How to Prepare Mexican Rice
No more boil-and-eat packets: Knowing how to prepare Mexican rice from scratch requires a few added steps but pays off with more flavor and far less sodium. Mexican rice (also known as Spanish rice in the U.S., though it's not at all native to Spain) is a popular side dish, often served alongside refried beans, at Mexican-American restaurants.The signature reddish-orange color if Mexican rice can be attributed to tomatoes or tomato paste; the dish is rounded out with peas, corn, onion and garlic. Ground cumin adds the familiar flavor of Mexican cuisine, as does cilantro, which is sometimes used as a flavorful garnish.
When cooking rice, it's important to note that the ratio of grain to liquid is 1:2. Water works perfectly fine, but beef, chicken or vegetable stock or broth adds even more flavor. When it's finished cooking, fluff the rice with a fork--it helps separate the grains without making them mushy.
Transcript
Hi everyone, I'm Judith. Well, today, I'll be showing you
how to make Mexican Rice, the perfect side accompaniment to
a nice chicken or beef. So, what you'll need is
1 tablespoon of olive oil; 1 cup of instant brown
rice; 1 cup of frozen corn; 1 cup of frozen
peas; 8 green onions, chopped; 3 cloves of
garlic, minced; 1 teaspoon of brown cumin; 1/2 teaspoon of
dried oregano; and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Alright. So,
in our saucepan to the side of us, we're gonna
get it to a medium-high heat and we're gonna add
in our oil. We'll get that nice and hot because
for our Mexican rice, we're gonna add in the rice
first with the oil. So once that's hot, we're gonna
add in our rice and we're gonna let that cook
in there for about 3 to 4
minutes until it's nice and brown. So, our rice is
starting to brown there nicely. So, now we're gonna add
in our peas and our corn, as well as our
green onions are gonna go in there, our garlic, lots
of great flavor in this Mexican rice. And our oregano
and cumin. Beautiful.
So, we'll give that a good stir. And we're gonna
saute that for about a minute. So, as that is
sauteing, let's get a measuring jug and what we're gonna
do is put our tomato paste into the jug, and
we're gonna add in enough hot boiling water until we
make 2
cups. So, let's look at this, and it goes. Alright.
That's 2 cups right there. So, we'll give that a
good stir. So, into the pan goes in our tomato
paste-water mixture.
So we're gonna reduce that heat to a medium-low and
we're gonna let that simmer for 15 minutes with the
cover on. So, our rice is nicely cooked now. All
the liquid has evaporated. Make sure it is before you
serve it up and it should fluff easily with a
fork. And that is beautiful, lots of flavor, lots of
color. So let's just serve that up. Uh and fantastic.
Now, as I said, serve that with some chicken or
beef, pork,
whatever you like, and that is a lovely side dish.
That's how you make Mexican rice.
What You'll Need
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup instant brown rice
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 8 green onions, chopped (1/2 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 tablespoon)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Step By Step
1
Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add rice, and saute 3 to 4 minutes, or until beginning to brown. Add corn, peas, green onions, garlic, cumin, and oregano, and saute 1 minute.
2
Spoon tomato paste in 2-cup measuring cup. Add enough boiling water to make 2 cups, and stir to combine. Pour tomato paste mixture into rice, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, and fluff with fork just before serving.
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