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Mexican Rice Recipe post.
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5 from 3 votes

Traditional Mexican Rice Recipe

Authentic Mexican Rice is an essential weeknight dish and every family has a traditional recipe. Mine is ready in under 30 minutes and uses fresh ripe tomatoes. It's one of the most common side dishes used in my Mexican cooking because it's filled with savory flavor, healthy, and delicious!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican, Mexican-American
Diet: Low Fat
Keyword: Mexican Rice, Mexican Rice recipe, Spanish Red Rice, Spanish Rice, Tomato sauce, Traditional Rice Recipe
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 206kcal
Author: Erika Garibay - LQC Recipes

Equipment

  • Large pan
  • Pan safe utensil
  • Blender (if using fresh tomatoes)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup long grain rice
  • 3 cups water (1 cup is used when making your own tomato sauce, reduce to 2 cups if using canned sauce)
  • 2 medium ripe roma tomatoes (or, 5 oz of canned tomato sauce, unsalted)
  • 1 cup broth - regular or low sodium (homemade or canned)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 - 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 large carrot washed, peeled and diced to your liking
  • 1/4 cup frozen peas or corn, or both
  • 2-3 red or gold potatoes washed: small whole, or medium halved

For seasoning the rice

  • 1 tsp kosher salt or 3/4 tsp sea salt; or bouillon of choice; or DIY spice blend.

DIY spice blend

  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp dried parsley flakes
  • 1/8 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 tsp paprika

Instructions

For the red Mexican rice sauce

  • Cut roma tomatoes in half (or quarters) and place them in a pot with 1 cup of water. Cover with lid and allow the tomatoes to boil on medium / high for about 8-10 minutes.
  • Once tomatoes have cooked, pierce tomatoes through with a fork to ensure they are fully cooked and soft enough to liquefy (cutting them allows for a quicker cook time).
  • Carefully transfer tomatoes with their remaining water along with into a blender and liquefy. Set liquefied sauce to side.

To make the rice

  • Peel 2-3 garlic cloves and cut ¼ onion, set to side. Prepare preferred veggies.
  • Place a large saute pan over medium flame, add oil and let heat for about 2-3 minutes.
  • Add onion and garlic to pan, followed by dry rice. Stir contents often in pan until all is lightly coated with oil and toasted. About 1-2 minutes on medium low heat.
  • Pour one cup of chicken or veggie broth, 2 cups water, tomato sauce and 1 tsp kosher salt or 3/4 tsp sea salt (OR, bouillon or our DIY spice blend), stir in well. Distribute freshly cut carrots and potatoes throughout the pan and place the lid over the pan. Allow cook on medium heat for the next 15 minutes.
  • Check rice, add preferred frozen peas / corn / green beans then return lid to cover for last 3-5 minutes.
  • When finished. Tilt lid to naturally release heat from pan for 5 minutes or leave covered for 5 even softer rice.

Notes

  • Recipe yield: 3 cups cooked rice, 6 - 4 ounce servings.
  • Storage: Keep any remaining rice in airtight storage with lid to prevent drying it out. To reheat a portion of rice, add one teaspoon of water to rice and heat on medium/low.
  • Garlic powder substitution: 1 teaspoon instead of fresh garlic for picky eaters.
  • If you're all out of broth and plan to use a bouillon, you can use all water. It won't taste like this recipe, but it'll still get the rice done with your favorite bouillon flavor and selected veggies.
  • Important Note: When Doubling the Rice Recipe, the full can of tomato sauce is used. Please reduce the amount of water that is called for by 1 cup for every cup of uncooked rice. The 3rd Cup of water used is required ONLY when you are making your own sauce. I want your rice to come out perfect so please keep this in mind incase something looks off!
  • Canned Tomato sauce, if you use salted canned tomato sauce, hold back on the amount of salt used. When using salted sauce, I use 1/2 tsp of salt and no bouillon or vice versa. Taste the broth as you mix the salt well into the pot to make sure it's salted to your liking then cover to allow rice to cook.
  • Hint of spice - Serrano Chile Pepper or Jalapeno, simply drop a fresh washed chile pepper of your choice to the pot of rice during same step as broth (step 3 of "to cook the rice"). We Love the hint of spice that makes this authentic Mexican rice complete.

To view the full post with full tips please visit the LatinasQueComen.com website. Please star rate this recipe! Thank you for your support.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 206kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 429mg | Potassium: 501mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1923IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg