Mexican Rice is a quick and easy side dish perfect for any Mexican meal!
My family loves Mexican rice with just about any Mexican type meal. We eat it with enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, and more.
I have been making this same basic recipe for years. The more that I made the original recipe the more I tweaked it to get it just how my family liked it. It is now a recipe I make several times a month.
This is very close the rice you will find at Mexican Restaurants. I took it to a family dinner recently and everyone loved it. Both of my husband’s aunts wanted to know how I made it and I shared the recipe with them.
This is a great side dish for any Mexican style meal.
I love serving this with either Slow Cooked Refried Beans or my Instant Pot Refried Beans.
Mexican Rice
If you love restaurant style Mexican rice this homemade version of Mexican rice is a must make.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cups chicken broth
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until slightly opaque/white and slightly puffed. You are lightly frying the rice.
- While rice is cooking, sprinkle with salt and cumin.
- Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until rice is done.
Notes
If you are gluten-free be sure to read labels to make sure your ingredients are gluten-free.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6 servingsServing Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 105Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 537mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 2g
Nutritional values are approxomite and aren't always accurate.
I always cheat and buy a box )C: I know, how bad…but one thing I do instead of putting the can of tomatoes in like they suggest, I use salsa. It adds a nice flavor.
This is so close to the recipe that I use. The one thing different is using chicken broth instead of water that I use. I will definitely try that next time.
I LOVE your cooking blog. I stumbled upon it a last week. I have read through your archives and I can’t wait to try your recipes. Thank you for the time you put into this blog!
I have been using this recipe for awhile now instead of the tomato sauce I use small can of El Pato Sauce. It is a little spicer but worth it my picky kid who would only eat plain rice loves it.
I would happily eat this rice straight from the pan with a spoon. Heaven!
How did you know I have been looking for a Mexican rice recipe. I will surely try yours and now I going to check out your enchalada sauce.
Thanks
~ ~Ahrisha~ ~
This is great, until this recipe I have not found such good vegetarian Mexican rice.
I search high and low for a Mexican rice recipe as well. I found that if you use Tomato and Chicken boullion found at Mexican food stores you will get a very authentic taste. It’s made by Knorr. One major food chain in my area carries it in their Mexican food isle. You will love it.
I usually make mexican rice as a side anytime we have Mexican food for dinner. This looks like a great recipe…I’ll be trying it!
Looks yummy! We have a lot of Mexican in our house, I will definately be trying this.
Thanks for sharing!
~Liz
Yummmmm… ole!
This looks simple and delicious. My favorite combination :-). I hope you are having a wonderful day.
We never used to eat rice with mexican food until I saw your mexican rice post. Now I always make it, my husband absolutley loves it, always checks we are having it if I say we are having fajitas and I find it so easy to make. We had some left over last time and I have frozen it, I don’t normally do that with rice but I couldn’t bear to waste it, so I am hoping it stands up to defrosting and reheating 🙂
Depending on what we have in the cupboard I either use Tomato Passata or a tin of chopped tomatoes with the juice and both work well.
I’d just switch to fresh tomatoes…otherwise a great dish. Hope you get a chance to swing by Momtrends. Have a great weekend.
https://momtrends.blogspot.com/2009/09/friday-food-perfect-and-healthy-blt.html
Cumin is my current favorite spice! This rice “smells” delicious, thanks. I’ve enjoyed perusing your blog today.
Blessings,
e-Mom @ Susannah’s Aprons
https://susannahsaprons.blogspot.com
Just made this rice tonight for dinner and WOW it is delicious. I don’t think I can ever go back to regular rice again!
Lynn, do you think this would work with brown rice?
@jackie brown, I have never cooked it with brown rice, but it might work if you add more liquid and adjust the cooking time I would love to hear how it works.
I made this the other night with cheese enchiladas and it was the best dinner I have made in a while. My DH (military) has been away training I was kind of in a rut. It tasted so good to everyone!
How would this recipe work in a rice cooker? Would there be any adjustments in the liquid? Thanks!
@Amy A., I am so glad that you liked it. And thank you for your family’s sacrifice for our country. Military families do not get the appreciation they should. You all sacrifice so much, so thank you!! And I think the trick to this rice is the frying it, so I don’t think the texture in the rice cooker would be the same.
