Mexican Rice – baked and stovetop tender and amazingly delicious rice recipe that’s perfect for entertaining or for regular days. It tastes even better than those you pay at restaurants. Minimal prep time with optimal results – comes in 2 methods for your convenience!
Before Cinco de Mayo celebration comes rolling in, I want to make sure that I’ve updated this blog post for your convenience. 🙂 The month of May tends to be a busier one for me in preparation for Cinco de Mayo Celebration (usually at my son’s school), Mother’s Day and my birth month (ssshh).
Mexican Rice happens to be one my favorite rice recipes. It is so flavorful even without the add-ins. Whenever I have people coming over unannounced, I usually serve them with this Mexican Rice as the ingredients are all pantry staples, and it comes together sooo easily. You can leave it there unattended as it cooks (no stirring required) as you prepare the main dish or the other sides.
Is There A Difference Between Spanish Rice and Mexican Rice?
Mexican Rice is a common side dish in Northern Mexico and is also popular in some parts of the world, especially in the Southwestern U.S. It also goes by other names such as Red Rice or Arroz Rojo. And then you add Spanish Rice to the list. Yes, Mexican rice and Spanish rice are basically the same dish, although this recipe here is technically not part of Spanish cuisine. In fact, Spain’s popular rice dish is known as Paella, which uses saffron as its base, giving that distinct yellow color.
The reason probably why Mexican rice is also called Spanish rice is because it was the Spaniards who introduced rice to Mexico. Another theory is that the Mexican speaks the Spanish language, which is why it’s easily tied into this dish.
Recipe Ingredients
Although this dish looks like a fiesta of complex flavors, it’s actually super easy to make. you only need a handful of ingredients that you might already have in your pantry or fridge. Here’s everything you need for this amazing Mexican Rice:
- Cooking oil – is flavorless, but you can also opt to use flavored oils like olive oil
- Long grain rice – I used basmati for this recipe which is totally delicious, especially when you know how to cook it.
- Onion – This veggie is great served fresh with its tangy flavor. I personally love it slightly caramelized for a bit of sweetness. Here’s a quick how to cut onions guide to make the job easier
- Garlic – Whether you use it fresh, dried, or powdered, this gives your whole dish a mouthwatering aroma. Check this how to mince garlic guide to help out
- Paprika – has a pungent taste because of its pepper origins, also with a hint of sweetness from bell peppers.
- Cumin – has an earthy, pungent, and mildly bitter taste but makes any dish flavorful
- Chicken Bullion – A concentrate of flavor you can find in most supermarkets. get your preferred flavor for a richer and more flavorful broth.
- Salt – A basic ingredient that intensifies all other flavors. it’s also used for preserving, brining, or simply as a light garnish.
- Chili – Give your dish a kick of heat with these peppers. I always like the tingling sensation it leaves in my mouth. You can also use minced jalapenos for a hotter flavor.
- Tomato Sauce – Sweet and fresh flavors of tomato in a thick mixture perfect for many starchy dishes.
- Chicken Broth – Basically the water where the chicken was boiled and simmered. It has a lot of flavor and it’s also filled with oils and collagen.
- Parsley – This distinct herb is the perfect garnish and tastes great.
How To Make Mexican Rice
Ever since I discovered how to make rice in the oven, my life could not be any better. I can whip up rice for 100 people in a heartbeat without any worries. The perfect entertainment food!
But Mexican Rice works perfectly either baked or on the stovetop. But if you are one of those few who prefer it the traditional way and letting the natural break down all those wonderful flavors, then that’s fine, too.
Baked Method
You can go the easiest route by throwing everything in the baking pan and baking for about 55-60 minutes.
However, there is a slight difference in taste between the two. Most people don’t notice it at all because the negligible difference is overshadowed by the ease and convenience of the latter. Minimal prep work is always appreciated, especially for weekdays in my neck of the woods. 😉
Stovetop Method
- Brown the rice: Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add rice and brown, stirring occasionally, for about 2-3 minutes. (Photos 1 and 2)
- Add the flavorful ingredients: Next, Add the onions and garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes or until the onion becomes soft and translucent. Season with paprika, cumin, bouillon, salt, and pepper. Add in the jalapenos or chili powder. (Photo 3)
- Cook stirring until fragrant for about 3o seconds. (Photo 4)
- Mix in the sauce: Pour the tomato sauce and chicken broth into a saucepan and bring it to a boil, stirring once or twice. Reduce heat to low. Cover saucepan and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. about 15-18 minutes (Photos 5 and 6)
- Cool it down: Remove pan from heat, Let it sit covered for about 5 minutes. Then, Fluff rice with a fork or serving spoon.
- Serve it up: Garnish with parsley and serve.
Now don’t wait ’til May before you try either one of these methods in preparing Mexican Rice. Trust me, it’ll be your new favorite rice recipe to make. And it makes a wonderful and easy dish to feed a crowd!
