Mexican Rice
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
<Restaurant-style Mexican rice made right at home! The best side dish for tacos, burritos, enchiladas + so much more. So good!
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.
why i love this 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 many dishes. Mexican rice can be served alongside so many dishes, pairing well with chicken, seafood, carne asada, enchiladas, tacos and burritos 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.
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.
tips and tricks for success
- Rinse the rice prior to using. Using a fine mesh strainer, rinse the rice under cold water to remove any excess starch.
- 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.
- Gently fluff. Fluff the rice using a fork to gently separate the grains without breaking them, never stirring. Stirring will lead to mushy rice.
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Mexican Rice: Frequently Asked Questions
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
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.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Absolutely delicious. My son loves anything to do with any rice but this is one his absolute favourites now. Husbands a but picky where food is concerned but he loved this too.Mine stuck a little but other than that it was perfect and I followed the recipe exactly. It needed the 16 minutes because after 13 it was still slightly crunchy. But this is a keeper for me. Going to look on here for more recipes for sure. Thankyou.
Great recipe – made it on a rainy night in Ontario cottage country! I didn’t have chili powder so I took chili flakes, paprika and I ground them with a mortar and pestle along with the garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin – and a chicken bouillon. I put wine into the carrots and onions after they softened, then added the paste. I used canned diced tomatoes and some water. It all tasted great. I agree with the other reviewer re: basmati getting kind of pasty. I used basmati and that’s what happened. Great flavour though. Definitely recommend it with a change in the rice. I also added sweet potato to it – a little “extra” but my family likes sweet potato and it was ok with it. Maybe that contributed to more pastiness. One more thing – I used 1.5 cups of rice vs 1 cup and adjusted measurement of the other ingredients. It made WAY too much for 7 people – but hey, we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Has anyone doubled, tripled, or more this recipe? I’m making for a group of 35, so am wondering if I can do 3 batches of doubling or 2 batches of tripling the recipe.
Make sure you toast your rice well. The main reasons for toasting rice is to bring out that aromatic nutty flavor and cut down the liquid required for normal rice. I’m sure if most of you tried the recipe again and toasted your rice longer it won’t need as much water and the flavor (nuttiness) will enhance . I always toast the rice first (3/4 of the way) then add onions etc. hope this helps some of you.
I made this using a rice cooker instead of a skillet because I’m shamefully lazy, and it turned out surprisingly good!
I used 2 measuring cups of rice (about 1 1/2 “regular” cups) for 1/3 L broth (about 1 1/2 “regular” cups) and it turned out perfect – but keep in mind that rice cookers need less water than skillets! As MDS said in the comments, if you’re using a skillet you probably want more broth than this recipe says. (Basically, I added as much liquid as the rice cooker said, and then added the tomato sauce and the veggies.)
Really easy and was just as easy to make in the UK (sometimes American recipes are hard to replicate here).
We love the recipes from this site but there’s something wrong here. The amount of rice and liquid is way off and the rice comes out crunchy. I thought my husband made it incorrectly the first time but then I made it with the same results. Really wish I could have left a more positive review as we do love other recipes on this site.
The same thing happened to me as well and I followed the recipe to a T. Thanks for commenting because After reading all of the comments I thought what on earth went wrong. I added triple the water and cooked it for twice as long, added more seasoning and then it tasted good. I will make again but change the recipe.
Yum! Loved this as-is…The only thing I did that may or may not be a change is that I used the measuring cup for rice that came with my rice-maker instead of an actual 1&1/2 cups rice (rice maker measuring cups are smaller than actual)…To be clear, I didn’t cook the rice in the rice-maker – just used that adjusted measurement for the rice…I mention this because others say they didn’t have enough liquid…Mine turned out very well, so maybe that adjusted amount of rice is what was intended all along…Regardless, this was delicious and we will make it again.
The food turned out to be very tasty but sadly there is one major issue with the recipe and it may be down to the language difference between UK and USA. You state in the recipe to use corn kernels, so i went and looked for corn kernels as i have never heard this name before. I bought the hard versions used for popping as they were called kernels! Alas they never cooked and stayed hard so FYI the rest of the world calls them sweetcorn. If you want your recipe to be more internationally friendly that is…
I guess the assumption is you have some basic cooking sense. Actually the rest of the world understands that kernel is the correct word for a piece of the corn
I’ve made this I don’t know how many times now and it always comes out great. If we want a little extra spice I’ll use Enchilada sauce instead of the plain tomato sauce. Also if I’m pressed for time or just don’t have fresh corn on hand 2 cups frozen mixed veggies does work instead of the corn/carrots/peas. Not as good of course but it does work. The leftovers freeze well too (we’re only two people so that’s a big one for me). Another great recipe, thank you!
Awesome Mexican Rice!!! Just wondering if I can make this ahead of time
Thanks
Lise
Best Mexican Rice recipe I have ever tried. I made it as written with the exception of the Roma tomatoes. I didn’t have any and we like spicy, so I drained a can of Rotel and added it at the end at the same point I would have added the Romas. It was great and our guests loved it as well. After reading the reviews below, I have to say, I followed the complete recipe including all liquid. I did not have to add any additional liquid at all and the rice was perfect. I thought the vegetables added definite flavor and I considered even adding some beans to the rice, but I’ll save that for next time.
Personal preference, but I don’t want any veggies in my Mexican rice. So I left them out. I did not use basmati rice, but rather long grain. Mainly because I find things made with a as ati are a little pasty. Great for stirfry and other things but not what I want in my Mexican rice. I used a can of rotelle in place of the two Roma tomatoes, since I didn’t have them I’m glad I did because it gave a little bit more of a kick to this dish. I think I would’ve considered it bland without that. I don’t care for really spicy, but it’s got to have flavor. It’s not a judgment on this recipe since we all have different taste buds for what we like. I have an aunt that uses nothing but salt and pepper and I have no clue how she eats anything because it’s so tasteless. I have never had rice cook in less than 20 minutes. I also knew that it needed half half a cup of water more, based on experience. The tomato sauce really doesn’t impart enough liquid to take the place of water. I also kept it on a bare simmer. After sitting on the back of the stove, off the heat, with a lid on for about five minutes, the rice was perfect.
Made this dish, even though there’s alot of ingredients, it is super easy. The flavor is rich. Love it
Thanks for sharing.
The flavour is great and it’s quick to make. My only negative comment is that it needs at least DOUBLE the liquid amount. After 15 mins on the stove it started to burn on the bottom, the liquid had absorbed, and the rice was still crunchy. I had to add another 2 cups to what was initially called for. Flavour was bomb though.
Tried this for the first time and it turned out so well. Super pleased with the flavors. At the end though, the base of my rice was burnt, so I refrained from scrapping the bottom layer. But the rest of it was all good and absolutely delicious.
Note to self: Would probably try using another pot the next time.
This is a great basic Mexican rice recipe. My husband said it tasted like most other rice he has had. I’ll be reheating it in the oven tomorrow for Superbowl, since I’m doing a taco/nacho bar. I added some extra water for the reheating process so it doesn’t get dried out. Then I’ll add the fresh diced tomatoes and cilantro. Thanks!
My novio is Mexican. He loves this rice. It is the only recipe I make for him. Sometimes twice a week. He is not a potato man, unfortunately.
One of the best Mexican Rice recipe. We made once before and plan to make again this week. Directions are great. We used two cups of frozen mixed vegetables since that is all we had. Turned out great. Thanks for the recipe
AH-maZing!!