Mexican Rice
by Chungah
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Easy, authentic, restaurant-quality Mexican rice! So soft and fluffy, and the perfect side dish to tacos, enchiladas, carne asada and more!
Featured Comment
This Mexican rice has been our go-to side dish again and again in our house. It’s been tested, perfected, and made at least a hundred times since 2014 when this recipe was first posted. HUNDREDS, I tell you. And you can serve as is or alongside some tacos or enchiladas. Personally, I love it as a main dish, digging my way in with my favorite tortilla chips.
Why you’ll love this mexican rice recipe
- One pot meal. A true one pot meal, the rice soaks up all the flavors of the tomato-infused broth with cumin and chili powder for that extra kick of flavor. Not to mention, one pot means less dishes, less clean up!
- Clean out the fridge meal. This is a great recipe to throw in any lingering veggies that need to be used up ASAP.
- Pairs well with so many dishes. Mexican rice can be served alongside so many dishes, pairing well with chicken, seafood, carne asada, enchiladas and tacos, to name a few.
- Freezer-friendly. This recipe is very freezer-friendly and can be kept for 3 months, making it great for meal prep.
What is Mexican Rice?
Mexican rice, known as arroz rojo, is a traditional side dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. It is typically made with long grain white rice simmered in tomato sauce and chicken broth, giving it a reddish-orange color, and is commonly served with tacos and enchiladas alongside refried beans.
How to make mexican rice
- Cook the aromatics. Cook the garlic and onion in a large cast iron skillet until the onions are translucent.
- Toast the rice. Stir in the washed (and dried) rice for a few minutes until lightly toasted. This will ensure that the grains stay fluffy and separate, preventing mushy rice, and creating that nutty, savory flavor.
- Stir in liquids. Add the tomato sauce and vegetable broth, keeping every thing saucy and happy.
- Simmer and cook the rice. Add the corn, carrots, peas, chili powder and cumin, stirring well. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook, undisturbed, until the rice is cooked through. No peeking here.
- Add the finishing touches. Stir in the diced Roma tomatoes just until heated through, garnishing with cilantro (or parsley).
- Serve. Serve warm with enchiladas or quesadillas (or any other main dish), or freeze up to 3 months.
what to serve with mexican rice
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Mexican Rice: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Rinsing the rice first is key to removing any excess surface starch. Be sure to let the rice dry completely for even toasting.
Tomato sauce, in the US, is tomato puree typically cooked down for a thick, smooth consistency with a relatively sweet flavor. Passata is simply uncooked tomato purée. You can use passata in place of tomato sauce, but it is not a completely equal substitute.
You can substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.
You can omit the cilantro altogether or substitute parsley.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop or microwave, adding a splash of broth or water as needed.
Mexican Rice
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 ½ cups basmati rice
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 cup corn kernels
- ½ cup diced carrots
- ½ cup frozen peas
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in rice until toasted, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in tomato sauce and vegetable broth, and bring to a simmer, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in corn, carrots, peas, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until rice is cooked through, about 13-16 minutes.
- Stir in tomatoes until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro, if desired.
Equipment
Notes
- Rinse the rice prior to using. Using a fine mesh strainer, rinse the rice under cold water to remove any excess starch. Dry thoroughly as wet rice will steam.
- Toast the rice. Toasting the rice beforehand will add a nutty richness to the rice. Watch out for burnt grains.
- Make it vegetarian. Vegetable broth can be used for the chicken broth.
- No peeking. Let the rice cook undisturbed for 13-16 minutes with a tight-fitting lid. Once the lid is lifted, vital steam escapes, resulting in unevenly cooked rice.
- Gently fluff. Fluff the rice using a fork to gently separate the grains without breaking them, never stirring. Stirring will lead to mushy rice.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
The Mexican rice recipe said it was served with enchilada meatballs. Do u have the recipe for that too ?
If you could adapt this for the Instant Pot I would be SO grateful!
Pretty much the same recipe I’ve been making for years, except this Midwest girl does cook 4 or 5 strips of bacon and set aside to crumble on top and then sauté the veggies in the bacon grease.
Might throw a little shredded cheddar on top.
This and a salad, dinner is served!
Really nice and easy recipe, perfect for busy days! And so easy to modify too – I like to use bell peppers instead of carrots, and also made a version with sliced chorizo sausage and a bit of lime juice, it elevates the whole thing so much!
