Cuban Red Beans and Rice Recipe (Congri)

Angled view of a bowl filled with Red Beans, Rice, and ham - Hostess At Heart

5 from 2 votes

Cuban Red Beans and Rice Recipe (Congri)

Experience the flavors of Cuba with this delicious and easy Cuban Red Beans and Rice recipe. It's hearty comfort food the family will love.

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 20

Servings

Author Julie Menghini

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Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

1 pound dried small red beans
1 ham bone shank end with plenty of meat or 3 cups ham in chunks
5 cups water
1 cup red wine (dry Spanish Red)
4 strips bacon chopped
Olive oil for frying
1 yellow onion diced (2 cups)
2 green bell pepper diced (2 cups)
5 cloves garlic minced (3 Tbsp)
2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 habanero pepper quartered or 2 jalapeño peppers sliced lengthwise
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 lb parboiled white rice

Instructions

Sort the dried beans and discard broken and mishaped beans. Cover with water and bring the beans to a boil. Remove the pot from the heat. Cover the beans and let them soak overnight.
The next day, drain the beans and cover them with fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until tender, about 1 hour. Drain.
While your beans are cooking, put your ham bone in a separate pot that's large enough to cover most of the ham bun with the liquid when the water and wine are added, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 1 hour.
You can substitute 2 or 3 cups of ham chunks if you don't have a ham bone. Reduce the cooking time to about 30 minutes. See the notes for additional options.
Remove the ham bone or ham chunks and KEEP THE LIQUID. This is your stock.
If you used a ham bone, remove all of the meat from the bone and cut it into bite-sized chunks.
Use a large, covered cooking pot. Begin by frying the bacon pieces in a little olive oil until they begin to crisp. Add the onion and green pepper and a little more oil if needed and sauté until the onions are tender. Add the garlic and ham chunks and cook another minute or two.
Add the red beans, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, vinegar, habanero or jalapeños, salt, pepper, and 4 cups (measure exactly) of the stock you made when you cooked the ham (If you're short on stock, add a little water to make up the difference.)
Rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear. Add the rinsed rice and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook over low heat, stirring once or twice in the first 5 minutes only, about 30 to 45 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked.
Remove the habanero or jalapeño pepper and the bay leaf. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Notes

Adapted from Three Guys from Miami "Celebrate Cuban"

Note: If you're using a ham bone that doesn't have a lot of extra ham on it, cook the bone in the liquid for 30 minutes and then add the additional ham chunks for the final 30 minutes.

This recipe makes a large pot and would serve 12 people as a main dish or double that as a side dish.

Nutrition

This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.

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