Puerto Rican cuisine, affectionately known as “cocina criolla” by locals (Boricuas), is much more than just a collection of recipes; it’s a vibrant reflection of the island’s complex and captivating history. This unique culinary tradition is a flavorful hybrid, born from the intermingling of indigenous Taíno traditions, Spanish colonial influences, African heritage, and more recently, American food culture. The result is a deeply rooted and exciting gastronomy, celebrated for its bold flavors, comforting textures, and the warmth it brings to every table.
The story of Puerto Rican Food begins with the Taíno people, the island’s original inhabitants. They were skilled farmers and fishermen, utilizing the fertile land and abundant coastline to cultivate crops and gather seafood. When the Spanish arrived, they introduced new ingredients like wheat, livestock, rice, and olive oil, forever changing the culinary landscape. The Spanish colonial era also brought sugarcane plantations and, tragically, enslaved Africans to work them. These African laborers contributed their own culinary knowledge and ingredients, further enriching the developing cuisine. Finally, Puerto Rico’s status as a US territory for over a century has incorporated American food traditions into the mix, creating the diverse culinary tapestry we know today.
This fascinating blend of influences, combined with Puerto Rico’s tropical climate – ideal for growing a wide variety of ingredients – has given rise to an extraordinary array of dishes. From savory roasted meats to comforting rice dishes, and from sweet pastries to refreshing drinks, Puerto Rican food offers something to tantalize every palate. While this list explores some of the most beloved and popular Puerto Rican foods, you could spend a lifetime exploring the island’s cuisine and still uncover new and exciting flavors. Prepare to embark on a delicious journey through 42 must-try Puerto Rican foods that will ignite your senses and leave you craving more.
1. Pernil: Puerto Rico’s Iconic Roast Pork
Pernil is the Boricua interpretation of lechon, the celebrated Latin American-style roast pork. For Puerto Ricans, pernil isn’t just food; it’s a centerpiece of holiday celebrations, especially Christmas. However, its deliciousness means you can find it in restaurants and food stalls across the island throughout the year. You might even encounter pernil shredded and incorporated into other dishes, such as hearty sandwiches. Traditionally, pernil is made using a whole suckling pig, but for home cooks wanting to capture the essence of pernil, any substantial skin-on pork shoulder or leg will work beautifully.
The magic of pernil lies in its incredible depth of flavor, achieved through a vibrant marinade called mojo. This mojo is a potent blend of minced garlic, fragrant oregano, oil, and the quintessential Puerto Rican seasonings: adobo and sazón. Adobo and sazón are spice mixes that are fundamental to Puerto Rican cooking. While dedicated cooks can create these blends from scratch, high-quality store-bought versions, like those from Healthy Rican, are widely used and accepted, even by seasoned Boricua home cooks. The ultimate prize when enjoying pernil is the crispy skin, known as cuerito. When serving pernil, especially at gatherings, ensure everyone gets a piece of this coveted crispy skin – it’s a sign of respect and ensures no guest feels slighted!
2. Arroz con Gandules: The Hearty Rice and Pigeon Peas Dish
The combination of rice and beans is a staple in countless cultures worldwide. From South Asian pilaf to Cajun red beans and Central American gallo pinto, this comforting and nourishing pairing has gained global adoration. It’s easy to understand why: rice and beans are affordable, shelf-stable, and packed with nutrition, providing complete protein, fiber, iron, and essential nutrients.
Puerto Rico’s take on this beloved dish is Arroz con gandules, featuring gandules, a type of legume originating from India, often called “pigeon peas” in English. The flavor foundation is built upon the trinity of Puerto Rican cuisine: sofrito, sazón, and achiote oil. These, combined with canned tomatoes, give the rice its distinctive orange-red hue and a complex, savory flavor profile. Arroz con gandules is often enriched with pork, but for a vegetarian option, the meat can be easily omitted without sacrificing flavor. Chopped green Manzanilla olives are frequently added, bringing bright color and a welcome briny acidity that cuts through the richness of the dish.
3. Mofongo: A Taste of Puerto Rican Heritage
Puerto Rico’s history is marked by waves of cultural exchange and adaptation. Mofongo stands as a testament to this, originating from the African slaves brought to Puerto Rico by Spanish colonizers. Its roots trace back to fufu, a West African dish made by pounding starchy tubers like yams or cassava into a dense paste.
Mofongo adapts this tradition using ingredients readily available in Puerto Rico. Plantains replace yams, and pork and garlic are incorporated, adding layers of flavor. While often served as a starchy side dish, mofongo is far from bland. It’s a flavorful and rich mash of fried green plantains, crispy pork skin or bacon, and pungent garlic. Though born in Puerto Rico, mofongo’s popularity has spread, with Cuban and Dominican cuisines also featuring their own delicious variations of this iconic dish.
