Mexican Rice

"Are you craving that great Mexican rice from your favorite taco stand? Here it is. This is just like a good Mexican restaurant rice. Many recipes taste good... but the texture just isn't right. You know how it is... you have prepared scores of Mexican rice recipes but always have been disappointed. It may be delicious but kinda "gloopy and wet." Try this. Everything is pureed and cooked in. There are no chunks of anything... just dry fluffy rice with all the seasonings and just the tiniest hint of a tomato flavor. I will throw away all of my Mexican rice recipes- this is the one I have been looking for for years! I don't own a rice cooker but some people have had disappointing results using one. You will also need to adjust your cooking time if you want to use brown rice. I recommend following the cooking instructions as directed. Proceed at your own peril if you stray. Enjoy."
 
Download
photo by The Food Gays photo by The Food Gays
photo by The Food Gays
photo by jazgbl photo by jazgbl
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by The Food Gays photo by The Food Gays
photo by The Food Gays photo by The Food Gays
Ready In:
55mins
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
8-10
Advertisement

ingredients

Advertisement

directions

  • Adjust rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350.
  • Process tomato and onion in processor or blender until pureed and thoroughly smooth. Transfer mixture to measuring cup and reserve exactly 2 cups. Discard excess.
  • Remove ribs and seeds from 2 jalapenos and discard. Mince flesh and set aside. Mince remaining jalapeno. Set aside.
  • Place rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until water runs clear- about 1 1/2 minutes.Shake rice vigorously to remove excess water.This step removes the starch from the rice so it will not stick. IF YOU OMIT THIS STEP YOUR RICE WILL NOT BE DRY AND FLUFFY.
  • Heat oil in heavy bottomed ovensafe 12 inch straight sided sautee pan or Dutch oven with tight fitting lid over low-medium heat about 2 minutes. (The recipe is very specific about this but I used a 10 inch dutch oven and it worked out fine.) Drop a few rice grains in and if they sizzle then it is ready. Add rice and fry stirring until rice is light golden and translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Be careful that the oil doesn't get too hot too fast or the oil will splatter.
  • Reduce heat to medium, add garlic and 2 minced jalapenos and cook , stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 1/2 minutes.
  • Stir in broth, pureed mixture,tomato paste, and salt. Increase heat to medium high, and bring to a boil.
  • Cover pan and transfer pan to oven to bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, 30-35 minutes.Stir well after 15 minutes.
  • Stir in cilantro, minced jalapeno to taste, and pass lime wedges separately.
  • Edited to add 6-15-05: If you can't get good fresh tomatoes you are better off using canned tomatoes. Don't use those awful hard and underipe tomatoes that are at most supermarket chains. Just be sure that the processed tomatoes and the one onion equals 2 cups. One the other hand- if you find that after processing your tomatoes and onions that you have less than 2 cups- simply add enough bottled salsa to make up the difference.
  • Edited 8-21-06: Do not skip any of the steps. It may seem stupid- but rinsing the rice to remove the starch is very important if you want fluffy rice. It will only take two minutes of your time but it makes the difference.
  • Edited 8-15-08: Leftovers are just as delicious the next day so this is a perfect dish to make ahead time for potlucks. This rice also freezes well. For Freezing Ahead: Cool, portion and freeze in a ziploc bag. To reheat from frozen: Place in a pyrex dish and warm in the microwave, stirring every 2-3 minutes until heated through.
  • You'll love this rice! Money back guarantee.

Questions & Replies

  1. I've read a few reviews of recipes where people are saying this or that was horrible and they FED IT TO THEIR DOGS, People please don't give recipes with ONIONS OR GARLIC in them to your dogs onions can cause kidney failure and garlic can cause blood issues in dogs, and CHOCOLATE can literally kill your dog. So if you truly love your dogs PLEASE DON'T FEED THESE ITEMS TO YOUR FUR BABIES! Just needed to post sorry I'm an avid animal lover.
     
  2. I hope this isn't one of those stupid questions that we all shake our heads at... Would making a double (or larger) batch turn out well using this method? I've never baked rice before!
     
  3. Can I toast the rice ahead of time. I'm making this for a party, and like to prep everything I can so I can enjoy my guests.
     
  4. Can you replace cilantro with something else?
     
  5. I need this recipe to fee 200 people
     
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. My husband is Dominican, so rice is something I cook every day. I thought I would try this to give a variation from white rice. It was excellent! However, for those of you who would rather not rinse your rice and still have it come out fluffy and not sticky, I can tell you exactly how to do it. It is the same way Dominican rice is cook. Follow steps 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PUT IT IN TH OVEN. EVERYTHING IS COOKED ON THE STOVETOP. Allow all the water to boil out of the pot. When you see air holes in the rice and a wooden spoon can stand on its own in the rice, then you reduce the heat to medium low and cover the dutch oven with a tight fitting. Continue cooking the rice for 25 - 30 minutes. DO NOT REMOVE THE LID DURING THIS TIME. This method is great for cooking any type of rice dish and you only have. When rice is cooked properly, the grains will actually split open down the middle and have a firm texture to them, and that is exactly what happens when you cook rice by this method.
     