Enjoy!
Can I Use Brown Rice?
Yes, you can. If you want a healthier alternative to this dish, using brown rice is certainly the way to go. Just a heads up, though, that brown rice cooks longer than white rice. Since I haven’t made it myself, you can start adding extra 10 minutes in the cooking time, do a quick check and just go from there. One of our readers here also suggested adjusting the broth amount. For the oven-baked rice, add about another 1/2 cup of broth.
Tips and Tricks
Remember these few important rules when making Mexican Rice on a stovetop.
- First, please do not skip browning or toasting the rice in fat or cooking oil, as it adds that nutty toasted flavor.
- Second, bring the rice to boiling point before lowering the heat to simmer. If you reduce the heat right after you add the tomato sauce and broth, you will have underdone rice.
- And lastly, avoid opening the lid during cooking as it will allow the steam to escape resulting in unevenly cooked rice.
What To Pair With Mexican Rice
Did I not tell you how versatile this rice dish is? You can pair it with almost anything (I like it with grilled meat the most). Pairing Mexican Rice with classic Mexican recipes like Burritos, Enchiladas, Quesadillas, Taquitos, and Chicken Fajitas are the obvious favorite options. Or you can eat it straight up! It makes a wonderful meal on its own.
This post was first published on May 2014 and has been updated with new photos and additional cooking methods.
Mexican Rice
Ingredients
Oven Baked Mexican Rice
- 3 cups or 600 g rice , (I used Basmati)
- 1 medium onion , chopped
- 14 oz can tomatoes sauce
- ½ cup or 8 fl oz cooking oil
- 2 tsp chicken bouillon
- 2 tsp or 11.8 g salt
- 1 tbsp or 6.90 g paprika
- 1 tbsp or 9.84 g garlic powder
- 4 cups or 946 ml chicken broth or water
- 1 tsp or 2.33 g white or black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp or 3.05 cumin spice
- 3/4 tsp or 2.03 chili spice or 1 minced jalapeño pepper , optional, omit if cooking for kids
Stovetop Mexican Rice
- ¼ cup or 2 fl oz cooking oil
- 2 cups or 400 g long grain rice , (I used Basmati)
- 1 medium onion , chopped
- 2 tsp or 5.60 g minced garlic
- 1 tsp or 6.90 g paprika
- 1 ½ tsp or 3.05 g cumin
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon (replace with salt about ½ teaspoon)
- 1 tsp or 5.90 g salt
- ½ tsp or 1.16 g freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ tsp chili or minced jalapenos (optional)
- 8 oz tomatoes sauce
- 4 cups or 946 ml chicken broth or water
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley , for garnishing
Instructions
Baked Mexican Rice
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/177℃. Rinse rice thoroughly in water.
- In a baking pan or oven-proof skillet, combine all ingredients and stir so that everything is fully combined.
- Cover tightly with aluminum foil paper.
- Gently place it in the oven and let it bake for about an hour.
- Remove carefully from the oven and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then carefully remove the aluminum foil. Fluff rice with a fork and mix evenly. Serve warm
Stovetop Mexican Rice
- Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, and toast the rice, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes.
- Next, add onions and garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes or until the onion softens and becomes translucent. Season with paprika, cumin, bouillon, salt, and pepper. Add the jalapenos or chili powder if using. Stir for about 30 seconds.
- Pour tomato sauce and chicken broth into the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring once or twice. Reduce heat to low, cover saucepan, and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, for 15-18 minutes.
- Remove pan from heat, let it sit covered for 5 minutes, then fluff rice with a fork or serving spoon.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Tips & Notes:
- There are two ways of baking Mexican Rice. (1) You can start by sautéing the onion, garlic, rice, and jalapenos on the stove before placing them in the baking pan. Or (2), you can go the easiest route by throwing everything in the pan and bake for about 55-60 minutes.
- Make sure you use a tight-fitting lid to cover the rice. Based on my experience of using aluminum paper with the lid. The best one is the one that comes with the pan (a matching set) or just use strong aluminum paper. You may have to double it to ensure it is perfectly cooked.
- At no point while the rice is cooking should you uncover the pan and or stir the rice.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Yukti Arora says
so tasty rice recipe so keep posting.
Jessica says
Howdy! I’m wanting to make this for 48 servings. I love how your recipe changes all the amounts for me. But, for that much more, if I put it all in a big aluminum disposable baking pan, do I need to increase the baking time? Also, will regular long grain enriched rice work? Or does it need to be “Basmati”? Or is there a difference? Basmati just seems to be more expensive than the long grain enriched rice.
ImmaculateBites says
Hello Jessica,
The cooking time may change slightly , I would cook for the amount of time specified and adjust after taste test. I prefer Basmati rice because the rice stays fluffy and firm after cooking. Others have see slight difference when using long grain rice.