4. Asopao de Pollo: Puerto Rico’s Soul-Warming Chicken Soup
Chicken soup is a universal comfort food, a remedy for the soul and perhaps a hangover. Asopao de pollo, Puerto Rican chicken soup, embodies this comforting quality while delivering a powerful punch of flavor. A typical recipe combines bone-in chicken pieces with savory ham, adobo, sofrito, tomatoes, capers, and briny Manzanilla olives, creating an unforgettable culinary experience. The harmonious balance of saltiness, acidity, savoriness, and herbaceous notes elevates it far beyond ordinary chicken noodle soup.
Asopao also plays a special role in a Puerto Rican tradition called parranda, a festive gathering similar to caroling or wassailing. Groups of singers, parranderos, move from house to house, sharing music and seeking refreshments, often late into the night. Traditionally, asopao de pollo was the preferred food for parranda because it could be prepared in advance and easily reheated for unexpected guests arriving at any hour. While chicken asopao is the most popular, asopao in general holds the prestigious title of Puerto Rico’s national soup, representing the island’s culinary heritage and hospitality.
5. Arroz con Dulce: Sweet Rice Pudding with a Caribbean Twist
Arroz con dulce, literally translating to “rice with sweetness,” is Puerto Rico’s delightful take on rice pudding. It infuses Caribbean flair into what can sometimes be a bland dessert, incorporating coconut milk, fragrant cloves, canela (Mexican cinnamon), and a hint of fresh ginger as the rice cooks. Similar to other rice-based dishes, soaking the rice grains beforehand ensures each grain becomes perfectly moist, creamy, and cooked through. Soaking for at least three hours, or even up to a few days, is recommended for optimal texture. Unlike many European and American rice pudding recipes that rely on dairy for creaminess, arroz con dulce is naturally vegan. It’s also a wonderful gluten-free dessert option.
Arroz con dulce can be enjoyed warm, straight from the pot, but it’s traditionally served chilled. As it cools, it solidifies, allowing it to be neatly sliced into squares for serving, making it a perfect make-ahead dessert for gatherings or a sweet treat to have on hand.
6. Tembleque: The Jiggling Coconut Pudding
Tembleque, often described as Puerto Rican coconut pudding, is a far cry from the pre-packaged pudding cups. Instead, it shares a textural resemblance to the classic mid-century Jell-O molds, particularly in its delightful jiggle. Its name, derived from the Spanish word “temblor” meaning “shake,” perfectly captures its wobbly nature. Unlike Jell-O, which uses animal gelatin, tembleque is thickened with cornstarch, making it a vegan and vegetarian-friendly dessert. It’s made by simply combining coconut milk with sugar, seasonings, and cornstarch, then cooking until the mixture thickens. The hot pudding is poured into a mold and chilled until set.
Tembleque offers a festive and tropical flavor profile, where the sweetness of coconut beautifully harmonizes with hints of lime, cinnamon, and vanilla. For a pristine, snowy-white tembleque, seek out additive-free coconut milk, such as Nature’s Greatest Foods, which allows the pure coconut flavor and color to shine through.
7. Coquito: Puerto Rico’s Festive Coconut Nog
The winter holidays often call for rich, creamy, and spirited beverages. While eggnog reigns supreme in English-speaking countries and cola de mono warms Chilean homes, Puerto Rico boasts its own festive drink: creamy coquito, a holiday staple around Christmas time.
While undeniably rich, coquito is often considered lighter than eggnog as it omits eggs. Its creamy base comes from a luxurious blend of sweetened condensed milk, coconut cream, and coconut milk. Rum is the traditional alcoholic addition for those seeking a boozy coquito. A generous blend of warm winter spices like cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon infuses it with the quintessential Christmas spirit. Coquito is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser at holiday gatherings, and gifting small bottles of homemade coquito to friends is a cherished tradition.
8. Caldo Santo: The Holy Friday Seafood Stew
Caldo Santo, or “holy stew,” is another holiday specialty, but it’s associated with Good Friday rather than Christmas. Made with fish, caldo santo adheres to the Catholic tradition of abstaining from land animals on Good Friday. Like mofongo, this dish reveals African influences in its flavors and ingredients. Historically, caldo santo was primarily known in the region surrounding Loíza. However, its inclusion in Emma DuPrey de Sterling’s influential 2004 cookbook, “Cocina Artesanal Puertorriquena,” significantly broadened its reach and popularity.
Caldo Santo is typically a medley of seafood, featuring shrimp, bacalao (salted cod), and fresh snapper. The seafood simmers with root vegetables and plantain dumplings in a flavorful broth of coconut milk, achiote oil, coriander, peppers, and garlic. The seafood infuses the broth with a delicate briny flavor, while achiote oil imparts a beautiful orange hue.
