Toasted Mexican Rice

6 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
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A quick and easy side dish for your Mexican meals. Only an extra 5 minutes than regular rice, but so much more delicious!

This Rice takes five minutes longer than it would to make a basic white rice. I like to use this rice, Green Mexican Rice (Arroz Verde) or the second being a recreation of Chipotle’s Cilantro Lime Rice for Mexican or Spanish dishes.

Sabrina’s Toasted Mexican Rice

Growing up we used to go to Acapulco Restaurant any time we wanted Mexican food. In our house the closest we got to homemade Mexican was tacos made with the Lawry’s seasoning packets. So going to a restaurant that had little tortilla warmers and fresh chips and salsa was pretty exciting. My favorite part though, aside from hearing the sizzle of the fajitas my mom would order, was the rice they served on the side. That delicious red seasoned rice.

Recipe Card

Toasted Mexican Rice Recipe

A quick and easy side dish for your Mexican meals. Only an extra 5 minutes than regular rice, but so much more delicious!
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine Mexican
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup salsa , I use my Guapo’s Salsa

Instructions

  • Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat.
  • Stir in onion, and on medium high, cook for a few minutes until it begins to brown.
  • Add rice and cook until the rice starts to turn a brighter shade of white. Do not brown the rice.
  • Add in the chicken broth and salsa.
  • Stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the head and simmer for 20 minutes.
  • After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes covered.
  • Fluff rice with a fork to mix the salsa back into the rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 229kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 595mg | Potassium: 249mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 208IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg

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About this Recipe

The perfect side dish to any Mexican dinner that you are serving. Taking the extra 5 minutes, the added ingredients are the perfect kick needed and way better than eating plain rice. It’s sure to enhance the flavor of any meal that your friends and family with love!

What to Pair With

This rice pairs well with so many great Mexican dishes. Serve it on Taco Tuesday with Ground Chicken Tacos or Ground Beef Tacos. You can also make it with delicious Steak Fajitas. And don’t forget Easy Refried Beans for a complete Mexican dinner.

How to Store

  • Serve: After the cooking time, you don’t want to leave rice at room temperature for more than 2 hours. 
  • Store: Let it cool down, then transfer the rice to an airtight container to store in the fridge for 3-4 days. 
  • Freeze: For meal prep, you can also seal the rice to store in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

More Rice Recipes

Photo used in previous post

Mexican Rice

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Hey Sabrina love your recipes. The Mexican rice recipe what kind of rice do you use ? Can you use a minute rice ?

  2. I already made your enchilada recipe and it’s in the oven (the sauce tastes amazing!) So I decided to make this rice as a side. I got a fit of giggles from the minor typo in the instructions…”lower the head and simmer for 20 minutes” LOL!! I guess you could give yourself a facial as the rice cooks??? My hubby thinks it’s funny, too. I got so tickled it made HIM cry! Anyway, I love your recipes so much and your easy to follow instructions. Thank you for sharing your experience with cooking.

    1. Hahaha! That is so funny! I guess that’s one way to save on a spa trip. 😀 Hope you enjoyed the meal as much as the free facial! 😀

    1. The rice won’t be covered until after it’s simmered for 20 minutes. Hope this clears up any confusion. Enjoy!!

  3. I can’t have rice, but I am saving this one for the kids. I wish I could just order your entire site in a cookbook version. 🙂

    1. Aww you’re so sweet! I think around the end of this year I am going to make an e-cookbook 🙂

  4. This looks delicious and I love Spanish rice! Mmmmm thanks so much for sharing!

  5. Yum!!! I love making rice + beans for a quick weeknight meal but this would be a fun way to spice it up a little! (Pun intended, haha)

  6. I haven’t had this kind of old school seasoned rice for ages. I must admit that I am also a Chipotle lime/cilantro rice fan. 🙂 Looks delicious!

    1. Me too! That is the other rice I make when we are having Mexican food at home! Except I make it with brown rice.

  7. Sabrina, this rice recipe looks amazing! I’m always up for trying different preparations of rice. 🙂 Can’t wait to give this a go this weekend!