Loaded Arañitas

At Delish, we firmly believe you don't have to be a trained chef to make insanely delicious food. It’s why we launched Insanely Easy Weeknight Dinners, a recurring series dedicated to simple meals the whole family can enjoy together. Well, pull up a dining chair because we’re partnering with Coca-Cola and asking real-life Delish readers to share their riffs on their families’ favorite recipes.

“Food is super, super important to Puerto Ricans,” says Eliyashira Franco, a copywriter and mom of two living in Miami. “Everything growing up was about food and family. And I miss that.” 

Back in Puerto Rico, her grandmothers cooked top-notch versions of local dishes, like mofongo and rice and beans for her. But when she and her husband left the island almost two decades ago, she realized she knew very little about how some of her favorite Puerto Rican fare was made. Now, the Miami-based mom of two is using her family’s recipes to teach her 7- and 10-year-olds about their Puerto Rican roots. Want to know how she came up with her Loaded Arañitas? Read on to learn how she came up with this recipe, sure to be the superstar of your next backyard barbecue.

Where did the idea for this dish come from? 

Over the past year, I’ve been cooking a lot. The pandemic has been a big change, and I’ve been trying to use all our extra time together teach my kids Spanish, which my husband and I speak. They prefer English, so to get them excited about Puerto Rican culture and our language, I’ve been using food. The girls love plantains, and arañitas [shredded green plantain fritters]—which translates to “little spiders,” because the final product can look like tiny spider legs—are very common in Puerto Rico. They’re as common as fries are stateside. This year, I embraced cooking as more of an experience than a necessity, and started brainstorming new fusion ideas, which is how these nacho-style arañitas were born: a traditional Puerto Rican dish, with a twist for my kids. One night, I loaded up arañitas with corn, lettuce, a lot of cheese, avocados, and served it on a big platter, which to me, is the best way to eat. My kids loved it. Now, it’s a family staple! I even started a bilingual Instagram to showcase my new, traditional, and fusion recipes. My kids like checking my feed and seeing all the followers and comments. 

How do the kids help you in the kitchen? 

My youngest will help with preparing and supervised tasks, and my oldest now wants to be a chef when she grows up. She’s very curious and likes to ask questions about what I do and how I use certain ingredients. I try to answer as best I can and incorporate little facts about our family and heritage while we cook, like how my sister and I would spend weekends at my paternal grandparents’ house. My abuelo would go to the local bakery to get fresh bread, and my abuela would spoon butter on top and serve us super sweet coffee, something I never told my mom. I can’t remember my toys from that time, but I can tell you my taste memories in detail. I want my kids to feel that connection. 

What’s the best part of making and eating arañitas at home? 

In Puerto Rico, we’d always go to a street on the coast, and visit these little food gazebos bordering the beach. That’s where we’d eat fried food, and they have dishes like this—but not nacho style! That’s my family’s signature. We’d get a soda and eat something delicious. This dish transports me: I’m eating fried food with a drink in front of the beach, enjoying the day. I didn’t appreciate living in paradise until I moved away, right after I got married 17 years ago. I can’t wait to go back—but until then, we’ll be eating arañitas and chasing them with a Coke, just like I used to do.