9. Pasteles: Puerto Rican Plantain “Tamales”
While “pastel” translates to “pie” in Spanish, Puerto Rican pasteles bear little resemblance to pies. Instead, they are more akin to Mexican tamales, yet with distinct differences. Similar to tamale-making traditions in Mexico and the American Southwest, Puerto Rican families often gather for large pastele-making parties during Christmas, sharing the labor-intensive process. Like tamales, pasteles feature a slow-cooked pork filling encased in masa and steamed in leaves. However, the similarities largely end there.
Instead of corn-based masa used in Mexican tamales, pastel masa is crafted from green plantains and a variety of root vegetables, giving it a unique texture and flavor. Pasteles are also traditionally steamed in banana leaves instead of corn husks. While the pork filling may visually resemble tamale filling, the use of sofrito, vinegar, capers, and sazón gives it a distinctly Puerto Rican flavor profile.
10. Jibarito: The Plantain Sandwich Sensation
The origins of the jibarito and its current name are somewhat debated, with some believing it gained prominence in Puerto Rican restaurants in Chicago. Regardless of its exact birthplace, the jibarito has firmly established itself as a beloved part of Puerto Rican food culture. As previously mentioned, the defining characteristic of a jibarito sandwich is its “bread,” which is actually made of flattened and fried pieces of unripe green plantain. While not calling them jibaritos, Puerto Rican restaurateur Jorge Munoz began serving sandwiches on plantain “bread” in the early 1990s.
According to Thrillist, Juan Figueroa, a Puerto Rican chef in Chicago, learned about Munoz’s “sandwich de platano” and created his own version, renaming it the jibarito. From there, the jibarito’s popularity spread to other communities with significant Puerto Rican populations, like New York City and Florida. While you can fill a jibarito with almost anything, the classic filling is thinly sliced steak, dressed with mayonnaise, garlic oil, lettuce, and tomato. For those who prefer alternatives to beef, pork, chicken, or seafood make excellent substitutes.
11. Tripleta: The Ultimate Three-Meat Sandwich
Like the po’ boy and the hoagie, the tripleta sandwich originated as a convenient and substantial meal for working-class individuals. The long roll used for tripletas allows for a generous amount of fillings, essentially packing an entire dinner into a single sandwich.
If you appreciate Cuban sandwiches, the tripleta’s combination of roast pork and ham will be familiar. However, the Puerto Rican tripleta elevates the concept by adding a third meat: thinly sliced steak (bistec). The sandwich derives its name from this “triple” meat combination. The meats are layered with Swiss cheese and the usual sandwich fixings: lettuce, tomato, and onion.
The quintessential condiment for a tripleta is mayo-ketchup, a popular Puerto Rican blend of ketchup, mayonnaise, and seasonings. The final, and arguably most delightful, touch is a generous topping of crispy canned shoestring potatoes, adding a satisfying crunch and salty finish. A fully loaded tripleta can be a challenge to eat gracefully, but the explosion of flavors and textures is well worth the effort.
12. Almojábanas: Cheesy Fried Bread Delights
The name “almojábanas” can refer to different dishes depending on the Latin American country. In Colombia, it describes a savory, leavened roll made with corn masa flour, baking powder, and cheese, baked in the oven.
Puerto Rican almojábanas share some similarities with their Colombian counterparts, being round breads incorporating cheese. However, the Puerto Rican version takes a delicious turn by being deep-fried, resulting in something akin to a cheesy doughnut. The dough also differs, using rice flour and wheat flour instead of masa. Puerto Rican almojábanas are often served sweet, soaked in honey and brown sugar after frying. For those who prefer savory flavors, the same dough and frying method can be used, simply sprinkling crumbled cheese on top instead of sugar.
13. Albondigón: The Puerto Rican Meatloaf Surprise
Albondigón, roughly translating to “big meatball,” is a delightful culinary creation that’s like a cross between classic meatloaf and a Scotch egg. Some recipes call for a whopping six different types of meat: ground beef, ground pork, chopped ham, ground chicken, bacon, and even canned deviled ham! Move over, Arby’s, Puerto Rico has its own “Meat Mountain.” This meaty mixture is bound together with breadcrumbs and eggs and, for an extra protein boost, stuffed with hard-boiled eggs.
Similar to classic diner meatloaf, albondigón is topped with a rich tomato glaze, but this is no ordinary ketchup. It’s a fresh tomato sauce, thickened with flour and flavored with bay leaf, oregano, and olives, adding a more sophisticated touch. Like many Puerto Rican dishes, albondigón’s recipes vary across regions and even families. For instance, some Colombian albondigón recipes include carrots and green beans alongside the boiled eggs in the stuffing.
14. Fricase de Pollo: Puerto Rican Chicken Fricassee
“Fricase” (or “fricassee” in English) refers to a type of meat stew. While various meats can be fricassee, chicken is a consistently popular choice. Fricasseeing is a European cooking technique brought to Puerto Rico through Spanish and French colonization. Europeans introduced fricassees to many Caribbean colonies, making it a popular dish in Cuba as well as Puerto Rico.
