Mexican Rice | Spanish Rice Recipe

This Mexican Rice recipe needs very basic ingredients that are almost always available in your pantry. The Spanish Rice can be used as a side for dishes like enchilada or can be used as filling for burritos

We are a big fan of Mexican food at my house and I do make some kind of Mexican dinner every other week. Almost every Mexican dish is served with a side of rice and beans.

I have never been able to get a recipe to make good Mexican rice and I have been using the store-bought readymade rice mix with Mexican seasonings.

This recipe of Mexican rice that I tried from one of the books that I borrowed from my local library is by far the best Mexican rice I have made at home.

My kids mentioned that this tastes and looks like the rice that they serve at the restaurants. I think it was because of the amazing deep red color that the rice had.

I have always noticed that using canned tomatoes imparts a deep red color to the dish. This recipe needs very basic ingredients that are almost always available in your pantry.

Also, the Spanish Rice recipe used broth, but I used just water and I did not find much difference.

This recipe is from the book Mexican – Healthy Ways With A Favorite Cuisine by Jane Milton. I am thinking of trying out a few more recipes from this book and they will come your way when I try them.

This is my entry for this week’s cooking from a cookbook challenge. I served this for dinner with Enchiladas.

Preparation time – 10 mins
Cooking time – 30 mins
Difficulty level – easy

Ingredients to make Mexican Rice – (serves 6 as a side)

• Rice – 1 cup (uncooked)
• Tomato - 1-7oz can of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
• Onion – 1 small
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp
• Water or vegetable stock – 2 cups
• Salt – as needed
• Green chilies or any hot chilies – 2 or 3 (depending on how spicy you like your dish)
• Green peas – ½ cup (I used frozen)

Procedure to make Spanish Rice –

• Wash the rice and drain. Add boiling water to the rice and cover the bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Now drain the rice and keep it aside.

• Using a blender, grind the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and 1 green chili into a smooth paste.

• Heat the oil in a wide pan and fry the drained rice until it becomes light golden. Keep stirring to make sure that the rice does not burn.

• Now add the tomato mixture and mix well. Let it cook over medium heat until all the liquid has been absorbed.

• Now add the stock or water, remaining chilies, salt, and green peas.

• Cook the rice until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice becomes tender.

• Remove the pan from heat, cover with an air-tight lid, and let the rice stand for about 10 minutes. Fluff the rice and serve! Do not stir the rice too often when cooking because this may result in the rice breaking down and becoming mushy.

Entrees That Pair Well

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Recipe

Mexican Rice | Spanish Rice Recipe

This Mexican Rice recipe needs very basic ingredients that are almost always available in your pantry. The Spanish Rice can be used as a side for dishes like enchilada or can be used as filling for burritos

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 People

Calories: 84kcal

Author: Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Equipment

• ▢
  saute pan

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup Rice Uncooked
• ▢ 1-7 oz Tomato Can of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
• ▢ 1 small Onion
• ▢ 2 cloves Garlic
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
• ▢ 2 cups Water or vegetable stock
• ▢ as needed Salt
• ▢ 2 or 3 Green chilies or any hot chilies Depending on how spicy you like your dish
• ▢ ½ cup Green peas I used frozen

Instructions

• Wash the rice and drain. Add boiling water to the rice and cover the bowl. Let it sit for about 10 mins. Now drain the rice and keep it aside.
• Using a blender, grind the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and 1 green chili into a smooth paste.
• Heat the oil in a wide pan and fry the drained rice until it becomes light golden in color. Keep stirring to make sure that the rice does not burn.
• Now add the tomato mixture and mix well. Let it cook over medium heat until all the liquid has been absorbed.
• Now add the stock or water, remaining chilies, salt, and green peas.
• Cook the rice until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice becomes tender.
• Remove the pan from heat and cover with an airtight lid and let the rice stand for about 10 minutes. Fluff the rice and serve! Do not stir the rice too often when cooking because this may result in the rice to break down and become mushy

Nutrition

Calories: 84kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 440mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 299IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @Sandhya.Ramakrishnan or tag #MyCookingJourney!