Yvonne Shannon says
I have been making rice in my Instant Pot since it cooks up so beautifully. Do you think this recipe could be made in the Instant Pot or have you tried it?
imma africanbites says
Hi. I haven’t tried it on Instant Pot so I can’t give you a definite answer. Thanks for stopping by.
Lee says
I am not an experienced cook and was trying to use your recipe and the way it is printed, it is a guess as to how much cumin spice to use. One and one half or one half. ?? I wonder if anybody else had a problem?
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Lee, It’s one teapoon plus another 1/2 teaspoon in total.
Ariella says
Loved the recipe! But it didn’t cook in a hour in the oven. After an hour I took it out and it was still VERY liquidy. I ended up putting it in a pan on the stove for 20 minutes and it cooked perfectly. The guest even wanted the recipe!
Sandy says
This sounds great. I want to decrease the recipe to serve 4 people. Should it still bake an hour?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes, you should.
KLove says
Excellent flavors. My whole family enjoyed this rice. Made mine in the pressure cooker and used brown basmati rice.
THANKS for your time crafting such good recipes. Never been disappointed .
imma africanbites says
Thank you for the wonderful feedback. I truly appreciate it. Glad the whole family loved this!
Val says
Hello! This looks wonderful. I have 2 questions:
-Could this be made ahead and frozen? How do you think it would turn out reheated in the oven?
-Do you think this could be made in a crock pot?
Thanks!
ImmaculateBites says
Cool, portion and freeze in a ziploc bag. To reheat from frozen: Add a drizzle of water to the rice dish, then cover with aluminum foil. Bake in a 300 degrees oven for about 15- 20 minutes, or until the rice is heated through.
Yes, you sure can make it in the slow cooker, on high for about 2- 2 1/2 hours on high
Sarah says
Hello! This looks wonderful. Do you think it would be ok if I used my round Dutch oven (le cruset) for this ?
imma africanbites says
It sure would.
Brianne Brekke says
How do you suggest reheating this? I want to make today to serve for a party tomorrow around lunch! Thanks!
ImmaculateBites says
Rice dries up when it’s left over night. So it will dry up when you reheat it. If you must When it’s time to serve, place a little water in with the rice, cover it slight, and then microwave till it’s warm.
Yvette says
OMG!. Rinsing the rice was new to me. I was so nervous trying it so I just went for it and wow it worked out! I doubled the recipe . Making 6 cups of rice at one time. The recipe worked perfect! I made 2 separate batches. I tweaked the second batch, for regional taste preference. I used 24 oz of tomato sauce (3 8 oz cans) instead of 28 ozs and 1 tsp of paprika (instead of 2 tsp for double amount). My new favorite way to make rice- in the oven! No mess to clean up! Thank you, I saved so much time using you recipe!
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! So happy to hear it worked out well for you.
Jenni says
I made this today. It was great. Loved it!
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Happy it worked out well for you.
Aubrey says
I had a mini heart attack because I couldn’t find this recipe, I had it saved in another folder! It is absolutely perfect and delicious. I make this at least once a month, it is everyone’s favorite in my home. Thank you!
ImmaculateBites says
Oh No! Glad you found it ! Don’t want to hear of a heart attack Aubrey! NOOOOO. So Pleased to hear it is on your menu rotation.
Stay blessed!
Angel says
I have to make enough to feed about 100 people for a wedding rehearsal dinner. I’m wondering if cooking it in an electric roaster would work or if I should cook it in batches in the oven and use the roaster to reheat it at the dinner. Any experience out there with using a roaster for this recipe?
ImmaculateBites says
Sorry I don’t. But it works great in a rice cooker too!! I would do a trial run first with the electric roaster and see if it works. If not just bake and reheat in the electric roaster.
Joanie says
Hello, I read your comment about making the rice 400 people and I wanted to find out how it turned out. Did you make it ahead of time and reheated in the roaster? I am going to have about 50 to 60 people at a graduation party and we are making a taco bar so I wanted to make this the day ahead and then keep it in the crockpot when people arrive. I don’t want it to dry out, so I may make it the day of the party on the stove and then transfer it to a big crockpot. How did yours turn out? Thank you!
Clint says
This rice is really good! How ever it was just a little under cooked in the middle. Now that being said. I want to point out that I followed the directions excactly. I used the recommended rice, tomato sauce, seasonings and made a very tight seal with tight fitting lid. What I think my problem is that all ovens vary in “true” temperature. I also needed to add about a 1/4 cup more broth/water and cook this 30 minutes longer.
The recipe is spot on with flavor. It is fantastic. So please don’t take it the wrong way. I’m only mentioning this just in case someone else has some trouble like I did with it.
I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
I tried to give this 5stars but it only allowed 4.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Clint! Always appreciate constructive criticism, this might help another reader. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Omoye says
Hmm…a tight-fitting lid. Do you think this recipe will work with a large casserole dish with its’ own accompanying lid? (I’m trying to move away from aluminum.)
ImmaculateBites says
It sure would.