Fricase de pollo shares some similarities with French coq au vin, involving slow-simmering chicken in a flavorful broth with aromatic vegetables and red wine. However, the Puerto Rican seasoning profile gives it a distinctly Boricua twist, incorporating tomatoes, cilantro, bell peppers, and adobo. This is a saucy dish that begs to be served with a starch like arroz con gandules to soak up all the flavorful juices. As a home-cooked staple, fricase de pollo recipes vary widely, with some variations including ham, vinegar, and capers for a completely different flavor experience.
15. Picadillo a la Puertorriqueña: Flavorful Puerto Rican Ground Beef
Picadillo is a seasoned ground beef dish prevalent in many Latin American cuisines. The Puerto Rican version derives its distinctive flavor from sofrito (also known as recaíto), a base of culantro leaves, garlic, and peppers, slowly cooked into a fragrant paste. Culantro, with a similar taste to cilantro but more potent, is a cornerstone of Puerto Rican flavor, appearing in many iconic dishes. While sofrito can be made from scratch, convenient jarred versions, such as those from Goya, are readily available.
To prepare picadillo, sauté sofrito with chopped peppers and onions as the flavorful starting point. Then, add tomato sauce, ground beef, and olives, cooking until the meat reaches a thick, saucy consistency, somewhat like Italian meat sauce. Picadillo can be served over fluffy white rice or used as a versatile filling in other dishes, such as empanadas, adding a savory and flavorful element.
16. Pastelón: Puerto Rican Plantain “Lasagna”
Pastelón is a plantain and beef casserole that is often considered the Puerto Rican equivalent of lasagna. Instead of pasta layers, pastelón stacks thin slices of fried ripe plantains with layers of flavorful picadillo. It’s topped with a mixture of eggs and baking soda that sets during baking, holding the casserole together.
This is the basic blueprint for pastelón, but variations abound. According to Simply Recipes, there’s a regional divide between Puerto Ricans who grew up on the US mainland and those on the island. Mainland cooks often incorporate mild cheese into their pastelón, while in Puerto Rico, cheese is less common, but canned French-cut green beans are frequently added. Some recipes also include raisins. Pastelón is highly customizable to personal preferences, so whether you dislike raisins, dislike green beans, or avoid cheese, there’s a pastelón variation for you.
17. Alcapurrias: Stuffed and Fried Plantain Fritters
Alcapurrias are another delicious dish filled with picadillo. In this case, the picadillo is encased in a dough made from green plantains and yautía root (malanga). Yautía is a versatile tuber that can be cooked like a potato, dried into starch, or pounded into dough, as highlighted by Specialty Produce. The dough is given a vibrant orange-gold hue with achiote (annatto), a common ingredient in Puerto Rican cuisine originating from Central and South America. Achiote is primarily used for color rather than flavor, famously giving cheddar cheese its orange color and butter a golden hue. Its flavor is subtle, with a slightly bitter and floral undertone.
After stuffing the dough with picadillo, it’s shaped into a small cigar and deep-fried to golden perfection. Alcapurrias are a popular street food along Puerto Rico’s coasts, where numerous stalls offer these tempting deep-fried treats. Beyond the classic beef-filled version, you can also find alcapurrias stuffed with crab or bacalao (salt cod).
18. Arepas de Coco: Crispy Coconut Bread Pockets
It’s important not to confuse these with Venezuelan arepas, which are griddled corn masa disks stuffed like sandwiches. Puerto Rican arepas de coco are a type of crispy, fluffy fried bread made from white flour and coconut milk. When fried correctly, the dough puffs up, creating a perfect little pocket for fillings. They can be enjoyed plain as a snack, but their mild flavor is enhanced when stuffed.
Picadillo is once again a popular filling, but many other options exist. Another classic way to enjoy them is with seafood salad, commonly found at street carts near Puerto Rican beaches. Puerto Rican seafood salad, with its bright acidity, is somewhat similar to ceviche, providing a refreshing counterpoint to the richness of the arepa.
19. Empanadillas: Savory and Sweet Hand Pies
What could be better than pie? Deep-fried pie, of course! And what’s even better than deep-fried pie? A deep-fried, meat-filled pie that you can eat on the go! Empanadillas (also known as empanadas or pastellitos) are savory or sweet hand pies popular throughout Latin America. Think of them as the original Hot Pocket, but a million times more delicious. They are a beloved treat found in bakeries across Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican version uses a wheat-based pie dough that is fried in oil, although some variations are baked instead.
For convenience, pre-cut circles of dough specifically designed for empanadillas can be purchased at Latin American grocery stores, simplifying the preparation process. As with many other stuffed Puerto Rican snacks, picadillo is a common filling, but it’s certainly not the only option.
