Arroz con pollo with Mazola® Bouillon Packets {$25 Giftcard Giveaway} #Sobrecitos #spon

Arroz con pollo with Mazola® Bouillon Packets

Recently, I switched bouillon products because I no longer wanted to support a certain brand, so when I had the chance to try Mazola® Sobrecitos®, I was excited to see what they have to offer.  Of course, the first thing that I thought of to cook was pollo arroz.  My suegra makes a really delicious saffron rice, but I didn’t have any saffron at the moment, so I thought, why not go Puerto Rican style?  When I was in college, a professor of mine invited me over for a few family parties and her pollo arroz was always my favorite.  There were so many great dishes that I can’t quite name now, but pollo arroz has always stuck with me.  Maybe because it’s also something we ate a lot with my hubby’s family…the main difference between Puerto Rican and Mexican pollo arroz being the olives and sometimes legumes or peas.

I even thought about adding garbanzos to the recipe, just to add a little Mexican flare, but I decided to wait and keep it more traditional this time around.  Next time we’ll have our chickpeas though…lol.  ;)

Pollo arroz is a pretty simple recipe, and I made it even simpler by doing it all in the crock pot.  One thing I remembered about Sra. Perez’ house…she always had a plethora of crock pots…and they are a virtual necessity for every working mother.  Since my wedding day, when we received our first crock pot, I’ve cooked in it more times than I can count and it’s continually been a lifesaver.

Below, you can see the pollo arroz stewing in the crock pot.  Chicken, rice, tomatoes, onions, olives, seasonings, olive oil, etc.

The nice thing about using Mazola is the fact that their serving packets come in just the right size for a ‘one-pot-wonder’ kind of meal.

One packet counts as one cube, and like the cubes, salt is already included.  In the case of Mazola though, they’ve included sea salt, a favorite in our house.  It’s also nice that you don’t have to constantly stir and check, waiting for cubes to dissolve.  Mazola comes in a power form, much like a seasoning salt or other bouillon alternative.

Arroz con pollo recipe

In case you’re wondering, the final recipe came out pretty darn good, although I can’t say I wasn’t still craving a little saffron. ;)  Gotta remember that next time! Here’s the recipe for our crock pot pollo arroz, altered to include Mazola® Sobrecitos® chicken bouillon packets.

Ingredients

• 3 cups of long grain white rice
• 1 whole chicken or 3-4 chicken breasts, cut into pieces
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 large ripe tomatoes, cut into large pieces
• 1/2 to 1 cup pimiento-stuffed olives, depending on your preference
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons of garlic powder or 3-4 fresh garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 1/2 cups water
• 2 packets of Mazola® Sobrecitos® Chicken Flavor Bouillon
• 1 packet of Mazola® Sobrecitos® Tomato Flavor Bouillon

Directions

In a large crock pot, add all of your ingredients, except the rice, incorporating them one by one.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently and once boiling, add in the rice.  Cook on high heat until the liquid is absorbed into the rice, about an hour, depending on temperature.  After this point, stir the rice gently and turn down the temperature to medium heat.  Continue cooking about 20 more minutes, until the rice is tender, but firm.

Garnish with fresh cilantro, tomatoes or even pico de gallo.  Enjoy!

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Find out more about Mazola® Sobrecitos® : www.mazola.com/spanish/inicio

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Latina Mom Bloggers and Mazola® Sobrecitos®. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

© 2012, Chantilly Patiño. All rights reserved.