How to Make Mexican Rice Recipe for all your Tex-Mex meals! (2024)

FAQs

Why does Mexican restaurant rice taste better? ›

The method used to make Mexican rice involves lightly frying the uncooked rice in oil which helps it absorb more flavor from the seasoning and cook to a perfect consistency.

The ingredients are pretty simple – white rice, tomato sauce, garlic, chili powder, and Caldo de Tomate. For me, this recipe is the closest to what you typically find in Mexican restaurants.

One of the main differences between these two rice dishes is that Mexican rice is fluffier and tends not to stick together. Whilst Spanish Rice is known for that rich yellow color, Mexican Rice is best known for its reddish orange hue that it gets from being cooked with cumin.

Top tips for the perfect fluffy (not sticky) rice:

Stir frequently to make sure the rice doesn't burn. Once you add the liquid and seasonings, give it a good stir once to combine all the ingredients. Put the lid on the pot, and do not stir it again until it is finished cooking.

“To give your rice that extra flavor, try dicing herbs like oregano or cilantro into very small pieces and sprinkle them on top of the rice for about five minutes and cover with a lid,” says Cuban chef Luis Pous, partner and executive chef at Calle Dragones Miami.

The traditional rice served in Mexican restaurants is typically made with long-grain white rice cooked with onions, garlic, tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes, and sometimes flavored with broth or spices like cumin and chili powder. This dish is known as "Mexican rice" or "Spanish rice."…..

Mexican Rice, or arroz rojo, is a staple in Mexican cuisine! It is a red rice that is cooked in chicken stock and tomato juice, which gives it that beautiful red color.

Horchata (pronounced or-CHAH-tah) is a popular Mexican drink that is often described as a sweet rice milk beverage. Horchata is made out of rice, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon and is served in many Mexican restaurants.

Substitute Tomato Paste For Tomato Sauce

If you have a can of tomato paste in your pantry, you are in luck—this is the best substitution for tomato sauce. All you need is the tomato paste and water. Mix together 1 part tomato paste and 1 part water until well blended. Then, season your "sauce" to taste.

Is Mexican rice healthy for you? ›

Mexican rice is one of the healthiest ways to eat rice! The tomato adds so many antioxidants. And you get more fiber, vitamins and minerals by cooking your rice with a variety of vegetables like you do in Mexican rice. This just goes to show how healthy our food traditions are!

Did you ever wonder why Mexican rice is a red-orange color? Cumin is the answer. It provides that nutty and spicy taste and is the famous culprit for the red-orange color. Cumin is always an ingredient in this rice.

Toast the rice in oil first. Like risotto. And don't add too much water. And don't stir too much.

After cooking for the recommended period of time, if the rice is still hard or chewy, add a little bit of water to create more steam (for every cup of uncooked rice used, add about 2 tablespoons of water). Cover the pot tightly and place over very low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Let rest before serving.

In the case of making Mexican rice, frying the rice before cooking it, will add an oil coating to the grains, allowing them to separate after cooking, just like rice for Paella. Frying the rice before adding the broth is an important step.

The answer: high heat, expert tosses, and something known as 'wok hei. ' As J. Kenji López-Alt writes for Serious Eats, expert cooking with a wok (and the gas range it requires) is one of the main reasons that fried rice from a Chinese restaurant tastes so much better than what you can make at home.

If you're worried about your blood sugar, you may be excited to hear that Mexican rice is higher in fiber than plain white rice. A ½ cup serving of plain white rice has about 0.3 g of fiber, while a ½ cup serving of Mexican rice has 1.5 g of fiber (5).

Did you ever wonder why Mexican rice is a red-orange color? Cumin is the answer. It provides that nutty and spicy taste and is the famous culprit for the red-orange color. Cumin is always an ingredient in this rice.

Rice comes into play because it absorbs moisture even faster than salt. You're familiar with the lifesaver of putting your water-damaged phone in a bag of uncooked rice? It's the same concept. By adding just a few grains of rice to your salt shaker, restaurants can guarantee that your salt will pour with ease.