditional fried foods. Frito means fried and cocho is a slang for pig. Older Puerto Ricans still refer to just fried pork cuts such as the ears as cuchifrito.
Typically, Puerto Rican restaurants in the US make small amounts of these fried foods in addition to their main meals, however once they sell out no more are made until the next opening day. The new meaning of the term has spurred eateries called cuchifrito restaurants that serve the fried snacks at any time of the day.
Amongst the most popular cuchifritos is papa de relleno which consists of a ball of mashed potato that is filled with ground beef then deep fried. Alcapurrias which consist of mashed green bananas or green plantains that are stuffed with meat or seafood then fried and bacalaitos which are salted cod fritters.
Patitas de Cerdo
Patitas de Cerdo is a dish of pig’s feet stewed in a tomato-based sauce. The traditional method uses a pressure to tenderize the gelatinous meat quickly. The pigs’ feet are served with other foods like rice and beans. There are also several variations made with red or garbanzo beans.
Tripleta
Tripleta is a traditional Puerto Rican sandwich consisting of layers of three types of marinated meat: lechon pork, ham and grilled steak, in a fresh loaf of bread. A tripleta sandwich typically contains toppings such as fries, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and sauces including ketchup and mayonnaise.
Bistec Encebollado
Bistec Encebollado is a traditional steak and onion dish. Cube steak is usually marinated in a mixture of onions, vinegar, and sofrito before it is stewed. It’s usually enjoyed topped with more onions and eaten with rice. Encebollado refers to a dish cooked with onions, while cebolla is the Spanish word for onions.
Churrasco
Churrasco is a traditional Latin American barbecue technique where chops of beef, veal, lamb, pork and chicken are skewered and then grilled over a wood fire.
Foods that are served along with churrasco include farofa grains, rice, fried potatoes, potato salad, steamed greens, black beans, onions, fried bananas and many different chili-based sauces.
Quajo con Guineos
Quajo or quajitos con guineos are a dish of pig’s stomach and green bananas. The stomach or tripe is cooked separately from the green bananas as it needs to be softened and cleaned several times to remove any foul odor or tastes after which the two components are enjoyed together.
Chicharrones de Pollo
Chicharrones de Pollo is a Puerto Rican style fried chicken dish. Pieces of chicken are marinated in a mixture of spices, citrus juice and seasonings. After marinating, the chicken is coated with flour then fried.
In addition to the spices, the flour coating typically contains sazon which gives the chicken more flavor and makes it uniquely Puerto Rican.
Carrucho
Carrucho is conch, a large sea snail typically eaten in the seaside areas of Puerto Rico where conch fishing is popular. The most popular dishes made from conch is ceviche which is made with raw conch and ensalada de carrucho which is conch salad that is made with tenderized conch. Besides conch, it typically contains peppers, olive oil, tomatoes and cilantro to name a few.
Ensalada de Pulpo
Ensalada de pulpo is salad made with cooked octopus. Other ingredients include onions, garlic, peppers and olive oil. Like ensalada de carrucho this dish is popular in coastal regions and are sold by beach vendors. Pulpo is Spanish for octopus.
Sorulitos and Guanimes
Sorulitos and guanimes are two styles of cornmeal dumplings. Sorulitos are shaped into small logs and fried. They are slightly sweet and buttery, and some are made with cheese. They are enjoyed as a snack with a dip or coffee. Guanimes are also made of cornmeal, but they are cooked by boiling. They are eaten as a side to a main meal.
Tembleque
Tembleque is a traditional coconut dessert. It’s best described as a pudding, though it holds its shape like a flan. It is eaten cold. Tembleque is a colloquial word meaning wiggly or used to describe a shaky movement. This is a typical treat sold in Puerto Rican bakeries.
Flan de Queso
A flan is a Spanish baked custard. A typical Puerto Rican flan is made with caramel and among the most popular flans are flan de queso or cheese flan, which is made with cream cheese.
Puerto Ricos very own twist on this classic dessert is called flancocho. Cocho is derived from the word bizcocho which means cake. Flancocho is a dessert with a bottom layer of cake, and the top is flan.
In a rule defying twist, the flan and cake batter are baked in a pan or mold together where they remain separate but attach to each other coming out of their mold as one whole dessert.
Arroz con Dulce
Arron con dulce is a dish made by cooking thick grained rice, three milks which are coconut, condensed and evaporated and spices. It is the Puerto Rican version of rice pudding.
Arroz Moro (Moros y Cristianos)
Arroz Moro is a traditional dish througbout the Caribbean region, consisting of rice and black beans combined in one pot, along with various seasonings and spices. To prepare Arroz Moro, first the black beans are cooked with garlic, onions and bell peppers. Then the rice is added to the same pot along with the bean mixture, along with additional seasonings such as cumin, oregano, and bay leaves. The rice is cooked until it has absorbed all of the liquid and is fragrant and tender.
Dulce de Lechosa con Queso
Dulce de Lechosa is a dish of candied papayas and cheese. It is made with green papayas, cooked in sugar and cinnamon until it softens. Once cool, it is served with white cheese like queso de papa. Dulce de lechosa is also made in South America but the addition of cheese may have originated in Puerto Rico where cheese is eaten in numerous unique combinations such as with guava paste or dropped into hot coffee.
Coquito
Coquito is a coconut beverage made with alcohol and consumed chilled. It’s usually made to personal taste, but the quintessential ingredients are coconut cream, coconut milk, condensed milk or sugar, cinnamon and rum. Coconut is the original flavor and the second most popular is pistachio. Making coquito is usually reserved for the holiday and Christmas season. It’s often called Puerto Rican eggnog, but authentic coquito does not contain eggs.
Ponche de Malta
Ponche de malta is a beverage made with egg yolks, sugar and malta. Malta is a sweetened, slightly carbonated beverage made from malt grain. It’s believed to have nutritional benefits such as providing vitamin b and the ability to boost the immune system. Grape juice is sometimes used in place of the malta.
Arroz Con Pollo (Chicken & Rice)
Arroz con pollo is a dish that combines chicken and rice with onions, bell peppers, garlic, and various seasonings such as cumin, paprika, and oregano. It is popular in many Latin American countries and the name ‘Arroz con pollo’ translates simply to rice with chicken in Spanish.
The chicken is simmered in a broth or tomato-based sauce until it becomes tender and infused with the rich flavors of the spices. The rice is cooked separately and then combined with the chicken and its sauce. This allows the rice to absorb the delicious flavors from the chicken and the aromatic seasonings.
Piragua
Piragua is a confection made using shaved ice and a fruit-based syrup. The syrup is made by heating up sugar and water with flavorings. The shaved ice is shaped into a cone and covered in the cooled syrup. It is served in a cup with a straw.
