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Puerto Rican Rice with Ham | Tender rice, bold flavor, and chunks of leftover ham is the perfect Puerto Rican Christmas dinner recipe that your family will love!
A Puerto Rican Christmas tradition is to celebrate Noche Buena, that means "Good Night" which is Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is like a second Thanksgiving, but with only Latin recipes. We have a pineapple clove ham recipe, arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), pasteles, coquito (rum and coconut drink), and much more!
On Christmas day, we love to eat leftovers, just like the day after Thanksgiving. Now the day after Christmas, this is when creativity comes into play! We have to start switching things up.
I love using Hatfield® Classic Ham for leftover ham recipes. For Noche Buena, we always buy two Hatfield Boneless Hams.
One boneless ham is enough for my family of seven, which makes it the perfect size for families; still for holidays, I always want to make sure there is more than enough ham for visitors, because it is simply delicious.
I love that not only does Hatfield have pre-sliced ham, or that the ham is always fully-cooked, what I especially love is that there is variety in flavors!
Classic, honey, and black forest are three flavor options for Hatfield's boneless ham. If you want even more variety, for dishes like baked beans, you've got to check out their ham steaks flavors. Bourbon BBQ, Hickory Smoked, and Maple are just a few of them.
For this Puerto Rican rice with ham recipe, I'm using Hatfield's Original Smoked Ham Steak.
What I love about Hatfield's Ham Steaks:
- Perfect portion to add to a casserole, rice dish, or omelette for the whole family.
- Multiple recipes can be created for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
- Fully-cooked, so can chop and serve with cheese and crackers for a better for you snack.
- Gluten-free, so everyone can enjoy it.
- Budget-friendly, you buy for only what you want to use! No wasted food here.
"For a limited time this Holiday season, enjoy $2 off any (1) Hatfield Ham!"
How To Make Puerto Rican Rice with Ham
Puerto Rican rice recipes all have the same base. You saute onions and peppers, add in sofrito, spices, and tomato sauce. Then you're able to mix things up, such as in this recipe, we're using leftover ham to create a rice with ham recipe!
- Rinse your white long grain rice until it's clear. Set to the side.
- Heat oil over medium high heat, add in onions and red peppers.
- Cook onions and peppers for 3 minutes, or until onions have softened.
- Add in sofrito, seasonings, and tomato sauce.
- Cook for about 3 minutes.
- Add in chopped Hatfield ham.
- Pour in water or chicken broth.
- Add in cilantro and bay leaves.
- Let water come to a boil.
- Pour in rinsed rice and mix to combine.
- Lower heat if necessary, to a soft boil.
- Let rice cook for about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated, and you are able to see the rice. Lower heat to low and cover rice. Walk away for about 22 minutes before turning off the heat. Once heat is off, remove pot from burner and leave lid on for ten minutes before lifting lid and gently fluffing rice with a fork.
What is sofrito?
If you're wondering what sofrito is, it's a puree mixture of various peppers (not spicy), onions, garlic, cilantro, and recao. I have a recipe for homemade sofrito as well as a guide for what to make with sofrito.
You can buy pre-made sofrito in the freezer section in the International Foods area of any supermarket, like ShopRite, where I bought my Hatfield ham.
Or you can leave it out completely if there is no other option.
Where do I find Hatfield Ham?
I bought my Hatfield Ham at ShopRite, however most major grocery stores should carry it. Look closer to where the bacon and hot dogs are for these fully-cooked Hatfield Ham products.
Be sure to check out Hatfield's website and leave a comment below with your favorite leftover ham recipe ideas! Buen provecho mi gente!
Hatfield Ham with Puerto Rican Rice
Equipment
- stove
Ingredients
- ¼ cup of oil or achiote oil
- ⅔ cup of chopped onions
- ⅔ cup of chopped red onions
- ⅓ cup of sofrito
- ½ tablespoon of oregano
- ½ tablespoon of salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 2 packets of Sazon or 1 tablespoon of turmeric for color
- 1 packet of Ham or chicken bullion
- 4 oz of tomato sauce
- ½ pound of Hatfield ham steak cubed
- 3 tablespoons of green olives chopped
- ¼ cup of cilantro chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 ¾ cups of water
- 3 cups of rinsed long grain rice
Instructions
- Rinse your white long grain rice until it's clear. Set to the side.
- Heat oil over medium high heat, add in onions and red peppers.
- Cook onions and peppers for 3 minutes, or until onions have softened.
- Add in sofrito, seasonings, and tomato sauce.
- Cook for about 3 minutes.
- Add in chopped Hatfield ham.
- Pour in water or chicken broth.
- Add in cilantro and bay leaves.
- Let water come to a boil.
- Pour in rinsed rice and mix to combine.
- Lower heat if necessary, to a soft boil.
- Let rice cook for about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated, and you are able to see the rice. Lower heat to low and cover rice. Walk away for about 22 minutes before turning off the heat. Once heat is off, remove pot from burner and leave lid on for ten minutes before lifting lid and gently fluffing rice with a fork.
