Add a colorful twist to Costa Rican white rice with Arroz a la Jardinera! Packed with fresh veggies and achiote, this easy recipe is a family favorite across Costa Rica.

White rice is an absolute staple of Costa Rican cuisine. We eat it with everything! So often in fact, that (spoiler alert!) sometimes it can get downright boring.

That’s probably where Arroz a la Jardinera comes in. Literally translating to “gardener’s rice,” this dish is a refreshingly easy twist on traditional Costa Rican white rice. It gets its name from the fact that you add some vegetables from your garden to the traditional white rice. Fun, right?

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I LOVE arroz a la jardinera. It’s mostly served in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica (to the North.) You will find this dish in other parts of the country, though, too. This is also the rice recipe that is used most often in traditional Costa Rican tamales.

I’m giving you the Arroz a la Jardinera recipe in Costa Rican style today–the way that I make it. Everyone does it a bit differently, but the bottom line is, this recipe is a great start.

Note: This recipe is also called arroz arreglado in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rican Arroz a la Jardinera Recipe

Ingredients

(printable recipe below)

• white rice (I exclusively use Jasmine rice)
• water or chicken broth
• vegetable oil
• salt
• white onion
• cilantro
• red pepper
• carrot
• garlic
• achiote paste

Instructions:

In the bottom of your rice cooker, pour the vegetable oil and move it around so that it coats the bottom of the inner pot. 

Press the cook button so that the pot begins to heat up. Next, add vegetables and achiote and lightly stir-fry for about 5 minutes, mixing gently every 1-2 minutes.

Add the dry rice and the water, and stir everything together. Put the lid on the rice cooker and push down the lever to cook the rice.

Once your rice is cooked, lightly stir the rice to evenly distribute the achiote paste. This gives the Arroz a la Jardinera a nice, even color.

Serve and enjoy- don’t forget the Salsa Lizano!

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Variations

The main variation of this recipe is to make it on the stovetop instead of in the rice cooker or the Instant Pot. Simply bring the rice, veggies, achiote, salt, and water to a boil on medium-high heat. Let it simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. Let it stand for a few minutes before serving.

Substitutions

For the rice in the photo, I used a yellow bell pepper instead of a red bell pepper.

You can also use any type of oil that you want- it doesn’t just have to be vegetable oil. I often use olive oil because that’s what I have on hand.

You can make this with brown rice, and it is absolutely delicious.

Serving Suggestions

Like I said before, this Arroz a la Jardinera recipe is a nice change from traditional white rice. But you can’t always substitute in any dish. For example, it wouldn’t taste too good in an Olla de Carne soup. It’s so good with a traditional Costa Rican casado, though- it really makes it fun! I love to eat this recipe with Costa Rican estofado, as pictured above, or with either Bistec Encebollado or Carne en Salsa. And, this is the rice used in traditional Costa Rican pork tamales, which we love to make at Christmas.

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Printable Recipe

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