Mexican/Spanish Rice

Mexican rice, also called Spanish rice is a really fantastic side for a number of different dishes. The Mexicans call this arroz rojo in Spanish. This dish is very popular in northern and central mexico and has made it’s way into Tex Mex too. This is where the name Spanish or Mexican rice comes from.

Mexican chefs traditionally serve this dish alongside stews, grilled meats, beans etc. and I think it’s fantastic for the base of a great burrito bowl! You can batch cook this and refrigerate if you wanted to meal prep too. You really do not need to put much effort into making this. This really only takes a couple of steps more than making plain boiled rice!

Techniques

This rice uses a lot of techniques that are quite common to a lot of rice dishes around the world. You need to toast the rice a little bit to get the best flavour out of this. You’ll be toasting it in a delicious base of sauteed aromatics and spices, much like you would do to make pilau rice.

This recipe calls for stock as a cooking liquid. Alternative cooking liquids to water can help build a lot of additional flavour in our rice. Yellow rice, popular in a range of cuisines around the world, also uses stock, while Jamaican rice and peas uses coconut milk.

Once you have got familiar and comfortable with some of these recipes, the world really opens up for you to make your own rice combos bursting with flavour!

You will want to ensure that your rice is well washed. You can do this by putting it into a bowl, filling with water, stirring it around and draining. Importantly, you should do this a couple of times until the water runs clear. This removes excess starch and stops the rice from getting too clumpy and gloopy. Because this rice is cooked in a broth featuring tomato puree, it will therefore tend to be thicker than plain boiled rice. Washing well will ensure you get nice individual grains as seen in the picture below!

Homemade Mexican Style Tomato Rice

Savoury and delicious rice cooked in tomato, onion, garlic and stock. A fantastic side for any of your Mexican style meals!

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings: 2 People

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican, Tex-Mex

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 150 g Long Grain White Rice Washed
• 1 medium Onion White or yellow
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 Tomato
• 200 ml Chicken Stock Hot
• 1 tbsp Tomato Puree
• 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 3 stalks Fresh Coriander Whole with leaves
• 2 tsp Olive Oil

Method

 

1. Bring a medium sized pan up to medium high heat. Add the olive oil.
2. Dice your onion and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes until starting to soften.
3. Grate or mince your garlic and add to the pan. Cook for another minute or so until fragrant.
   
4. Add the washed rice with the smoked paprika and toast in the spices and aromatics for a minute or so, stirring regularly.
   
5. Mix your tomato puree into the chicken stock until well combined. Pour this over the rice and stir well.
6. Bring the pan to a boil then add in the coriander stalks, cover and drop the heat to low.
   
7. Leave for 15 minutes to simmer. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and leave for another 10 minutes to steam.
8. Dice the fresh tomato and mix into the rice after it has finished steaming.