20. Bacalaitos: Crispy Salt Cod Fritters
Bacalaitos are a type of fritter or pancake made from salted fish, traditionally cod, though pollock can also be used. Salted fish, when purchased, is intensely salty and requires preparation before cooking. To prepare it, it must be soaked in water for six hours, with the water changed at least once. Then, the fish is poached in fresh water with a touch of vinegar to further remove salt and cook it.
Once the salt cod is ready, it’s mixed into a thin pancake batter seasoned with chopped bell peppers, herbs, and sazón. Bacalaitos are shallow-fried in a skillet until they achieve a crispy, golden brown, and delicious texture. If the process of preparing salted fish seems daunting, Goya offers a powdered bacalaitos mix, simplifying the process while still delivering authentic flavor.
21. Chicharrones de Pollo: Extra-Crispy Puerto Rican Fried Chicken
In Spanish, “chicharrones” typically refers to crunchy pork rinds. Puerto Rican chicharrones de pollo, however, are a special type of fried chicken renowned for its exceptional crispiness, almost mimicking the texture of chicharrones. Chicharrones de pollo are a common sight at roadside fast-food stands in Puerto Rico, often served with mofongo as a side.
Several techniques distinguish this dish from standard fried chicken. First, the marinade incorporates vinegar, citrus juice, garlic, and oregano, infusing the chicken with bright and savory notes. Next, bone-in chicken is cut into smaller pieces before breading and frying. This increases the surface area, maximizing crispiness. Most importantly, the chicken is fried multiple times, a technique also used in Korean fried chicken, resulting in significantly crispier breading compared to a single fry. The Noshery’s recipe even calls for three separate frying stages to achieve the ultimate crunchy exterior.
22. Bistec Encebollado: Steak and Onions in Puerto Rican Style
Bistec is a Spanish adaptation of the English word “beefsteak,” and bistec encebollado is simply thin steak cooked with rings of onion. Flank steak, preferably thinly sliced, is the steak of choice for this dish. The steak is marinated for at least a few hours, or even up to two days, in a flavorful blend of sofrito, vinegar, sazón, adobo, garlic, oregano, and cumin. After marinating, the beef is quickly seared and then braised with the remaining marinade, along with tomato sauce, onions, more sofrito, and butter.
The result is tender, slow-cooked steak in a rich, flavorful gravy with softened onions. A classic way to serve bistec encebollado is over a bed of simple white rice, perhaps with fried plantains on the side. For added richness, bell peppers or fried eggs can be added as toppings.
23. Jibaritos Fritos: Sweet Fried Baby Bananas
These should not be confused with jibarito sandwiches, with which they only share the commonality of fried bananas. Unlike the sandwich, which uses starchy green plantains, jibaritos fritos uses sweet baby bananas, known as guineos niños in Puerto Rico. Baby bananas, or guineos niños, are sweeter and smaller than other banana varieties, typically growing to about 3 inches long and first cultivated in Colombia.
Guineos niños are highly prized in Puerto Rico for their superior sweetness compared to conventional bananas. They thrive in the mountainous regions of the island, where the cooler, shadier climate is ideal for their growth. When ripe, they are used in salads, desserts, and, of course, jibaritos fritos. This snack, also called niños envueltos, features these tiny, sweet bananas dipped in a wheat flour batter and deep-fried until golden. They are often served sprinkled with cinnamon for an extra touch of sweetness and warmth.
24. Guineos con Mollejas en Escabeche: Pickled Bananas and Chicken Gizzards
Escabeche refers to any meat that is cooked and then marinated in an acidic mixture before serving, typically chilled. This preservation technique has a long history, brought to Europe by Arab forces during the Middle Ages, who called it al-sikbaj.
Guineos con mollejas en escabeche applies this ancient technique to a combination of green bananas and chicken gizzards. Green bananas are simply unripe conventional bananas, and gizzards, part of the chicken’s digestive system, offer a chewy texture and rich, meaty flavor. The gizzards and bananas are boiled before being mixed with oil, vinegar, bell peppers, olives, and herbs. The dish needs to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour to allow the seasonings to fully penetrate the bananas and gizzards. While traditionally made with gizzards, other chicken cuts can be substituted for those less inclined towards organ meats.
25. Habichuelas Guisadas y Viandas: Hearty Stewed Beans and Root Vegetables
This is Puerto Rico’s take on stewed pork and beans, a hearty and comforting dish. The base is a flavorful broth made from country ham, tomatoes, sofrito, sazón, and adobo. Pink beans simmer slowly in this broth, becoming tender, stewy, and delicious. Recipes for habichuelas guisadas vary, but the core elements of beans, tomato, sofrito, and pork remain constant. Some versions use achiote oil for a more vibrant orange hue. Others, like Kitchen Gidget’s recipe, include green olives and potatoes for added variety and texture.
