Gallo Pinto recipe
Level
Easy
Time
4 hrs
SERVES
4
Gallo Pinto – Nicaragua’s national side dish
When you are backpacking Nicaragua, there is no way around Gallo Pinto. It is the Nicaraguan national dish. The Nicas have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Gallo pinto accompanies almost every meal in Nica. Let us show you how to prepare the specialty with this easy Gallo pinto recipe!
Don’t let the name mislead you the “spotted rooster” is 100% vegetarian. If you traveled across South or Central America, you have probably stumbled upon many slightly different version of Gallo Pinto. It’s interesting how the recipe varies from country to country.
The hearty and filling meal consists of rice and common red or black beans. You can eat Gallo pinto with literally anything, cold or warm. We love big, yummy breakfasts and usually had our first serving of Gallo Pinto with scrambled eggs and Nicaraguan cheese.
It takes some time to cook, so make your time worthwhile and cook a little extra!
Ingredients
- 1 cup of red beans
- 1 cup of white rice
- 2 garlic cloves
- vegetable oil
Instructions
Gallo Pinto recipe
- Pour the red beans into a larger bowl and start rinsing them. Drain them and rinse them again before covering them with water for at least 12 hours.
- After soaking for 12 hours, rinse the beans again and put them in a pot. Cover the beans with water (about 3 cm), add the garlic. Bring to boil and simmer the beans until they are tender. This should take about 2-3 hours.
- Turn off the heat and add a generous amount of salt before letting it sit for another 15 minutes. Drain the beans.
- Heat up oil in a separate pot, add rice and fry for 2-3 minutes with constant stirring. Add 2 cups of water and bring to boil before lowering the heat. Cook rice until all liquid is absorbed.
- Put some oil in a pan. Turn the heat up high and add the beans while stirring regularly. Don’t let them burn. Add rice after a couple of minutes and give it another twist.
My favorite Latin American cook books
The Latin American Cookbook
Rarely has the incredible range of cuisines from Mexico’s tropical coasts to the icy islands at the foot of South America been documented as comprehensively as in this collection. Global star chef and Peruvian sensation Virgilio Martínez curates, with a personal deep dive into each region’s food culture, culinary delicacies, and local ingredients.
The Central American Cookbook
Come take a journey with us into the delights of easy cooking. The point of this cookbook and all our cookbooks is to exemplify the effortless nature of cooking simply.
In this book we focus on Central American cooking. The Central American Cookbook is a complete set of simple but very unique Central American recipes. You will find that even though the recipes are simple, the tastes are quite amazing
Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America
Gran Cocina Latina unifies the vast culinary landscape of the Latin world, from Mexico to Argentina and all the Spanish-speaking countries of the Caribbean. In one volume it gives home cooks, armchair travelers, and curious chefs the first comprehensive collection of recipes from this region.
More Nicaraguan recipes
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