Puerto Rican Stewed Vegetables Recipe Is a Bowl of Pure Flavor (High Fiber, High Protein) by Elisa Schmitz
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Puerto Rico is more than a place. To me, Puerto Rico is a flavor. The island that I consider my second home is certainly known for its unique Latin flavor. More savory than spicy, the taste of Puerto Rico is rich with island seasonings that create a delicious, unforgettable flavor. My mom (mi madre) is from Puerto Rico and as I was growing up, she would make many of her favorite dishes. One that I remember fondly is her stewed vegetables recipe, which is almost like a vegetarian version of her stewed chicken (pollo guisado) recipe. This Puerto Rican stewed vegetables recipe is a bowl of pure flavor! Plus, it's high in protein and high in fiber. Check out the health benefits of protein and the health benefits of fiber.
I'm lucky to have spent a lot of time in the countryside of La Isla del Encanto (the island of enchantment), and many of my favorite memories are of the delicious Puerto Rican meals I enjoyed there. Mom and her sisters were always cooking up something good! Puerto Rican stewed vegetables are incredibly flavorful because of the sofrito – a blend of onions, garlic, peppers and cilantro – and sazon – a blend of coriander, garlic powder, achiote, cumin and oregano. You can make your own versions of sofrito and sazon at home or buy them online or in stores that carry prepared Latin foods. Check out how to make your own sofrito, and check out the health benefits of sofrito.
As Mom was cooking, she would remind me that her secret trick to making stewed vegetables so thick and rich was to include potatoes or other root vegetables like sweet potatoes or yuca. "The potatoes thicken the sauce," she would tell me. That's why I make sure to include potatoes when I make Puerto Rican recipes that need a thick sauce. The sauce turns out so rich that it works as an excellent topping for chicken or beef, or just on its own over rice. Plus, this recipe is loaded with other vegetables, such as broccoli, bell peppers and kidney beans, so you get the health benefits of broccoli, the health benefits of bell peppers and the health benefits of kidney beans.
To make this savory Puerto Rican stewed vegetables recipe, here are the gluten-free ingredients you'll need to gather: extra virgin olive oil, small potatoes, broccoli, onion, orange bell pepper, sofrito, minced garlic, sazon, diced tomatoes and kidney beans. The green olives are optional. First, you add the olive oil, potatoes, broccoli, onions and bell peppers. Next, you add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Add the olives toward the end, if using. So simple!
Serve this mouth-watering dish for dinner over rice to soak up the savory sauce. It's a meal on its own, or the perfect side dish for pork, beef, chicken or seafood. Enjoy the Puerto Rican flavor!
Cuisine: Puerto Rican
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup orange bell pepper, diced
- 2 cups broccoli, chopped
- 3 cups small potatoes, sliced in half
- 3/4 cup sofrito
- 2 tablespoons sazon seasoning
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 30 ounces (2 cans) diced tomatoes (with liquid)
- 30 ounces (2 cans) dark red kidney beans (with liquid)
- 6 ounces green olives, pitted (optional)
- fresh basil or other fresh herb (optional garnish)
Here's how to make it:
- In a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the olive oil along with the onions, peppers, broccoli and potatoes. Stir to combine.
- Add the sofrito, sazon and garlic. Stir to combine. Add the diced tomatoes and kidney beans. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are getting tender, about 15 minutes. Add the olives, if using, and stir to combine. Simmer for a couple more minutes then remove from heat.
- Serve on its own or over rice. Garnish with fresh herbs, if desired.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. Any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.
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