Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
La Bandera Dominicana
The Dominican everyday plate: white rice, stewed red beans, and braised meat, often with fried plantain.
Dominican · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 55 min
~1060 cal · 78g protein · 131g carbs · 23g fat · 10g fiber · 3g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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La bandera, the flag, is the everyday plate of the Dominican Republic, eaten so universally at midday that it is named for the nation itself. It is not a special-occasion dish but the reliable centre of Dominican daily life.
It is a simple, balanced trio: fluffy white rice, stewed red beans (habichuelas guisadas), and meat, usually chicken or beef in a savoury tomato-based sauce. Fried green (tostones), a small salad, or avocado often round out the plate.
Comforting, homey, and satisfying, la bandera is what a Dominican cook makes for the family lunch, day in and day out. Its very ordinariness is the point: it is the taste of home and the rhythm of Dominican life.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, 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
2 lb chicken or beef, cut up
3 cups red kidney beans, cooked
2 cups white rice
1 cup sofrito (onion, pepper, garlic, cilantro)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
2 tbsp a splash of oil
Instructions
1
Braise the meat (or mushrooms) with sofrito, tomato paste, and oregano until tender.
2
Simmer the beans with more sofrito and a little squash to a soupy guiso.
3
Cook the white rice until fluffy.
4
Season everything well.
5
Serve rice, beans, and meat side by side, with fried plantain (tostones).
Cibao tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Cibao. The Cibao valley is the Dominican agricultural heartland, where mangu, mashed green plantain, comes with its three companions, los tres golpes: fried salami, fried cheese, and a fried egg, with pickled red onions piled on the plantain itself. Rice, red beans, and stewed meat make up la bandera, the flag, eaten at midday nearly everywhere.
🗺️
Dominican Republic. Dominican cooking is comforting and citrusy, la bandera (rice, beans, and stewed meat), mangú mashed plantains, and hearty sancocho stew. Sofrito, plantain, and a Spanish-African-Taíno heritage define the plate.
🌍
North America. The most consequential technique on this continent is nixtamalisation, cooking maize with lime or wood ash. It loosens the skins, makes the dough that becomes tortillas and tamales, and frees up niacin the body cannot otherwise absorb, which is why maize spread around the world without the technique and took pellagra with it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Dominican Republic
MangúSilky mashed green plantains under pickled red onions, the Dominican breakfast that carries the day.
Chicharrón de PolloMarinated chicken pieces dredged and fried crisp, a Dominican favorite from colmado counters and family lunches.
Habichuelas con DulceA sweet, creamy pudding of blended red beans, coconut, and sweet potato, a uniquely Dominican Lenten dessert.
Browse all Dominican Republic recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Dominican Republic meal
Morir SoñandoDrink
Habichuelas con DulceDessert
Chicharrón de PolloLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is La Bandera Dominicana?
The Dominican everyday plate: white rice, stewed red beans, and braised meat, often with fried plantain.
Where does La Bandera Dominicana come from?
La Bandera Dominicana is a Dominican dish from Cibao, Dominican Republic.
Can La Bandera Dominicana be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This La Bandera Dominicana 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 La Bandera Dominicana 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 La Bandera Dominicana take to make?
About 75 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 55 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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