Arroz Caldo is a Filipino chicken rice porridge recipe, delicious yet so simple and easy to make.

This Arroz Caldo recipe is made with chicken, glutinous and regular white rice simmered in broth or water in witha savory ginger flavor. When served, it is topped with hard boiled egg, toasted garlic, green onion, lemon and fish sauce.

Depending on the region, some people use glutinous rice only or regular white rice or a combination of both just like this recipe.

Chicken Arroz Caldo is a Filipino comfort food. In the Philippines, it doesn’t matter what the weather is, it could be a rainy day or scorching heat and humid, we have this dish anyway. When I lived in the Philippines, I don’t even remember being cold unless we were in Baguio or Tagaytay City.

Also, it is a popular food when one is under the weather and not feeling well. Another quick light meal my mom prepared when we were sick, especially if we were puking, was lugaw, a plain rice porridge or congee with small amounts of milkfish (bangus) flakes.

Once in a while, my mom made Arroz Caldo as snack when we came home from school. But it becomes a meal on its own since we kept asking for more. What amazes me, my mom doesn’t eat chicken but she makes it so scrumptious.

We were in the Philippines recently and passed by tiny stalls that served only this dish. We were not aware why there were so many people. Our driver said, those are people on their lunch break lining up for chicken arroz caldo. It is something they can eat quickly which is cheap and flavorful.

This chicken rice porridge sounds so good right now. My allergy is so bad at this time of year and anything with ginger or turmeric is my go to dish or drink.

I make it a habit to drink ginger tea or turmeric tea daily to help relieve inflammation and it soothes me well.

When I make arroz caldo, it reminds me of Goto. It is another popular congee or rice porridge cooked similar to arroz caldo that uses honeycomb tripe.

Tips in Cooking Arroz Caldo

(1) Use chicken thighs and legs. Chicken bones add so much flavor to the dish. When I made this, I transferred 2 packages to thaw in the fridge.

Unfortunately, one package was chicken breast and luckily the other was chicken legs. I prefer using chicken with bones but it worked out fine since I combined them together.

(2) If you prefer chicken breast, I suggest you use chicken broth instead of water and add a small amount of chicken flavor bouillon.

(3) Before adding water, brown chicken as it adds more flavor.

(4) This recipe is a combination of glutinous and white rice. If you prefer to use either or, adjust water accordingly. Glutinous rice might need more water while white rice will use less water.

(5) Depending on your preference, add lemon to the mixture or serve it on the side. I like it served on the side with fish sauce.

(6) I also serve the following garnish: toasted garlic and green onions.

(7) To save you time, make extra servings of toasted garlic. If you cook other dishes that calls for toasted garlic, you have it on hand already. I store mine in a sealed container in my kitchen cabinet.

(8) This dish is best when served hot.

Arroz Caldo Recipe & Video

Recipe