Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Papa de Arroz
Guinea-Bissau's gentle rice porridge, the national grain simmered soft and loose, sweetened and served with a pour of milk.
Bissau-Guinean · easy · serves 4
prep 5 min · cook 35 min
~258 cal · 5g protein · 53g carbs · 2g fat · 1g fiber · 13g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Papa de arroz is rice porridge from Guinea-Bissau, the simplest morning form of the grain that defines the country. Rice is the centre of Bissau-Guinean eating, grown by every ethnic group and nowhere more remarkably than in the bolanha, the diked mangrove paddies of the coast, and a Creole saying holds that when you see a beautiful child, it is because of rice.
For the papa, rice is simmered in far more water than a would ever see, until the grains swell, soften, and begin to break down into a loose, soothing porridge. It is sweetened with sugar or honey and taken with milk where there is milk to spare; cooked long and thin it stretches a modest measure of rice into a warm meal for the whole household.
It is first food for weaning babies, comfort for the unwell, and an everyday breakfast, and it has had a small revival through Guinea-Bissau's national rice campaigns, which teach papa de arroz made with local mangrove rice in school and hospital kitchens as pride in the home grain.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 cup white rice, a soft, starchy variety breaks down best
6 cups water
a pinch salt
3 tbsp sugar, or to taste
1 cup milk, to serve
Instructions
1
Wash the rice until the water runs nearly clear, then drain it well.
2
Bring the water to a boil with the salt, add the rice, and simmer over low heat, uncovered, stirring now and then so nothing sticks.
3
Cook for 30 minutes or so, until the grains are completely soft and starting to burst, and the liquid has turned cloudy and lightly thickened around them; the papa should stay loose, closer to a drink than a pudding.
✎ Chef’s note
Stir more often in the last 10 minutes and mash a little against the side of the pot to coax out the starch.
4
Sweeten with the sugar and serve warm in bowls, with the milk poured over at the table.
Bissau-Guinean home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bissau. Rice is grown here rather than only imported, in tidal paddies worked along the coastal creeks and out in the Bijagos islands, and it is the base of nearly every meal. The Portuguese left bread and the habit of a caldo; the cassava, okra and smoked fish keep it firmly West African.
🗺️
Guinea-Bissau. The cashew figure is startling: the nut has accounted for something like two thirds of merchandise exports and, by central-bank measures, the great majority of export revenue, with more than half of farming households growing it. The apple is eaten and fermented locally rather than exported, which is the half of the crop outsiders never see.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Guinea-Bissau
Caldo de PeixeA Guinea-Bissau fish-and-rice pot simmered with palm oil, tomato, and greens in one dish.
FidjósBissau breakfast fritters: a mashed-banana and flour batter fried into small golden puffs, sold in paper cones on the morning streets.
ChabéuFish simmered in a thick red palm-nut sauce with onion, tomato, and chili, served over rice, a signature dish of Guinea-Bissau.
Browse all Guinea-Bissau recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Guinea-Bissau meal
Doce de Papaia (Papaya Sweet)Dessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Papa de Arroz?
Guinea-Bissau's gentle rice porridge, the national grain simmered soft and loose, sweetened and served with a pour of milk.
Where does Papa de Arroz come from?
Papa de Arroz is a Bissau-Guinean dish from Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Can Papa de Arroz be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Papa de Arroz recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Papa de Arroz safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Papa de Arroz take to make?
About 40 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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