This Authentic Mexican Rice recipe is made with simple ingredients like long grain rice, chopped tomatoes, onions and garlic and is the perfect side dish for any meal!
If I had to pick one side dish to serve at every meal, it would be this authentic Mexican rice! Made with easy to find ingredients and ready in 40 minutes, this rice is perfect alongside Mexican and Tex-Mex favorites.
It’s fluffy, infused with a flavorful tomato-based broth and exactly how my mom used to make it for me as a kid.
How to make Mexican rice
Ingredients you need:
- long grain white rice
- olive oil
- roma tomato
- tomato paste
- onion
- garlic
- water
Pretty much just the good stuff!
Toast the rice in a large skillet with some olive oil until some of the grains begin to brown and slightly pop and open up.
Add in the tomatoes, onions and garlic. Cook for another 30 seconds and add in the water and tomato paste. Stir and bring to a boil.
Lower heat to simmer, cover and cook for 20 more minutes. That’s it!
The tomatoes and tomato paste give the rice the beautiful reddish hint that everyone knows and loves about Mexican rice. However, if you don’t have tomato paste, you can use a tomato bouillon cube like these.
(Be sure to check out my recipe for Arroz Verde (Green Rice), too!)
What to serve with Mexican Rice
Some of my favorite things to serve alongside Mexican rice include:
Watch how to make this recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups long-grain white rice, rinsed and drained
- 1 roma tomato, diced
- 1/2 medium white onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (or 4 cloves, minced)
- 4 cups water
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil.
- When the oil is hot, add in the rinsed rice and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice begins to brown very slightly. At this point, some grains of rice may even pop. That’s okay. This step adds some nuttiness and more depth of flavor to the rice.
- Add in the diced tomatoes, onions and minced garlic. Sauté for about 30 seconds.
- Add in the water, tomato paste and a generous pinch of salt. Stir together to mix until the tomato paste has fully dissolved.
- Bring the rice to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and cover. Let cook for 20 minutes, or until all the water has evaporated from the skillet and the rice is fully cooked through.
Nutrition Information
Sandy says
Bland. Definitely needed salt. Will use chicken broth next time and double tomato paste. I let simmer about 8-10 without lid till holes appeared then turned off heat, covered with terry cloth towel and lid and let “steam” for 20 minutes.
Concepcion Holloway says
Hi Sandy. I make mine with Chicken broth, chicken bouillon powder, celery, cilantro, diced yellow onion, garlic powder, and ground cumin. It’s definitely flavorful and probably the rice you’re hoping to get. Also try Texmati rice or Jasmine rice. With these spices, you really don’t need the salt as much because of the bouillon powder, cilantro and chicken broth. Make sure you use the celery and cilantro. This is my TexMex recipe ingredient list.
Heather L. says
The texture of this rice is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Next time I’m going to go a little heavier on the onion and garlic, and I was definitely too skimpy with the salt. Maybe I’ll try using veggie broth instead of water (although, I don’t know if that’d change the texture, which I don’t want.) So much better than the so-called Mexican rices you get in a box at the supermarket, everyone enjoyed it.
Angel Watkins says
I just made this for the first time tonight to go with homemade chicken, cheese, and rice. Oh my goodness!! This is the best rice I’ve ever made!!!! This recipe is definitely a keeper.