Arroz con gandules is a traditional Puerto Rican rice dish built on pigeon peas (gandules) cooked with rice; it is a staple of Puerto Rican cuisine, usually served as a side or as part of a larger meal. Pigeon peas are not native to the Caribbean - they originated in South Asia and Africa and reached Puerto Rico through the transatlantic slave trade, where they combined with rice introduced by Spanish colonizers to form the dish eaten today.
The dish combines pigeon peas, rice, sofrito (garlic, onion, peppers, and cilantro), and seasonings including achiote (annatto) oil, which gives it its orange-red color. The peas are often used pre-cooked or canned; long- or medium-grain rice is used, with attention to the rice-to-liquid ratio for the right texture.
It is commonly served alongside roasted or fried pork, chicken, or fish, used as a filling for empanadillas, or as a base for dishes like arroz mamposteao. Family and regional variations exist, but rice, pigeon peas, and sofrito remain the constant core.