Question… could this be made a day ahead and reheated. Getting a lot of company and it would be a lot of easier to execute the dinner. Thank you.
haven’t made this in awhile but i made it right now and it’s SOOOO good. make sure to wash your rice and soak it!!! i added a knorr tomato bouillon cube,i replaced the tomato sauce with el pato and i used chicken bone broth instead of veggie broth. made this with fresh off the grid’s cilantro lime tacos.
This Mexican Rice is absolutely deeee-licious! So glad that I found this recipe! I served it with baked enchilada meatballs and it was a fantastic meal! Super easy to make and it makes lots for leftovers!
My Mom made her mexican rice by blending tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt & pepper. She mastered making rice early in her marriage after burning the rice many times. She would whip up this rice quickly and top it with sliced hard boiled eggs or peas. This recipe was good but next time I’ll have to soak the basmati rice for the recommended 30 minutes because it took longer than 13-16 minutes to cook (covered) & I kept needing to add more water to prevent sticking/burning. This is a keeper recipe!
YUMMY
This might be the best rice ever! I used brown basmati so I upped the broth to 2.5 cups and it took longer but otherwise made as written and it was so delicious. Served this pulled chicken, baked beans and a no mayo coleslaw…happy fam
Simple yet wonderfully tasty, served with tortilla chips and avocado. Simple brilliant!!! Will make this again. Used long grain rice and also added baby sweet corn.
So impressed with this recipe. It tasted really good and surprisingly easy to make. I normally struggle with getting the rice perfect but i followed this recipe very closely and my rice came out perfect! Hubby was impressed. Can not recommend enough.
Simply loved it, tweaked a little n added cauliflower, still tasted good!! Thank you for this gem of a receipe!!
Tried this with little modification just some ancho chilli flakes for a bit of extra spice. Stuffed inside a red longitudinally cut red pepper topped with a little Manchego cheese and baked, served the Cajun spiced chicken wings and a green salad on the side.
Kids love it and its an easy way of getting veg into then.
I wrote this recipe down directly to my recipe book, expecting to adjust things as I went along. Well, for once, I didn’t need to adjust anything. It was just fantastic and exactly what I wanted. I had it with some 15 hour slow cooked goat mexican style, with some mushrooms and guac. Seriously yum and I will make it again.
We make this fairly often. It’s five stars as written but it’s versatile and you can change things up if you’re feeling like something new. Want to get rid of some random vegetables you have before they go bad? Toss ‘em in!
We usually use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth for a little extra flavor.
And as others have said, getting the rice toasted properly is key
Tasty! I stuck to the recipe mostly but omitted carrots and peas (didn’t have them) and added black beans to make it a meal and jalapeno for a bit of a kick. My very picky 3 year old loved it!
Made for the first time this evening and served it with salmon – delicious!
Great flavor! We loved it. I did end up adding more liquid to it. It absorbed too quickly. This recipe is a keeper.
Howdy, vegetarian cook here since 1972. :). I certainly would toss in the frozen diced carrots at the beginning, because frozen carrots remind me of tasteless cardboard that needs cooking (I mean, why doesn’t everyone have a 1-lb bag of fresh carrots in the fridge when they’re so cheap, always available, don’t take up much space, and a root vegetable keeps a long time in the fridge, have we become so lazy or impatient we can’t dice a carrot??). But I wouldn’t add frozen peas until a minute or two before removing from the stove for serving: they don’t need cooking, just warming, and will lose their bright color and texture if cooked any longer. Kids are fussy about texture, and less cooking also preserves their sweetness. Same for frozen corn niblets, add near the end of cooking, before the peas. And the fresh cilantro: I’d add some to the pot including the chopped stems, during cooking… and add more cilantro leaves on top for service, so they give slightly different flavor profile, bright color, and fragrance. A personal tip about basmati rice: rinse it two or three times, and let it rest in the strainer or soak for about 15 minutes before cooking, while you’re prepping the rest. It will enhance flavor and cook faster, and open the grains to cook all the way through and lengthen fully (real basmati is bred to lengthen when cooked), soaking also gets rid of a naturally protective chemical that many seeds have that inhibits absorption of stuff like zinc, iron and phosphorus. Get your money’s-worth of flavor, texture and nutrition by a quick soak after rinsing, to remove surface starch and debris. And by the way… if you’ve never tasted real basmati from India, I’d personally suggest you treat yourself to a bag of Dawaat brand basmati. It’s not that much more expensive than California or generic rice. If your rice never turns out as fluffy or separate long-grain as you’d like, or it’s sticky or blah… it might not be your technique at all, it could just be your brand of rice!