Few will have heard of Locrio de queso, but our large collection of locrio recipes would be incomplete without this one. If you're looking for something different to serve tonight, this simple and delightful meatless dish of fried cheese with rice may be just what you needed.
By - Reviewed: . Original: Oct 26, 2023
Why we ❤️ it
Let's have a frank conversation. This is a dish I tried a few times at home but never liked as a kid. The rubbery, semi-melted cheese on rice never seemed visually attractive or appealing in textures and flavors. Until I got an idea…
How about making it with cheese "chicharrones"?
The result, dear reader, is an exciting combination of textures and flavors that complement each other very well. And our vegetarian readers will be delighted with our unique locrio recipe without meat, seafood, or fish. I heartily recommend it to you.
What cheese to use
For this recipe, and the traditional one, we use queso de freír, a traditional Dominican cheese with a high melting temperature. It is the Queso frito that we serve in the Dominican breakfast of Mangú with Los Tres Golpes.
If you don't have good queso de freir on hand, you can see substitutes below.
Locrio de queso (Dominican rice and cheese ).
Serving suggestions
Here is my favorite way to serve this delicious dish: a few slices of Dominican avocado, Tostones, and/or Fritos maduros. If you feel like it, make some Habichuelas guisadas, it go very well with this rice dish, and adds protein to the combination.
Other options that I love with this dish are Torrejas de berenjena, Arañitas de plátano, Arepitas de yuca, and Arepitas de maíz.
Top tips
- The right cheese: Make sure the queso de freir is good quality. Good queso de freir does not melt in hot oil.
- Substitutes: If you don't have Dominican queso de freir, you can use Halloumi or Paneer. Be careful that the Halloumi is not the one with mint in it.
- Frying oil / fats: For the cheese, you need frying oil (with a high smoke point). If you don't follow a vegan/vegetarian diet, they crisp up nicely with ghee or lard, but we typically fry the cheese in vegetable oil (corn or peanut).
- Vegetables: I added as many vegetables as I had in the fridge to make this dish more nutritious. If you like, you can also add chopped celery, capers, and some diced pumpkin.
- For coloring: If you want to use tomato paste instead of tomato sauce, use three tablespoons of tomato paste and add an extra half a cup of water to the water indicated in the recipe.
About this recipe
As I tell you above, the way mami made this locrio - which was not often - was to sauté the cheese with the vegetables. The result was that the cheese partially melted, and we found white cheese mixed with the rice.
My recipe differs in that I fry the cheese in cubes until they are nice and crispy, and don't add them to the rice until the end. You can try it both ways, but I prefer the latter.
Have you tried Locrio de queso? Did your family make it at home? Do you like it? Tell me about it in the comments.
Video
Recipe
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Locrio de Queso [Video+Recipe] Rice and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup oil for frying
- 1½ pound queso de freír, [0.7 kilo] (see notes above recipe)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- ¼ cup bell peppers, diced. or cubanelle peppers (cubanelle)
- ½ teaspoon oregano, dried, ground
- 1 tablespoon garlic, crushed
- ⅓ cup peas,
- ⅓ cup diced carrot, diced
- ¼ cup pitted green olives, pitted
- ⅓ cup sweet corn,
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground or crushed
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 3 teaspoon salt
- 4 cup long grain rice
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, or cilantro
Instructions
1. Frying cheese
Cut the cheese into 1-inch [2.5-centimeter] cubes. Press the cheese with paper towels to remove as much liquid as possible.In a small saucepan, heat the frying oil over medium-high heat. Add the cheese and fry, turning to cook evenly until they are golden brown and crispy.Place on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
2. Cook the vegetables
- In a medium pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring until it starts to turn translucent. Add peppers, oregano, garlic, peas, carrots, olives, corn and black pepper. Cook and stir for one minute.Stir in tomato sauce, followed by 4 cups of water. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. Lower heat to medium and bring to a boil.
3. Cooking the rice
- When the water comes to a boil, add the rice and cook, stirring regularly to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. When almost all the liquid has evaporated, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook over low heat (but just enough to generate steam) for 10 minutes.In 10 more minutes, taste the rice. It should be firm but cooked through. If necessary, cover it again and leave it for another 5 minutes over low heat.
4. Serve
- Remove from heat. Add the fried cheese and parsley or cilantro, stir to mix well.To serve, see serving suggestions above the recipe.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
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More rice recipes
We have the most complete collection of rice recipes and locrio recipes, such as Locrio de salami, Locrio de puerco, Locrio de longaniza, Locrio de camarones, Locrio de arenque, and more Dominican delicacies.
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