Regardless of variations, habichuelas guisadas is fundamentally a rustic, homey dish. Made with affordable ingredients, it delivers a nourishing and flavorful meal. These beans can be served as a side dish in a larger meal or simply spooned over plain rice for an easy and flavorful weekday dinner packed with both taste and nutrition.
26. Flan de Queso: Creamy Cheesecake Flan
Flan is a beloved dessert in many countries, with Cuban-style flan recipes varying across Latin America. Puerto Rican panaderias (bakeries) offer a variety of flan flavors, including fruity guava flan and this ultra-creamy version: flan de queso.
The addition of cream cheese to flan de queso transforms the custard’s texture, making it reminiscent of cheesecake filling. The subtle tang from the cream cheese also adds a layer of depth to the flavor compared to traditional vanilla flan.
Beyond the cream cheese, flan de queso follows the classic flan preparation. Caramel is cooked first, then an egg-based custard batter is poured over it. The entire mixture is baked, then carefully inverted so the liquid caramel elegantly coats the top, creating a visually stunning and delicious dessert.
27. Sorullitos de Maiz: Sweet Corn Fritters
Sorullitos de maiz, also known as sorullos or surullitos, are finger-shaped corn fritters often filled with cheese. They can be thought of as the Puerto Rican equivalent of mozzarella sticks, enjoyed as a snack, breakfast item, or side dish. While some sorullitos are sweetened, savory versions are also common.
This dish offers a delightful contrast between a crispy exterior and a gooey, melted cheese filling. The type of cheese used varies depending on the recipe, with some suggesting Edam or Gouda, while American or sharp cheddar can also be used.
To make sorullitos, cornmeal is cooked with water to create a smooth cornmeal mush. Cheese is then either mixed directly into the dough or used as a filling, with small portions of dough wrapped around cheese chunks. Finally, the sorullitos are deep-fried until golden brown and the cheese inside is molten and irresistible.
28. Arañitas: Crispy Plantain “Spiders”
Arañitas, meaning “little spiders” in Spanish, are savory fried treats made with grated and fried plantain. The name comes from the crispy, thread-like strands of plantain that resemble spider legs.
This snack is made with unripe, green plantains, which are starchier and less sweet than ripe plantains. The preparation is similar to making hash browns with potatoes. Green plantains are grated, squeezed into small lumps, and then fried until crispy. The craggy exterior becomes wonderfully crunchy, while the inside remains starchy and slightly soft.
Arañitas are often served as a side dish, but they also make a satisfying standalone snack when paired with a dipping sauce. A simple mix of mayonnaise and ketchup is classic, or you can elevate them with cilantro aioli or cocktail sauce for a more sophisticated touch. Plain salt is the most common seasoning, but adobo is also sometimes used.
29. Quesitos: Cream Cheese Filled Puff Pastries
Quesitos, meaning “little cheeses” in English, are small, cigar-shaped baked pastries made with puff pastry and filled with sweetened cream cheese. They are a common sight in panaderias throughout Puerto Rico. After baking, they are brushed with a simple sugar syrup, adding sweetness and a glossy finish to the pastry.
The most basic filling is a straightforward mixture of sugar and cream cheese, but quesitos come in a variety of tempting flavors. Guava paste is a popular choice, pairing beautifully with cream cheese. Dulce de leche, jams, and nuts also occasionally find their way into quesito fillings.
While readily available in Puerto Rican bakeries, quesitos are also easy to make at home using store-bought puff pastry sheets. For ambitious bakers, Sense and Edibility offers a recipe for making puff pastry from scratch, though it’s a day-long culinary project.
30. Rellenos de Papa: Stuffed Potato Balls
Rellenos de papa are another popular fried food, often sold as a street snack. These crispy, golden balls are made with mashed potatoes and a savory ground beef filling (picadillo).
To ensure the mashed potatoes hold their shape and encase the filling without falling apart, they are mixed with eggs and cornstarch. Some recipes enhance the potato flavor by seasoning them with chicken stock and butter, while others keep it simpler. Coating the mashed potato balls with additional cornstarch before frying can create an extra crispy exterior.
Biting into rellenos de papa reveals a delicate, crispy shell that gives way to fluffy, starchy mashed potatoes. Even without filling, these would be delicious potato fritters, but the picadillo center elevates them to a truly special snack. The savory meat, with hints of acidity and sweetness, makes rellenos de papa an irresistible treat.
31. Carne Bif: Puerto Rican Corned Beef Hash
While corned beef is often associated with St. Patrick’s Day and Irish culture in the mainland US, it’s enjoyed worldwide. Carne bif is a Boricua twist on corned beef hash, using canned corned beef, a common pantry staple in Puerto Rican homes. According to the Seattle Times, the Puerto Rican government even promotes canned beef as an emergency preparedness item, but it’s also a beloved ingredient in everyday recipes.