  2. Bring the cows up and open the barn doors, cause' this recipe is gonna zap you right into delicious, dreamy, "give-me-the-dang-spoon-now", kinda trance. I have never in my born days tasted such tempting, tantalizing, and tremendous tasting rice or Mexican rice for that matter. I followed this exact. I had never washed long-grain rice before, and now, thanks to Potsie, I know the trick to great rice. You MUST wash the rice. It truly, and absolutely does make a difference. I was hoping and praying for leftovers, but nothing, nill, nada. Oh yes! I forgot, I didn't have tomato paste, so used canned tomatoes. It was ever so good, just wait and see. I might try some blacken/roasted/jalapeno/peppers next time, but this is perfect in every way.
     
  3. I made this tonight with what I had of the ingredients and it was delisc and easy! I followed the directions up to step 6. I then place the stir-fried rice, garlic and jalapenos into my rice cooker adding the pureed tomatoes and onion and chicken broth. It turned out moist and full of flavor. Way easier than putting in the oven.
     
  4. I just finished cleaning up after my family dinner party. I chose to have a Mexican buffet complete with chicken and beef fajitas, tacos, beef enchilada casserole, nachos, rice and beans, guacamole, pico de gallo and all the usual trimmings. Everything made from scratch! What a huge success! THE RICE WAS DELICIOUS! I followed the recipe except I doubled the recipe (I had over 20 dinner guests!) I used rotel tomatoes and I added a teaspoon of cumin and about a tablespoon of chili powder. It was fluffy and absolutely devine! Cooking it in the oven did the trick--no gloopy rice here! This will be my go-to Mexican rice recipe from now on!
     
  5. I just made this recipe yesterday for my son's football team's pre-game meal. I made two batches of the single recipe, not knowing how doubling rice would turn out (I think the proportions are different when you multiply rice). Next time I will actually double it with the servings calculator and update my review, because I think it would help to have a large crowd review on the board. <br/>Anyhoo, I followed the recipe, but because of time constraints, I used a bottle of Herdez Medium Salsa instead of the tomatoes/onions/jalepenos, and made up the volume difference (to make 2 cups of tomatoes per recipe) with pureed canned tomatoes. I did find that I HAD TO FRY THE RICE FOR ALMOST 15 MINUTES to get it to the proper color. I think this is the most important step in the recipe for insuring that your rice will be fluffy, so don't quit at 6 minutes if the rice isn't light golden brown. I also added a tsp of cumin per recipe at the end of the fry time and stirred for a minute more. <br/>I put both single batches in one of the big dutch ovens I used to fry the rice, and baked for 40 minutes on 365?. I did stir the rice at the 15 minute mark and added thawed peas, carrots and corn. Then because I had an hour before I had to transport, I turned off the oven and let the rice sit in there to keep warm.<br/>THIS RICE TURNED OUT PERFECTLY! I am not hispanic, but even our hispanic players said this rice was better than their moms'! A couple of players thought they were eating at a restaurant :D We were scraping the bottom of the pan, and could have used another half recipe. We fed 32 people off of this double recipe, but could have used more. <br/>If you're considering this for a crowd, don't hesitate. It's so easy, esp. if you are using the bottled salsa. But err on the side of making too much, because they will want seconds or thirds!
     
Advertisement

Tweaks

  1. I've read some of the reviews and some people were having a hard time getting the rice cooked and fluffy in 35 minutes. To prevent this from happening, heat up the liquid before adding it to the dutch oven with the rice. I have never had chewy rice using this method.
     
  2. With 441 reviews saying how delicious this recipe is, you probably don't need one more. However, it was the most delicous Mexican rice I have ever made. Not too wet and not too dry. It was simple to make and went together easily since I didn't puree anything. I did make a few necessary changes for taste and preferences. I used diced green chilies instead of jalapenos to keep it toddler friendly for my grandsons and canned petit diced tomatoes which I did not puree with the onion because I like to see them and the finely chopped onion. I made 1 1/2 times the recipe which made a decent sized dutch oven pot of rice. After generous helpings for 4 adults and 2 toddlers, there was enough leftover for me to take to work with a couple chicken enchiladas for lunch. I also recommended and linked the recipe to a Mexican Rice loving friend of mine on Facebook. Thank you, my friend. This is a nice recipe which I will most certainly use again.
     
  3. My family is from Mexico and want to share my Mom’s trick to fluffy, unsticky rice. She never rinsed the rice but rather after slightly browning the rice with the onion and/or garlic and adding the cooking liquid, she would squeeze a little lemon juice into the pot then cover and cook as desired. I always do this when making rice and the times I have forgotten the lemon juice, the rice is sticky.
     
  4. I've read some of the reviews and some people were having a hard time getting the rice cooked and fluffy in 35 minutes. To prevent this from happening, heat up the liquid before adding it to the dutch oven with the rice. I have never had chewy rice using this method.
     
  5. This one is bad ass. The only way to make it better? Used duck fat or bacon fat instead of vegetable oil. Then it becomes absolutely sinful...
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Peace, peeps!
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes