Arroz Carreteiro is a meat and rice dish that hails from the south of Brazil. The translation of the name is, Wagoner’s Rice. Arroz Carreteiro is a recipe deep rooted in the history of the Gaucho, or the Brazilian cowboy. When traveling across the plains, they needed a hearty nutritious meal that could be made on the go. It was originally made with dried beef, or as it’s known in Brazil, Charque. This beef was developed to extend the shelf life. Today it’s made with either dried beef, or left over barbecue meat. I made it with left over Hanger steak and Argentinian sausage. It’s a hearty rice dish that will please many.
Here, I took leftover Hanger steak that was grilled on the barbecue, and diced it in even little cubes.
I am fortunate to have an Argentinian Meat Market close to me, where I picked up these wonderfully flavored sausages. You can pretty much use any type of savory sausage. I used one mild and one spicy.
Dice up some roasted red bell peppers.
So here you have around 2/3 cup of diced roasted bell peppers, 2 sausages taken out of the casing, and 2 diced onions. You can use white or yellow onions.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a heavy bottom pot. Here I am using a dutch oven pot. Saute the onions till translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the sausage and saute till the sausage starts to loose its pink color.
Add the cubed beef and stir.
Add the rice. The amount of rice is dependent on the amount of leftover beef and the amount of mouths you want to feed. Here I used 1 3/4 cups of rice.
Thoroughly stir the rice, and add hot boiled water. You will add a ratio of 2:1. So if you added 1 cup rice, add 2 cups water.
Add 2 cloves of pressed garlic, salt ……
and the diced red bell peppers.
Stir, cover and cook for 20 – 25 minutes.
If after 20 minutes, you feel that your rice is too dry, add a bit more water.
That’s it, now all you have to do is finish with a handful of chopped Italian parsley.
Drop the parsley in the pot right before taking it off the heat, and serve in a large platter.
I like to add fresh grated Parmesan cheese on each individual serving. Enjoy!
| Arroz Carreteiro | Print |
- Leftover barbecue beef diced
- Rice (1 - 2 cups)
- hot boiled water (2 - 4 cups)
- 2 onions
- 2 sausage (spicy or mild)
- ½ - ⅔ cup diced roasted red bell pepper
- ¼ cup parsley
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- Dice 2 yellow or white onions
- Dice leftover grilled steak into small cubes
- Dice ½ - ⅔ cup roasted red bell peppers
- Remove 2 sausages from casing and set aside
- Saute onions in 2 tablespoons of olive oil till translucent in color, about 5 minutes
- Add the sausage to the pot, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula, and saute till the sausage starts loosing it's pink color
- Add the cubed beef and stir
- Add the rice. The amount of rice added depends on how much leftover meat you have, and how many people you want to feed. In this recipe, I used 1¾ cups of rice. Stir the rice well, making sure it's coated with the ingredients of the pot. Have some hot boiled water handy. Add the water to the pot. Add double the amount of water for every cup of rice.
- Add 2 cloves of pressed garlic and salt to taste.
- Now add the diced red bell peppers.
- Stir, cover and cook for 20 - 25 minutes. If you find that after 20 minutes, the rice is too dry, add a bit more water.
- Chop up a handful of Italian parsley and drop it in the pot right before taking it off the heat.
- Serve in a large platter.
- Top each plate with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Ana Grigg says
Mmmm eu vou fazer!!! Obrigada pela receita!
JaVargas says
I use tomato paste instead of bell peppers … some of my family likes it wet (more water) and some like it more dry (less water ) … we also use dry meat (charque ) … so so satisfying….