Carne bif differs from typical corned beef hash in its brothy, stew-like consistency. It’s made by simmering canned corned beef with water, potatoes, tomato sauce, and seasonings. It’s often served with white rice and plantains to soak up the flavorful juices. Seasoning variations exist from household to household, but sofrito and sazón are common additions, as with many Puerto Rican dishes. Alcaparrado, a briny condiment of green olives, pickled peppers, and capers, can also be added for extra flavor complexity.
32. Pinchos: Puerto Rican Grilled Skewers
The word “pincho” originates from Spain’s Basque region, where it refers to snacks or appetizers served on skewers, and more broadly to Basque tapas-style snacks, as detailed in our guide to San Sebastián.
In Puerto Rico, however, a pincho specifically refers to a skewer of grilled, marinated meat, typically served with a piece of bread and barbecue sauce. They are a popular street food and a staple at family cookouts. Chicken thigh chunks marinated in olive oil, sazón, oregano, and white vinegar are a common choice.
Chicken isn’t the only meat used for pinchos. Pork is another popular option, with some recipes using tenderloin marinated in garlic. Regardless of the meat, pinchos are a fun and flavorful variation on BBQ, easy to make at home for a crowd.
33. Bizcocho de Novia: Puerto Rican “Bride’s Cake”
Bizcocho de novia, meaning “bride’s cake,” is more reminiscent of funfetti cake than traditional wedding cake. It’s an exceptionally fluffy vanilla cake topped with a light vanilla frosting and a generous sprinkle of multicolored sprinkles. This sweet treat is ubiquitous in Puerto Rican bakeries. The cake’s extra fluffiness comes from creaming the eggs, oil, and sugar for an extended period until they incorporate a significant amount of air.
One unique feature of bizcocho de novia is the textural contrast in each bite. Beyond the sprinkles on top, a crunchy sugar layer forms at the cake’s bottom. This is created by resting the baked cake layers on a bed of granulated sugar while frosting them. The frosting itself is made with a blend of whipping cream, vegetable shortening, and powdered sugar, creating a light and airy topping.
34. Pan de Mallorca: Sweet Puerto Rican Breakfast Bread
Pan de Mallorca originated on the Spanish island of Mallorca, but it has become a classic Puerto Rican sweet bread. Made with a soft, rich, enriched yeast dough, pan de Mallorca is similar to a cinnamon roll but without the cinnamon. It even shares the swirled shape of a cinnamon roll.
The dough is exceptionally rich due to a high egg yolk content. Salima’s Kitchen’s recipe calls for eight yolks and two sticks of butter, resulting in an undeniably indulgent bread. Pan de Mallorca has a subtle sweetness, both from a small amount of sugar in the dough and a dusting of powdered sugar on top. It’s a popular breakfast item, often enjoyed with a cup of coffee. Its mild sweetness also makes it suitable as a sandwich bread, similar to Hawaiian rolls or potato bread.
35. Bizcocho de Ron: Puerto Rican Rum Cake
Bizcocho de ron is Puerto Rico’s version of rum cake. It’s essentially a yellow butter cake infused with rum, sometimes with nuts added. Rum cake recipes vary, but a common thread is a generous use of rum. Some recipes even incorporate half a cup of spiced rum directly into the cake batter.
For a convenient approach, Von Diaz recommends using a boxed cake mix, a technique learned from her Puerto Rican grandmother, a skilled cook and baker. This shortcut, detailed on Food52, involves adding vanilla pudding mix to the cake mix for extra richness. The recipe doubles down on the rum flavor by incorporating it into the batter and using it as the base for a syrup drizzled over the baked cake, ensuring a truly rum-infused dessert.
36. Pollo Guisado: Hearty Puerto Rican Chicken Stew
Pollo guisado simply means chicken stew, and it lives up to its name as a warming and satisfying dish. It starts with chicken pieces, using either dark or white meat. The chicken may be seasoned separately and marinated before stewing, or the spices can be added directly to the broth. The flavor profile is consistent: sofrito, sazón packets, and adobo seasoning mix. These pre-mixed seasonings contain spices like cumin, annatto, oregano, and garlic powder, adding savory complexity and earthiness to the broth. Canned tomato sauce contributes color and acidity, while green olives add bursts of brininess to balance the richness.
Pollo guisado typically includes hearty root vegetables like potatoes and carrots. For an even more substantial meal, it’s traditionally served with white rice, perfect for soaking up the flavorful stew.
