What's Inside: Enjoy this easy green rice or arroz verde cooked with spinach, cilantro, and culantro! A simple recipe for using up herbs at home.
In Panama, this rice is one of the side dishes that can be served during holidays or special events. Add some plátanos en tentación, and you have a fantastic holiday meal. It's also a versatile option for everyday cooking. It pairs well with most proteins like chicken and seafood.
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What is arroz verde?
Arroz verde is rice cooked in a broth and herb sauce, giving it that green (verde) color. It's made in different Latin American countries, so you'll find variations in the herbs used to make it. Also, you'll find versions that add other veggies like corn or carrots.
Talk about the Mexican version with poblano peppers. The Peruvian version uses only cilantro. The Colombian version carries milk, spinach, and cilantro.
❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Simple but flavorful.
- Great way to use leftover herbs on hand.
- Easy to make, with no special cooking techniques, paired with many protein options.
- Your go-to meal prep recipe to swap out white rice.
📋 Ingredients & Substitutions
To make this recipe you'll need the following ingredients:
- Long grain rice
- Low-sodium chicken stock: you can use homemade or store-bought. If not using low sodium, reduce some salt to prevent it from becoming salty. It can be replaced with beef stock or vegetable stock. You can also use bouillon cubes, so you'll need ½ cup water to dilute the bouillon cube.
- Color and flavor: cilantro, culantro, and spinach. I you don't have any of these herbs on hand. You can use parsley and green bell pepper. You can use frozen spinach, only try to remove excess water.
- Garlic
- Onion
- Olive oil: you can use butter or avocado oil. This is mainly for lightly frying the rice.
- Salt
Since this recipe will be cooked on the stove, you'll need a pot with a tight lid, spoon, fork, blender or food processor, and mesh colander.
📝 How To Make Arroz Verde
Now that you have all the ingredients and equipment needed, let's go through the steps to make this flavorful rice at home.
Preparation
- Rinse the long-grain rice with the fine mesh strainer until the water clears and set aside.
- Wash herbs and remove large stems from the herbs; you'll need only the leaves. Then, wash your herbs (culantro, cilantro, and spinach) and set them aside.
- Add the cilantro, culantro, spinach, onion, garlic, and ½ cup of chicken stock into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth, for about 1-2 minutes. This green liquid will add flavor and color to the rice.
Cooking
- Place your pot on the stove, and heat over medium heat. Once it's hot, add the oil. Saute the rice until its starts to toast. This adds another layer of flavor, and it will also result in fluffier rice.
- Add the green sauce, the remaining chicken stock, and salt. Mix and let the rice reach a boil.
💡 Tip: Add chicken stock to the blender to remove any extra green liquid, then add it to the rice.
- Once it starts boiling, cover the pot and lower the heat. Cook until it has absorbed all the liquid, for about 12-15 minutes.
- Once the time is up, or all the liquid is absorbed, fluff the rice with a fork, taste and adjust the salt if needed.
Garnish with chopped cilantro or sliced almonds, serve hot, and enjoy!
This recipe yields about 3-3.5 cups of cooked rice to serve about 3.
Other Cooking Methods
- Follow the exact amounts, omit the oil, and complete the same prep steps.
- Press the "cook" button, depending on your rice cooker model, and let it cook.
- Once done, fluff the rice with a fork and enjoy!
Pressure Cooker:
- Use 1:1 rice-to-liquid (1 cup of chicken stock). The rest of the ingredients stay the same. Complete the same prep steps.
- Press the "Saute" button, add the oil once you see the "Hot" message, and saute the rice for a few minutes. Then press "Cancel."
- Add the green herbs mixture and the extra chicken stock, then cover the pressure cooker.
- Press the "Pressure Cook" button, and set the timer to 4 minutes.
- Once done cooking, quick release after 10 minutes. Fluff and enjoy.
🫙Store & Reheat
Fridge: Let the rice cool, then store it in an airtight food container for up to 5 days.
Freezer: Once cooled, add it to a ziplock bag and remove any air, then lay it flat or in a freezer safe. It will last for about 2 months. Also, freeze in smaller portions for quicker use. Thaw in the fridge the night before using.
Stove: Add the rice to a saucepan or Dutch oven, add a few tablespoons of liquid (water or chicken stock), and stir to break up clumps. Cover and cook on low heat until it's piping hot.
