Homemade Spanish rice is a really delicious and easy side dish that anyone can make with a few simple ingredients. We make this homemade Mexican style Spanish rice a lot because it tastes so amazing and it is so easy to make.
This simple Spanish rice recipe can be used as a side dish, as a filling for tacos and rice and bean burritos or served with seasoned black beans for a complete meal. You really need to give this recipe a try!
What is Spanish Rice:
Spanish rice (or Mexican rice) is a style of rice that is made with a few delicious ingredients (tomatoes, garlic and onion usually) that are added to the rice before it is cooked to add flavor and texture. One of the keys to making the best Spanish rice is to make sure you toast the rice first which really imparts a beautiful nutty flavor in the rice.
Almost all Spanish cultures toast their rice before adding the liquids. If you are not familiar with toasting rice, I will show you how easy it is to do below.
Ingredients needed
- 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.
You only need a few simple ingredients to make this easy Mexican style Spanish rice. All of these ingredients can actually be prepped ahead of time and stored in the fridge in a covered container until you are ready to make the recipe.
Pro-Tip: To make things even easier, you can uses canned Rotel tomatoes or salsa in place of the tomatoes, onions and garlic in this recipe. I will give you these ratios below in the recipe!
How to make Spanish rice (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.
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 like you would when making regular rice.
Once the 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.
What to serve with this Mexican Style Rice
This simple Spanish rice makes the perfect addition to so many meals. Our family really enjoys eating it with a side of seasoned pinto beans (recipe coming soon) for a complete meal.
You can also serve this rice with:
- Burritos. This Spanish rice makes a great filling for burritos or a side dish for them.
- Tacos. Again, like the burritos, you can add this rice inside the taco as part of the filling or serve it on the side.
- Serve it with Authentic Texas Chili. This Texas chili is more like a chili con carne so it pairs really well with Spanish rice.
- This goes really well with pulled pork.
- Make a side of my favorite black beans recipe to pair with the rice for a really delicious Spanish meal.
- Texas style borracho beans which is also called drunken beans because it is made with beer. They are so good!
Tips for this recipe
- 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 meal ideas:
- Poblano Quesadillas with Poblano Cream
- Authentic Texas Chili
- Southwest Chicken Bowl
- Fajita Tacos
- Chorizo with Peppers and Onions
- Easy Homemade Pico de Gallo
- Oven Baked Nachos
- Fajitas from Leftovers
- Red Chimichurri
- Easy Chimichurri (classic green chimichurri)
- Poblano Sauce
Easy Homemade Spanish Rice
Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
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 ½ cup of the seasoned tomatoes or salsa in place of the tomatoes, onions and garlic in the recipe.Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer here
Frik says
Made this last night to go with grilled chicken and it was amazing!
Natalia says
This works with everything, one of my favorite ways to add more flavor to a dish
Fiona says
Delicious! I never knew making Spanish rice could be so easy
Michelle says
Everyone loved it. Followed it exactly and it came out great.