This homemade Mexican rice is a really delicious quick and easy side dish that anyone can make with a few simple ingredients. We make this a lot because it tastes so amazing and it is so easy to make. This simple Mexican rice can be used as a side dish, as a filling for tacos, and burritos.
This simple Spanish rice is so full of flavor and so quick to make. It is one of the first Mexican recipes I learned to make after moving to Texas.
It makes the best side dish for so many meals. It is one of our favorite side dishes.
Spanish rice (or Mexican rice) is a style of rice that is made with a few delicious ingredients (tomatoes, garlic, and onion) that are added to the rice before it is cooked to add flavor and texture. This homemade rice takes just a few extra minutes longer to make than regular rice and it has so much flavor.
One thing I have learned living here in Texas is that one of the keys to making the best Mexican rice is to make sure you toast the rice first which really imparts a beautiful nutty flavor in the rice.
Ingredients needed
When making this quick Spanish rice, I really love chopping and dicing my tomatoes and garlic for the base flavor of the rice. You can also use salsa in place of these ingredients to make this recipe even faster.
Here is what you will need:
- Basmati rice. I prefer using basmati rice when making Spanish rice because it is the least starchy rice you can buy and that helps lighten up the Spanish rice a lot.
- Tomato. Finely chopped.
- Shallot or small onion. Finely chopped.
- Garlic. Finely chopped.
- Chicken stock. If you do not have chicken stock, you could use a bouillon cube dissolved in water.
- Kosher Salt.
- Olive oil.
Recipe Tip
As I mentioned above, to make things even easier, you can use jarred salsa or canned Rotel tomatoes in place of the tomatoes, onions, and garlic in this recipe. I will give you these ratios below in the recipe!
Using salsa, pico de gallo or canned seasoned tomatoes like Rotel tomatoes in this recipe is a time saver in the kitchen and it makes delicious Spanish rice.
How to make this Easy Mexican Rice
- Gather and prepare all of the ingredients. This should take only 5 minutes. Having all of the ingredients ready before you start the cooking process just makes cooking that much easier and less stressful.
- Cook it all up: You are then going to toast the rice until it is lightly browned and then add in the tomatoes and aromatics to cook just a little. This is what gives the Spanish rice its flavor. Once you are done making the base of your Spanish rice, you just add in the stock and cover it like you would when making regular rice.
- Fluff it: Once the Spanish rice is cooked, make sure you fluff it up with a fork before serving. I like to let the rice sit in the pot covered after cooking for 5 minutes to ensure the rice gets nice and fluffy.
If you have time, I highly recommend this.
Tips
This homemade Spanish rice recipe is already really easy to make but you may want to save even more time making it. Here are some ideas:
- You can substitute Rotel canned tomatoes (these are chopped tomatoes that are already seasoned) for the chopped tomato, onion, and garlic portion of the recipe.
- Prep the tomatoes, garlic, and onion ahead of time and store them in the fridge until you are ready to make the rice.
- Substitute salsa for the chopped ingredients.
For more easy Spanish meals
- Poblano Quesadillas
- Southwest Chicken Bowl
- Fajita Tacos
- Chorizo with Peppers and Onions
- Easy Homemade Pico de Gallo
- Oven Baked Nachos
30-Minute Mexican Rice (Spanish Rice)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 1 ¾ cup Chicken stock
- 1 small tomato finely chopped
- 1 shallot finely chopped. If using an onion finely chop about ¼ cup of onion.
- 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Place a medium pot on the stove over medium heat. Make sure your pot has a tight fitting lid for later.
- Add the olive oil.1 tablespoon olive oil
- Now add the rice, onion and garlic and cook until the rice just starts to lightly brown, making sure to stir frequently. About 3-4 minutes.1 cup Basmati rice, 1 shallot, 2 cloves of garlic
- Now add the chopped tomato and mix it in well making sure to coat the rice.1 small tomato
- Next add the chicken stock and salt and raise the heat to high and bring to a boil.1 ¾ cup Chicken stock, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- When boiling, stir the rice once then reduce the heat to low and place the lid on top.
- Allow the rice to cook for about 5 minutes on low or until all the stock has been absorbed.
- Remove the rice from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes, making sure to leave the lid on.
- After 5 minutes, remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
If using rotel canned tomatoes or salsa instead of chopped tomatoes, onions and garlic:
Use 1 cup of the seasoned canned tomatoes or salsa in place of the tomatoes, onions and garlic in the recipe. Add this after toasting the rice in step 3 then follow the rest of the recipe the same way.Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer hereTried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
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