Mexican rice is the perfect side dish to complete your homemade Mexican dinner. Restaurant quality rice is easy and quick to make yourself. Taco Tuesday just got so much better.
Introduction
Time to make some restaurant-quality rice at home with this easy Mexican rice recipe. This flavorful rice is the perfect side dish not only for Taco Tuesday, but for burritos, enchiladas, or (my personal favorite) taco chips and cheese.
Over the years, we have tried various commercial package versions of Mexican or Spanish rice. All were tasteless, pasty, and never a good experience.
Restaurant quality Mexican rice needs three things. Many restaurant versions lack at least one of these areas — many in 2 or even all three. A few will get it all right.
- Texture - not sticky—each grain of rice needs to stand out and not stick together.
- Tenderness - soft but not mushy.
- Tastiness - it needs a great taste.
This recipe has a couple of features of note. First, it is a bit "dry" with less liquid than is commonly used to cook rice. That keeps the texture correct—not sticky or mushy. Second, by using your favorite salsa, you save a lot of time and work getting all those flavors and tastes added to the rice with almost no work.
My Rating
A 4 because it is a side dish, but a 5 otherwise. Both of us had two servings.
🍚Ingredients
- Long Grain White Rice - If using other rice, adjust time accordingly.
- Salsa - Use a salsa you like. It will be providing a lot of the taste and replaces tomato sauce or diced tomatoes, onion, chili powder, and green chiles.
- Spices - Some cumin and crushed garlic. Garlic powder could be used instead of fresh garlic cloves. Also, no taco seasoning is needed thanks to the salsa.
- Broth - Chicken or vegetable stock or broth. You may use bouillon cubes in water or just water will work with only a slight decrease in flavor.
- Optional Additions - Jalapno, peas, or carrots.
👨🍳How to Make Mexican Rice
- Brown the uncooked rice over medium high heat in a large skillet.
- Cook until nicely toasted. No need to rinse the rice before browning. If using fresh garlic, add it the last minute of browning.
- Add the salsa, broth, and other seasonings. Also, if using the additions, add them at the same time.
- Bring to a boil and then decrease to a simmer. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 20 minutes until the rice is tender.
- Remove from heat and let set for a few minutes, then fluff with a fork.
❓Questions about Mexican Rice
Many people will use the two terms interchangeably, but there are not quite the same.
The two use the same spice and ingredients, except that the Spanish recipe will usually have firmer rice and frequently saffron giving it more of a yellow color.
I don't usually have saffron, and you probably don't either. If you want firmer rice, brown it a bit more. I call mine Mexican rice but call it what you want.
Mexican rice is also known as red rice or Arroz Rojo.
Serve on a plate with your main dish and some refried beans with a sprinkle of cheese and chopped cilantro.
You may also use Mexican rice as part of burritos, burrito bowls, or other dishes.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
You may freeze the rice for 3-4 months airtight in a container or ziplock bag, then thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before reheating. I do find frozen rice does lose some texture.
Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop for a few minutes.
🇲🇽Mexican Recipes
Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole in 60 Minutes
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Long grain rice is preferred. Some people like to rinse the rice.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat until hot. Add 1 cup of long-grain rice.
Toast until nicely brown, about 8-9 minutes. In the last minute of toasting, add 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic if using fresh garlic.
Add 1 cup of your favorite salsa and 1 cup of chicken broth. Add ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon garlic powder if not using fresh, and ½ teaspoon salt. You may add optional jalapeno, peas, or carrots at this point. Bring to a boil, then decrease to low heat and cover. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until tender.
Remove from heat, let sit for a few minutes, then fluff. Cover until serving.
📖Recipe
Easy Mexican Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 cup long grain rice - rinse optional
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1-2 cloves crushed garlic - or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 cup chicken broth
Optional ingredients - add with broth
- 1 jalapeno - diced
- ⅓ cup peas - frozen or fresh
- 1 carrot - small, diced
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat until hot. Add 1 cup of long-grain rice.
- Toast until nicely brown, about 8-9 minutes. In the last minute of toasting, add 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic if using fresh garlic.
- Add 1 cup of your favorite salsa and 1 cup of chicken broth. Add ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon garlic powder if not using fresh, and ½ teaspoon salt. You may add optional jalapeno, peas, or carrots at this point. Bring to a boil, then decrease to low heat and cover. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until tender.
- Remove from heat, let sit for a few minutes, then fluff. Cover until serving.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- This recipe adjusts up or down in size easily.
- You can use different rice and adjust the cooking time. Always simmer until tender.
- Rinsing the rice is felt by some to prevent the sticking of rice. To me, the browning takes care of that.
- Add the optional jalapeno, peas, and carrot if you want.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days, but I do not like to freeze rice, but it may be frozen for 3-4 months but may lose some texture.
- The serving size is ½ cup.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published August 10, 2014. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
kazy
I only have short grain Indian rice which requires 2 1/2 cups of liquid for every 1 cup. Does that mean I should use 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth?
Thank you,
kazy
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Kazy,
Most standard rice needs 1 cup rice to 2 cups of water or liquid. So yours needs a bit more liquid or a little less rice.
In this recipe, the salsa plus the broth make up the 2 cups of liquid for the standard 1 cup of rice. For yours, I would increase the liquid, probably the broth, by 1/2 cup to make a total of 1 cup salsa + 1 1/2 cup broth = 2 1/2 cups to 1 cup of your rice.
Dan
Lauren
I enjoyed this recipe a lot. Was impressed by the amount of flavor using only a few ingredients. Only change was I had to add 1/2 cup more liquid at the end (water). Otherwise prepared as written.
Gamefacelouie
Excellent straight forward recipe, made as per instructions with carrots, peas, jalapenos and added lime juice and chili powder. I'm getting rid of my other Mexican rice recipes. Next time I'll sub with black beans and corn instead of peas and carrots.
FVQOH
Great recipe, very easy to make. Made this because the kiddo wanted Mexican Rice. It was a hit and she wanted more, so this is a keeper in this house. Misread the recipe and accidentally used 1 tsp of cumin instead of 1/2 tsp; it turned out fine. Also used more cloves of garlic because we love garlic. Left out the jalapeño since it is too spicy for the kiddo. Made this in a stainless steel pan, and roasted the rice with coconut oil because it prevents that sticky film that covers and gets stuck on the pan whenever I cook with olive oil on high heat.
DrDan
Welcome to the blog.
Thanks for the comment and how it worked for you.
Dan
Robert Hudson
turned out awful
Correen
Love this recipe, it's on speed-dial. 😊 Made again last night with addition of black beans & sweet corn. Thank you!
DrDan
Hi Correen,
I have done it with the beans and corn and it is great. I thought nobody saw this recipe.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Bonnie Tyler
The taste of this dish was wonderful, but it needed an increase of liquid in order to cook the rice all the way through. So next time I will use a cup and a quarter of liquid. This is a keeper. Thanks.
DrDan
I kept it a little dry to prevent sticking but a little more liquid wouldn't hurt.
Thanks for the comment and rating
Dan
Chris
Similar to what I do, except I used Pace Picante sauce and no cumin. Great minds think alike! (I've never posted mine, now I don't have to, ha ha).
DrDan
Come on Chris, post it. I see all your sides and things you do, I want to copy everything
Dan
Note to readers: Check out Chris's blog Nibble Me This