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Belizean · Central American

Belizean rice and beans with stew chicken

Non-vegetarian

Belize's Sunday dinner: red kidney beans and rice cooked in coconut milk with thyme, served with chicken browned and stewed in a deep red recado gravy.

Belizean rice and beans with stew chicken is a Belizean main course, ready in about 1 hour 25 minutes and made with chicken pieces, skin-on, achiote paste and long-grain white rice. It serves 8 and is rated intermediate to cook.

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Belizean rice and beans with stewed chicken and potato salad
Photo: satanoid from Austin, TX, USA|Author=satanoid from Austin, TX, USA / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-2.0
Prep
25 min
Cook
1 h
Total
1 h 25 min
Serves
8
Level
Intermediate
Calories
844

Plus at least 1 hour (or overnight) marinating the chicken.

Ingredients

8 servings

Stew chicken

Rice and beans

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Rub the chicken with the recado (dissolved in the vinegar and Worcestershire), garlic (opens in a new tab), cumin (opens in a new tab), oregano (opens in a new tab), salt and pepper (opens in a new tab). Marinate in the fridge at least 1 hour.

    • 10 min

    Food safety: Marinate raw chicken in the fridge.

    Meat coated in a spiced marinade in a bowl
    How it looks · Photo: Ip Photographer on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Heat the oil and sugar in a heavy pot until the sugar turns dark amber. Add the chicken in batches and brown well on all sides.

    Food safety: Caramel is extremely hot — add the chicken carefully.

  3. Step 3

    Add the onion (opens in a new tab), pepper (opens in a new tab) and celery (opens in a new tab), then the stock. Cover and simmer until the chicken is tender and the gravy thick, about 40 minutes.

    • 40 min
    • low heat

    Food safety: Chicken must reach 74 °C.

    A curry simmering in a pot
    How it looks · Photo: Bachir Mamud on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Meanwhile simmer the coconut milk (opens in a new tab), water, onion (opens in a new tab), garlic (opens in a new tab), thyme (opens in a new tab), salt and pepper (opens in a new tab) with the beans for 5 minutes. Stir in the rice, bring back to the boil, cover tightly and cook on very low heat until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Fluff the rice and beans and serve with the stew chicken and plenty of gravy.

    • 2 min
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Belize · Well documentedCoconut rice and beans is shared with much of the Caribbean; the recado-stewed chicken reflects Belize's Maya and Mestizo influences.More food from Belize
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Main courses · Stews & braises · Rice dishes
Cooking method
Stewed, Marinated / cured, Simmered
Taste
savoury, earthy, creamy, tangy
Diet
Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · High-protein
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Festive & celebration · Make-ahead
Cook more with
Chicken pieces, skin-on · Achiote paste · Long-grain white rice · Kidney beans (canned) · White vinegar · Worcestershire sauce
Techniques
Boiling · Simmering · Stewing · Marinating · Curing

Allergens

  • Contains: Fishfrom worcestershire sauce
  • Contains: Glutenfrom worcestershire sauce
  • Contains: Celeryfrom worcestershire sauce, celery, chicken stock
  • May contain: Sulphitesfrom worcestershire sauce

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

844 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 506 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 22%
  • Carbohydrate 30%
  • Fat 47%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy844 kcal167 kcal
Protein46.7 g9.2 g
Carbohydrate64.4 g12.7 g
Net carbohydrate——
Sugars——
Added sugars——
Fibre——
Fat44.5 g8.8 g
Saturated fat18.3 g3.6 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol142 mg28 mg
Sodium1043 mg206 mg
Salt equivalent2.6 g0.5 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
940 mg
Calcium
116 mg
Iron
7.8 mg
Magnesium
108 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
—
Vitamin C
19 mg
Vitamin D
0.4 µg
Vitamin B12
0.6 µg
Folate (DFE)
241 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Achiote paste: Ground paprika (FDC 171329) used as a stand-in: achiote paste is ground annatto seed with spices, garlic and vinegar.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Serve with

  • Serve with potato salad and fried ripe plantain, as is traditional in Belize.

Food safety

  • Marinate the chicken in the fridge and stew it to 74 °C.
  • Cool and refrigerate the rice and beans within 1 hour.

Storage

  • Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Reheating

  • Reheat chicken in its gravy; sprinkle rice with water, cover and reheat until piping hot.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

The body of the dish

Stew chicken

Make Recado rojo (Yucatecan achiote paste)Used in steps 1, 2, 3

Masalas in this recipe

Make the masala first, then come back to finish the dish.

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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