37. Tostones: Twice-Fried Plantain Crisps
Plantains are incredibly versatile in Puerto Rican cuisine, and tostones are perhaps the most snackable plantain dish. Tostones begin with green plantains – for this savory dish, unripe, less sweet plantains are preferred. The plantains are cut into pieces and double-fried, similar to French fries, but with a twist. Between the two fryings, the plantain pieces are smashed into flat disks, increasing their crunchy surface area. Sometimes, the smashed plantains are soaked in seasoned water before the second fry, enhancing their flavor and crispness. The final result is a thick, chip-like crisp, ideal for dipping.
A classic dipping sauce is a blend of mayonnaise and ketchup. Garlic sauce and hot sauce are also excellent choices. Plain salt is the most common seasoning for tostones, but adobo is also sometimes sprinkled on.
38. Maduros: Sweet Fried Plantains
Like tostones, maduros are made by frying plantains, but the similarities largely end there. While tostones are savory and crunchy, maduros are soft and sweet. This difference arises because maduros are made with ripe plantains – the darker and sweeter, the better. They are also fried only once and not smashed, resulting in a softer interior and less of the crispy fried exterior.
The seasoning of maduros also differs from tostones. If perfectly ripe plantains are used, they are naturally sweet and can be served plain, without salt or spices. This works well when serving maduros as a side dish to savory meals. If enjoying them as a snack, extra sweetness can be added in the form of granulated sugar or honey, often sprinkled or drizzled over the plantains after frying.
39. Arroz con Pollo: Classic Chicken and Rice
Arroz con pollo is another comforting chicken and rice dish, sharing flavor profiles with pollo guisado. However, instead of cooking chicken and rice separately, arroz con pollo cooks them together, allowing the chicken’s flavor to infuse the rice. This dish is popular throughout the Spanish-speaking world, with numerous regional variations.
Beyond chicken and rice, Puerto Rican arroz con pollo ingredients can vary significantly. Sofrito and sazón and/or adobo are almost always present, but family recipes differ. Typically, chicken is browned, then rice and seasonings are sautéed in the chicken drippings before broth is added and everything simmers until the rice is cooked. Tomato sauce is sometimes added for color and flavor, while annatto or saffron are also used for this purpose. Olives or peas may also be incorporated. Medium-grain rice is ideal for this dish, offering a balance of stickiness and fluffiness.
Arroz con pollo can be cooked to develop a crispy, browned rice layer at the bottom, similar to socarrat in Spanish paella. Puerto Ricans call this toasted rice layer pegao, a highly prized part of the dish.
40. Casquitos de Guayaba: Guava Shells with Cheese
Casquitos de guayaba is made with halved guava fruits hollowed out into a cup shape (the name means “little helmets”). The guava halves are boiled in a flavored sugar syrup until soft and sweet. This dish is also popular in other countries like Cuba, with syrup flavorings varying regionally. In Puerto Rico, cinnamon is the classic flavoring.
After cooking, casquitos de guayaba can be served warm, but they are more commonly served cooled. While enjoyable on their own, they are traditionally paired with a mild cheese. The cheese can be firmer, like queso blanco or farmer’s cheese, or creamy, like cream cheese. The guava’s tropical sweetness and acidity, combined with the cheese’s tang and mild savoriness, create a unique and delightful dessert.
41. Cazuela: Puerto Rican Pumpkin Dessert
The word “cazuela” refers to a traditional shallow earthenware cooking dish. The name also encompasses various dishes typically prepared in this vessel. In much of Latin America, “cazuela” usually refers to a stew of meats, vegetables, and seasonings. However, Puerto Rican cazuela is a dessert.
For a Boricua-style celebration of pumpkin spice season, cazuela is a must-try. It’s made with a pumpkin-like squash, sweet potatoes, cream of coconut, and familiar pumpkin pie spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. The ingredients are pureed into a smooth batter/custard, thickened with eggs and rice flour, and baked until slightly browned and crusty at the edges. The result is essentially a crustless pumpkin pie. Like pumpkin pie in the US, cazuela is typically enjoyed during the holiday season. Variations may include raisins, coconut topping, or alternative root vegetables like taro or yuca.
42. Barriguitas de Vieja: Old Women’s Bellies (Pumpkin Fritters)
Barriguitas de vieja, another sweet pumpkin-flavored treat, has a somewhat unappetizing name: old women’s bellies. The origin of this name, supposedly related to the fritters’ shape, remains unclear. The dish has African culinary influences, like many Puerto Rican Creole recipes. Barriguitas are made with cooked pumpkin, flour, sugar, and cinnamon and vanilla for flavor. The batter is spooned into hot vegetable oil and fried until crispy outside and fluffy inside. Fresh from the fryer, the fritters are sometimes sprinkled with granulated sugar, powdered sugar, or cinnamon as a finishing touch.
These fried pumpkin pancakes can be enjoyed as a snack or alongside hot drinks like chocolate or coffee. Despite their dessert-like taste, like maduros, they can also be served as a side dish with dinner, showcasing the versatility of Puerto Rican cuisine.
