Modern Arroz con Maiz: Cooking Puerto Rican Yellow Rice with Corn (in a Rice Cooker) {Recipe}

Arroz con maiz (yellow rice with corn) is one of my favorite rice dishes. You may think all yellow rice recipes taste the same, but the different ingredients added to the rice do bring unique flavors and textures to your yellow rice, making for special variations. Arroz con maiz has become a favorite of mine due to the sweetness the corn adds to the rice.

This Puerto Rican yellow rice with corn recipe I’m sharing with you today is made using a rice cooker. While traditionally arroz con maiz is made on the stove, I am fond of using my rice cooker and appreciate using shortcuts to save time in the kitchen. I get the same great-tasting arroz con maiz and can share the wonderful flavor of Puerto Rican yellow rice with my family, all with less time. What’s not to love? Read on to learn how to make Puerto Rican yellow rice with corn in a rice cooker!

Puerto Rican Yellow Rice with Corn Recipe (in a Rice Cooker) – Arroz con Maiz

Ingredients:

• 4 cups uncooked white rice, or about 1 handful per person
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 3 Tbsp vegetable cooking oil
• Sazón, 1 packet
• 2 Tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp sofrito or recaito
• Olives (use the Spanish salad olives with pimientos), about 5-6 olives
• 1 can of yellow corn, drained

To see pictures and links for these ingredients, see 5 Must-Have Ingredients for Cooking Puerto Rican Food

Directions:

1. Put rice into your rice cooker’s pot and rinse the rice. If you’re not familiar with how to clean rice, it just means that you run it under water a couple of times and pick out the dark grains, pebbles, etc. To do this:
   • Fill pot with water and press rice with your hands.
   • Pick out anything that’s not a rice grain.
   • Pour out water, being careful not to lose any of the rice.
   • Repeat a few times until water pours out clear.
2. Add water to the pot until the water sits just above the rice. Add more water if necessary.
3. Add remaining ingredients.
4. Stir.
5. Taste the water. If you feel it needs more seasoning, you can add a little salt to your liking.
6. Cover and set the rice cooker to cook.

There will be no need to stir the rice while it cooks, though you certainly can do so once, about mid-way through. Your arroz con maiz should be done in about 35 minutes. You will know it’s done when you taste the rice and it’s neither mushy nor tough.

Serve your yellow rice with corn along with your choice of meat, and a side salad for a complete meal. Alternatively, you could also serve with beans and a salad for a vegetarian meal. There are many options for eating Puerto Rican yellow rice with corn – just be sure to save room for seconds since this rice dish is delicious!

What is your favorite way to eat arroz con maiz (Puerto Rican yellow rice with corn)?

All photos © Melanie Edwards/modernmami™