@Lynn,
Thank you, Lynn, for you kind comments. It’s so nice to hear once in a while. 🙂
I passed this recipe on to my mom and she cooked he rice first, added the seasonings, then added all ingredients to her rice cooker ans it turned out great. She and her husband loved it! So it can be cooked in the rice cooker. Then you don’t have to watch it. On the other hand, if you are already cooking it in the pan, why dirty another dish. lol Just thought I’d pass that on.
Thanks for your great recipes and ideas!
Delicious, we couldn’t get enough of it and I promised the family I would make more the next day. Goes real well as a side to your Mexican Pizza which is YUMMY!!!
Had one of those days where dinner snuck up on me with no plan at all. My hubbie wanted enchiladas, so via google I found your blog. I have to have rice with enchiladas and my fav rice recipe takes a good hour and way too much prep for tonight. My husband, who lived in Mexico for awhile as a kid, raved about this, saying this is what rice is really like. So I think I’m getting rid of my hour long recipe and sticking with this! And I’ll be a follower from now on.
@Tara, Thank you! I am so glad that you found my site and enjoyed this rice. My family loves it and I make it all the time, so I am glad you enjoyed it to. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my site.
Hi Lynn,
I recently tried making Mexican Rice. I noticed that your recipe is basically the same as this one: https://allrecipes.com/recipe/mexican-rice-ii/detail.aspx without the onion. Is this where you got your recipe?
@Whitney, That recipe is one that I have been making for years and it based on several recipes that I have tried and I adjusted the spices etc. My recipe has no onion and less garlic salt than the one you linked to. That same recipe you linked to is also in a cookbook that I own, so I am not sure where the exact recipe originated. I think many Mexican rices are all very similar and mine is just tweaked a little from them for the taste and spice my family likes.
This is delicious! I thought it would need more salt (I used homemade broth with no salt added), but it didn’t. Thanks for the great recipe!
I have made this rice several times, and this is the best! I was wondering if you’ve ever made it ahead of time and then warmed it up. I want to make this for a board meeting but am trying to avoid having to make it at the meeting if at all possible. Any suggestions?
We eat it as leftovers all the time and it works well so I think it would be fine. And I am glad you enjoy it!
My friend just came over this week to show me how to make beans, rice, and tortillas. Instead of tomato sauce she uses tomato bouillons. I never even knew they existed! She uses 2 per 4-6 cups of dry beans. They are cheaper for us (.57c for a box of 8 at Walmart) instead of the sauce cans.
I have had this on my “to-try” list for such a long time! Today I made it and I regret not having done it sooner! It was delicious! My youngest told me “Mom, this needs to get popular”. We put pinto beans on top, and added lettuce, cheese and salsa. Oh yeah! We’ll be having this regularly! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for letting me know. I love it when kids love my recipes because they are usually the pickiest eaters. 🙂
I was really wanting to make this rice tonight but I didn’t have any tomato.sauce so I pureed a can of diced tomatoes in my blender & then just measured out what I needed. It worked out great. I couldn’t really tell a difference so I thought I’d share just in case anyone else is ever out of tomato sauce 🙂
I have never tried that, so thanks for letting us know it worked.
Hi Lynn!
I made, LOVED, and shared this recipe on my blog today. I wanted to thank you for this wonderful recipe. We love it and will make it often. I especially love finding better replacements for boxed or prepackaged food. I can always depend on your recipes!
You can find my shout out to you here: http://www.AtHomeMyWay.blogspot.com
THANKS AGAIN!
Gina
In the Mexican Food Isle, there is a cheap brand of spices called Fiesta. One of their spices is Spanish Rice Seasoning. It has the recipe on the back for spanish rice, very delicious and has become a family favorite.
Hi Lynn,
Just wanted to let you know that I made the Mexican Rice again. I really love it and it’s pretty easy. I feel good knowing I didn’t pour it from a box or pouch. I had made a enchiladas and had a half of a can of tomato sauce leftover that I didn’t want to go to waste. I remembered your recipe that I had tried once before and that worked out well. My husband liked it and even a son I didn’t think would care for it, liked it. So it’s a keeper…already copied to a recipe card in my recipe box. Thanks again!
My mom learned this way of making Spanish Rice from a lady from Mexico City. We do dice up some onion and use stewed or diced tomatoes (Mexican now that it’s made that way) Otherwise, it’s the same. Always good.
Delicious quick recipe. Tastes great. I look forward to making this again. Thanks for posting this recipe.