How do you say rice in Spanish?

Rice in Spanish is arroz. Arroz blanco is white rice; arroz integral is brown rice; arroz con pollo is the famous rice-with-chicken dish; arroz con leche is rice pudding.

How do you pronounce arroz?

Arroz is ah-ROHS, two syllables, stress on ROHS. The rr is a rolled trill (the famous Spanish r). The z is a clean s in Latin America, a soft th in central and northern Spain.

Is arroz masculine or feminine?

Arroz is masculine: el arroz, los arroces. Most Spanish nouns ending in -z are feminine (la luz, la paz), but arroz is one of the masculine exceptions, along with el lápiz and el pez.

How do I remember rice in Spanish?

Hear arroz in real cooking and ordering contexts: arroz con pollo, arroz blanco, arroz con leche. Parrot's videos surface food vocabulary in real meals so the word ties to the dishes you'll actually want to order or cook.

Spanish vocabulary · Beginner

Rice in Spanish: Arroz and the Dishes That Made It Famous

Written by Sofia Ramirez, Lead Spanish Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Arroz · noun (masculine) · ah-ROHS

Rice in Spanish is arroz, a culinary staple across Spain and Latin America. The word forms the backbone of classic dishes: arroz con pollo (rice with chicken), paella valenciana, arroz amarillo, and the dessert arroz con leche.

Arroz is ah-ROHS, two syllables, stress on ROHS. The double rr is a rolled trill, the strong rolled r. The z sounds like a clean s in Latin America and a soft th in central Spain.

Cocino arroz casi todos los días.

I cook rice almost every day.

Rice in Spanish: Quick Reference

Below are the most common Spanish words for rice, with pronunciation and regional usage notes.

Spanish	English	Pronunciation	Region / Register
arroz	rice	ah-ROHS	Default, widely understood
arroz blanco	rice		white rice
arroz integral	rice		brown rice
arroz con pollo	rice		rice with chicken (classic dish)

How Native Speakers Use Arroz

Real example sentences across three contexts you'll actually run into.

Plain rice as a side

Quiero pollo con arroz blanco, por favor.

I'd like chicken with white rice, please.

Arroz blanco is the default plain steamed rice. The masculine noun: el arroz.

A classic dish

Mi mamá hace el mejor arroz con pollo del barrio.

My mom makes the best rice with chicken in the neighborhood.

Arroz con pollo is one of the most widespread Latin American dishes. Pair the phrase with regional variants: arroz amarillo, arroz a la cubana, arroz chaufa.

Dessert

De postre quiero arroz con leche.

For dessert I want rice pudding.

Arroz con leche is the Spanish-speaking world's classic rice pudding. Common at family meals.

Avoid These Mistakes When Using Arroz

Pluralizing arroz when you mean different rice dishes

Incorrect: En la cocina cubana hay muchos arroces.

Correct: En la cocina cubana hay muchos platos de arroz.

Arroz is technically a mass noun and doesn't usually pluralize in everyday speech. For different rice dishes, say platos de arroz or different specific dish names.

Saying la arroz

Incorrect: La arroz está lista.

Correct: El arroz está listo.

Arroz is masculine. El arroz, los arroces (rare). The article must match: el arroz, never la arroz.

Why Rice Matters in Spanish-Speaking Cultures

Rice is the backbone of dozens of classic dishes

Arroz anchors so many Spanish-language cuisines that listing them is a tour: paella in Spain, arroz con pollo across most of Latin America, arroz a la cubana with a fried egg and banana, arroz amarillo with annatto, arroz chaufa with Chinese-Peruvian roots, gallo pinto in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, congrí in Cuba, moros y cristianos with black beans. Knowing the word is the start; knowing the dishes is the deep cultural fluency.

Lock in Rice Vocabulary with the Parrot Method

Why word lists alone don't stick

Memorizing a translation feels productive, but most learners forget 70% of what they studied within 48 hours. Vocabulary needs spaced repetition AND real-world exposure to transfer to long-term memory.

See Arroz used by native speakers

Parrot's short-form videos feature native speakers using arroz in real situations. Context-based exposure beats flashcards, you hear Cocino arroz casi todos los días. while watching someone live the moment, connecting meaning, sound, and rhythm at once.

Save, review, repeat, stay consistent

Tap any word to save it. Parrot's spaced-repetition system surfaces it right before you'd forget, no manual flashcard creation. The watch, parrot back, save, review cycle turns recognition into fluency at 2.7x the speed of traditional study.

Common Questions About Rice in Spanish

How do you say rice in Spanish?: Rice in Spanish is arroz. Arroz blanco is white rice; arroz integral is brown rice; arroz con pollo is the famous rice-with-chicken dish; arroz con leche is rice pudding.
How do you pronounce arroz?: Arroz is ah-ROHS, two syllables, stress on ROHS. The rr is a rolled trill (the famous Spanish r). The z is a clean s in Latin America, a soft th in central and northern Spain.
Is arroz masculine or feminine?: Arroz is masculine: el arroz, los arroces. Most Spanish nouns ending in -z are feminine (la luz, la paz), but arroz is one of the masculine exceptions, along with el lápiz and el pez.
How do I remember rice in Spanish?: Hear arroz in real cooking and ordering contexts: arroz con pollo, arroz blanco, arroz con leche. Parrot's videos surface food vocabulary in real meals so the word ties to the dishes you'll actually want to order or cook.