Mexican Rice recipe

Mexican rice is THE most requested recipe of mine. There are many right ways to cook up a delicious pot of red rice, and recipes vary from family to family. This here is my tried and true version that I make on a weekly basis.

Mexican Rice

A reliable "red rice" recipe that won't let you down

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 4-6

Category: Side

Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups long grain rice, uncooked
• 1/8 yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, peeled & whole
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce (sub 1 cup of blended canned tomato)
• 1 heaping tbsp chicken bouillon
• 1 dash mexican oregano, Italian or greek oregano is ok too
• salt to taste
• cooking oil of choice

Instructions

1. Prep ingredients: dice onion, peel garlic clove, open tomato can. You will be glad you got these ready, trust me
2. Grab your favorite deep pan or pot (I use a 6qt dutch oven but you can use any as long as it has a tight fitting lid)
3. Drizzle cooking oil of choice at the bottom of the pot. Enough to coat the bottom. Set to medium heat.
4. dd 1.5 cups of dry rice to the pot and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. We are toasting the rice. Be vigilant, it can quickly get away from you.
5. When the rice starts to get color and slightly toasty, add the diced onion and garlic clove. Keep stirring. Don't stop. It'll burn.
6. When the rice starts to turn golden and the onion is sweated a little, you're gonna add your liquid
7. You need 3.5 total cups of liquid, which includes your tomato sauce or puree. I recommend putting your tomato into a large measuring cup or container and adding water to equal 3.5 cups
8. Add the 3.5 cups of liquid to your pot. It's gonna sizzle. Stir stir.
9. Add the tbsp of chicken bouillon. You can do without but it really adds a ton of flavor. Can substitute veggie broth or bouillon instead.
10. Add a pinch of oregano
11. Taste the liquid for salt. Add salt to your liking if necessary. The bouillon usually adds plenty so make sure you taste.
12. Optional ingredients: jalapeño or other pepper. I leave this out cus of kids.
13. bring to a boil
14. once boiling lower heat to low/simmer and cover for 20 minutes
15. Turn off heat and DO NOT remove the lid for another 10 minutes
16. Remove lid, fluff up rice with a fork. There will be tomato bits sitting on the top of the rice, thats ok. stir it in.

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NOTE: my recipes are adapted from my family's "non-recipes", as they come from adding things until my ancestors whisper in my ear and tell me stop so believe me when I say we don't have exact measurements for things and I'm trying my best to document the process so you can recreate it.

If you're unsure about which rice to use, I use Jasmin rice because it's the rice we always have on hand and I like the texture. My mom on the other hand will only use Mahatma long grain rice for her arroz. 

We have this rice as a side dish with just about anything. It's a crowd pleaser and budget friendly.