Foolproof Mexican Rice Recipe (with VIDEO)
I’m sharing this Authentic Mexican Rice recipe for #HispanicHeritageMonth in collaboration with JCPenney.
After years of practicing, experimenting (and sometimes failing) my husband truly created the Perfect Mexican rice! And it’s foolproof!
The BEST Mexican Rice Recipe
Impossibly fluffy and woven with layers of subtle flavors, anyone who tries it agrees — this IS the BEST Mexican rice (also known as Spanish rice).
If you’ve tried to make Spanish Rice before, you might already know that this is a surprisingly tricky dish and recipes are often tightly guarded secrets.
It took me a long time to coax my husband into sharing this recipe, but he finally agreed in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.
I promise, it is worth the wait!!
Food is one of the main ways that families pass on their traditions, and our family is no different. Our girls are fortunate to grow up with a dad that cooks for a living, and they get to learn about his Mexican and Cuban heritage through his cooking.
Keep reading for photo step by step instructions and a video tutorial to make our authentic Spanish rice!
Mexican Rice Ingredients
- White rice (dry)
- Chicken broth
- Diced tomatoes
- Onion
- Green bell pepper
- Tomato paste
- Garlic
- Cumin
- Salt
The above is a quick guide of what we used to make this recipe. A free printable copy of our Mexican rice recipe with full ingredient amounts and video is available at the bottom of the post.
Kitchen Tools Used
For your convenience in re-creating our Mexican rice, I’ve included shop-able ad links to some of the products we used. Disclosure policy available here.
Keep reading for step by step instructions and some of our favorite dishes to serve with fluffy Mexican rice or click here to jump to printable recipe and video.Â
How to Make Perfect Mexican Rice (every single time)
Start by browning onions and peppers in a Tablespoon of cooking oil.
When the onions start to appear translucent or slightly brown, add dry rice to pot. Cook for 5 additional minutes – be sure to stir frequently to keep rice from burning.
Add liquids, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, garlic, and spices to your rice. Turn burner up to high heat.
Watch for liquid to boil; after 3-5 minutes at a rolling boil, reduce heat to low and cover pot. Cook for 10-12 minutes on low heat, then turn off heat altogether.
Allow to sit, covered, for 15 minutes before removing lid. (No peeking!)
Stir rice to fluff and enjoy!
Watch our video demo in the recipe card at the bottom of the post to see exactly how we made our Mexican rice!
PAIRS WITH: One of our favorite dishes to pair with Mexican rice is Carne Guisada, a traditional Mexican beef stew.
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Make your Hispanic Heritage Month Shopping #SoWorthIt
Our family loves JCPenney because it is a one-stop shop — from clothes to home goods. Plus they have awesome sales ALL the time! (You won’t believe how many items we scored on our back to school clothes shopping trip while staying WAY under budget).
I found the gorgeous earthenware bowl pictured above (part of a set of 3) that is perfect to serve an authentic meal in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, or for any day. This festive set was of course on sale, which made it an even sweeter find! The perfect Spanish Rice deserves the perfect display, after all!
Be sure to check out JCPenney.com for the latest specials for your family celebrations!
Grab your free printable copy of our Authentic Mexican Rice recipe:
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Foolproof Mexican Rice Recipe (with VIDEO)
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups white rice dry
- 6 cups water or chicken broth
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 onion diced
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 garlic cloves minced (or 2 teaspoons garlic powder)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Put diced onion, and diced pepper in large pot (we use a dutch oven) with 1 TB cooking oil. Meanwhile, brown onions and peppers for about 5 minutes over medium heat.
- When the onions start to appear translucent or slightly brown, add dry rice to pot. Cook for 5 additional minutes, stirring frequently to keep rice from burning.
- Add liquids, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, garlic, and spices to pot. Increase to high heat.
- Watch for liquid to boil; after 3-5 minutes at a rolling boil, reduce heat to low and cover pot.
- Cook for 10-12 minutes on low heat, then turn off heat. Allow to sit, covered, for 15 minutes before removing lid.
- Stir rice to fluff and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Pin our Mexican rice recipe on Pinterest:
Pair your perfect Spanish rice with this refreshing Fresh-Squeezed Skinny Margarita recipe:
Or these easy Taquito Enchiladas:
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hi there .. what size can of diced tomatoes did u use?
Hi Sarah, sorry for not making that clear! We used the standard can in our stores, which is 14.5oz.
How many servings is this recipe?
It’s definitely enough rice to feed a crowd – I would guess at least 6-8 servings.
If you triple this recipe (I’m having a taco bar for 30). Would the time be the same for cooking?
Hi Sherri – the most important thing when making a larger portion is to use a bigger pot. It will probably take a little longer to cook – I’m not sure the exact time, since we’ve never made a batch that big, but keep an eye on it. Hope you love it!
Beats any Mexican restaurant rice recipe! Love this one!
Awesome! Glad you loved it!
I followed this to a T…came out as super crunchy rice. So I kept adding water like you would to risotto, and it didn’t help. I basically wasted all the ingredients purchased. The actual flavor was good, but the texture was terrible. Was I supposed to use minute rice?