Microwave: Add the rice to a microwave-safe bowl, place 1-2 ice cubes on top, and microwave on high for 1-2 minutes or until steamy.
👩🏽🍳 Recipe Tips
- Use chicken stock to prepare the rice, giving it another layer of flavor. Don't have it on hand, dilute a bouillon cube in water.
- Regarding preparing rice, there is some debate regarding the necessity of rinsing it. While some may skip this step, rinsing the rice can produce a fluffier and more enjoyable texture.
- For best results when cooking long-grain rice on the stove, use a 1:1.5 ratio of rice to water. Adjust the ratio and cooking time for other types of rice.
- After adding the green mixture to the rice, use extra chicken stock to "clean out" the blender and add it to the rice.
- After cooking the rice, use a fork to fluff it. This will help separate the grains.
- For even cooking rice, cover the lid while cooking to allow the steam to circulate.
- You can easily halve, double, or triple the recipe if you need to adjust the amount of rice you're cooking on the stove. You can reduce the ratio of 1 cup of rice to 1.25 cups of water, for each cup of rice to cook. Adjust the ingredient amounts accordingly and follow the exact directions. Remember that making a larger batch may take longer to cook and absorb all the liquid. Monitor the cooking process
If you are genetically predisposed to taste cilantro as soap or have none on hand. Replace it with more spinach, culantro, parsley, or green bell peppers.
🔖 Recipe Variations
- Want it spicy? Add 1/2 seedless jalapeño to the blender or a pinch of chili flakes before cooking.
- You can also add some lime to brighten the flavors.
- Add color with 1/2 cup of corn kernels or chopped carrots, or garnish with 1/4 cup of chopped red onion.
- More texture, add 1/4 cup of sliced almonds or chopped walnuts.
🍽 What To Serve With Green Rice
Here are some serving suggestions for this flavorful and versatile rice:
- If you plan on serving this side dish for the holidays, it would be an excellent pairing with baked ham or baked chicken, plátanos en tentación, and a Panamanian potato salad.
- For an everyday meal, serve it with:
- It goes well with stewed meat, stewed chicken
- Grilled shrimp or salmon
- Pork chops
- Chicken or beef fajitas
- Use it as a base for a bowl. Add corn, chopped tomatoes, black beans, guacamole, and shredded chicken.
If you tried this easy arroz verde recipe or any other recipe at Nashi Food, don't forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! We love knowing about your cooking experience.
Arroz Verde (Green Rice)
Ingredients
- 1 cup long-grain rice
- 1 bunch cilantro, ½ loose cup
- 1 bunch culantro leaves, 10 long culantro leaves
- 1 bunch spinach, 1 loose cup
- 1.5 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- ¼ onion
- 1 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoon oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
Utensils
- fine mesh colander
- blender or food processor
- a medium saucepan with tight lid
- Spoon
- Fork
Instructions
Prep
- Rinse the long-grain rice using the colander until the water runs clear and set aside.
- Wash your herbs and set them aside. Remove large stems from cilantro leaves.
- Add the cilantro, culantro, spinach, onion, garlic, and ½ cup of chicken stock into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth, for about 1-2 minutes.
Cook
- Place your pot on the stove, and heat over medium heat. Once it's hot, add the oil. Saute the rice until its starts to toast.
- Add the green sauce, the remaining chicken stock, and salt. Mix and let the rice reach a boil.
- Once it starts boiling, cover the pot and lower the heat. Cook until it has absorbed all the liquid. It takes about 12-15 minutes.
- After it’s cooked, fluff the rice with a fork and serve hot.
Notes
- Use chicken stock instead of water for tastier rice.
- Rinse the rice for a fluffier texture.
- Add extra stock from the blender to "clean it out," then add it to the rice.
- Cover while cooking and fluff with a fork when done.
- You can reduce the water ratio to 1.25 cups for each extra cup of rice you cook on the stove.
- Low-sodium chicken stock: you can use homemade or store-bought. You can use beef stock or vegetable stock. You can also use bouillon cubes, so you'll need ½ cup water to dilute the bouillon cube.
- Cilantro, culantro, and spinach: don't have these herbs on hand. You can use parsley and green bell pepper. You can use frozen spinach, only try to remove excess water.
- Olive oil: you can use butter or avocado oil.
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