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My mother’s Spanish rice (aka Mexican rice) is a mandatory accompaniment to any Mexican dish we serve at our house, whether it’s with enchiladas or tostadas, or with steak and black beans.
This rice is our family’s comfort food. My mom always makes a big batch when she makes it, because we can’t get enough!
Video! How to Make Spanish Rice
Spanish rice is essentially a rice pilaf, but with southwestern flavorings. To make it you brown the raw rice first with onions and garlic, and then cook the rice in chicken broth with added tomatoes.
The browning is essential to the nutty, almost toasty flavor of the rice. And although bouillon can be substituted for the chicken stock, nothing beats homemade chicken stock, whose rich flavor is absorbed by the rice as it cooks.
Mom has perfected the art of preparing the rice quickly. She heats the tomato-y stock in a separate pot while the rice is browning, and then combines the two to cook while she prepares the rest of the meal. You could easily make it one pot if you wanted.
Spanish Rice Recipe
My mother browns the rice in a separate pan from the pot she uses to heat the stock. This is just to save time. You could easily brown the rice and onions, and add cold stock and tomatoes to it, bring to a simmer, cover and cook, all in one pot.
If you have homemade stock, use it! That's what will take this Spanish rice from good to great.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)
- 1 onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
- 2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice
- 3 cups* chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian version)
- 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained
- Pinch of dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.
Method
1 Brown the rice: Heat olive oil in large skillet on medium/high heat. Add the rice and stir it so that the rice is lightly coated with the oil. Cook on medium high heat, stirring often, until much of the rice has browned.
2 Add onion, garlic: Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently another 3 minutes, until the onions begin to soften. Add the garlic and cook until the onions are translucent and softened, about a minute more.
3 Combine broth, tomato, oregano, salt, and browned rice and onions: To save time you can bring the stock to a simmer in a separate saucepan, with the tomato, oregano, and salt.
4 Combine the rice and broth mixture: Add the browned rice to the simmering broth (or broth to the rice, depending on which pan has a cover). Or you can skip the simmering step and just add the broth and tomatoes to the rice.
5 Simmer, cover, cook until the rice has absorbed the stock: Bring everything to a simmer, cover the pot and lower the heat to barely maintain a low simmer.
Cook for 15-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package.
Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
Fluff with a fork or spoon to serve.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Spanish Rice
I just made this. It was so good I couldn’t eat it fast enough. Added some green and red peppers and pinto beans to make it a one pot meal. Even my super picky mom liked it.
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Lovely, I added some dry chilli flakes to the broth, and it gave it a nice kick!
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Delicious! This is going to be my new go-to recipe for Spanish Rice! :)
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This looks great and I’m going to try it! Do you have any Recommendations for make-ahead, just for earlier in the day?
Hi Susan,
You have a few options.
1) Make it to the end of Step 2 and let the pan of oil-coated rice sit out for up to 4 hours.
2) Make it all the way to the end, then let it sit on the lowest heat, covered, to keep it warm. You may need to add a few flicks of water from time to time so it does not dry out, but if your lid is snug, that might not be necessary.
Hope that helps. PS–you can freeze leftovers!
That definitely helps. Thanks so much!
Can this recipe be frozen? We are going on a house boating trip for 7 days and I would like to make and freeze as much as possible beforehand.
Hi Jenny,
Yes, you can freeze this! This post, How to Freeze Rice, has all the details you need. Enjoy your trip!