Gallo Pinto Nicaragüense

Name: Gallo Pinto Nicaragüense
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Nicaragua
Ingredients: 2 cups cooked white rice; 1 1/2 cups cooked red beans, with some liquid reserved; 1 onion, diced; 1 red bell pepper, diced; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 tsp ground cumin; Salt, to taste; Sour cream (crema), for serving

4 servings10 min prep20 min cookEasy Nicaragua

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The Story Behind It

The Tale of Gallo Pinto Nicaragüense

Story updated September 17, 2026

Nicaragua's gallo pinto, rice and beans fried together, is at the center of a friendly but real rivalry with Costa Rica over which country invented it. Most food historians see it as having developed independently across the region, blending African, indigenous, and Spanish colonial cooking traditions into a shared peasant staple.

Ingredients

Scale:· 4 servings

2 cups cooked white rice
1 1/2 cups cooked red beans, with some liquid reserved
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt, to taste
Sour cream (crema), for serving

Instructions

1Heat oil in a skillet and sauté onion and bell pepper until softened.
2Add the red beans with a bit of their cooking liquid and simmer briefly.
3Stir in the cooked rice and cumin, mashing some of the beans as you mix.
4Cook, stirring frequently, until the rice takes on a mottled reddish-brown color.
5Season with salt to taste.
6Serve hot, traditionally with a dollop of crema.

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