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This Restaurant-Style Mexican Rice is the perfect side dish for any Mexican meal. The rice has the rich flavor and slightly dry texture as the rice served in most Mexican restaurants.
This Mexican rice recipe came from a close family friend from Mexico, and I have used it for years. She gave me the list of ingredients she uses and her cooking method. Unfortunately, she is one of those amazing cooks that naturally knows how much of each ingredient to use, but doesn’t use actual measurements and her Mexican rice was always made in bulk. I got to work with what I had and tested it until it was the perfect flavor and texture. This recipe is now measured in amounts perfect for the size of one family. If we are making any kind of Mexican food, this rice is a must as a side dish. It has become a favorite of everyone that tries it.
Restaurant Style Mexican Rice
Imagine your first bite of rice at your favorite Mexican restaurant. What is it that makes it taste so good? The rice is fluffy and a little dry. You taste the tang of tomato combined with the spicy, earthy flavors of cumin. The lightness of the rice perfectly complements the creamy refried beans next to it on the plate.
This Mexican Rice recipe delivers the same slightly dry texture, just like the rice served in Mexican restaurants. It’s not wet, clumpy, or sticky, which can often be the case with some homemade versions. The key to achieving the perfect texture and rich flavor is to fry the rice in oil before cooking it. Don’t skip this step!
Mexican Rice Ingredients
This authentic Mexican rice recipe uses long grain rice. Long grain rice is ideal for this recipe because it is a firmer, drier rice. The rice grains stay separate when cooked and don’t clump together. After the rice is browned in a little oil, the rice cooks in a combination of chicken broth and tomato sauce giving the rice a delicious flavor. The additional ingredients I use to season the rice are garlic, kosher salt, cumin, and cilantro.
How to Make Mexican Rice
- Brown the rice. Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the rice to the pan and stir constantly. Once the rice begins to lightly brown, add the minced garlic, kosher salt, and cumin. Continue to stir the rice until it looks golden brown.
- Add liquids. Pour the chicken broth and tomato sauce into the pan with the rice. Turn the heat up to medium high and bring the mixture to a full boil.
- Cover and simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice.
- Remove from heat and fluff the rice. Remove the pan from the stove then remove the lid from the pan. Using a fork, fluff the rice to separate the grains. Gently stir in the fresh chopped cilantro. This adds color to the rice as well as flavor.
Mexican Rice vs Spanish Rice
Have you wondered what the difference is between Mexican rice and Spanish rice? The terms are used interchangeably by most people and on many recipes. Most Spanish rice and Mexican rice recipes have the same basic ingredients – rice, a tomato based sauce, garlic, and chicken broth.
According to Mahatma rice, there are two distinct differences. The first is the main seasoning in each of the rice dishes. Spanish rice is seasoned with saffron which gives it a bright yellow color, as well as a sweeter flavor. On the other hand, Mexican rice is seasoned with cumin giving it a more reddish orange color, and a spicier flavor. The second noticeable difference is in the texture of the each rice. The texture of Spanish rice is more moist and clumps together. Mexican rice is more dry and fluffy.
Mexican Rice Tips
The secret to a delicious Mexican rice is all in the way you cook it. Here are a few tips and tricks to get it right every time:
- Mexican rice needs to be fried in oil and browned BEFORE you add the chicken broth and tomato sauce. As a result, the rice really absorbs the flavors, yet has the perfect, tender consistency.
- Mix in the chopped cilantro after cooking. If you add it before, the cilantro gets brown in color and wilted. When you toss it in after, it stays bright and fresh.
- Use this stove top method. I have tried different methods in my rice cooker, but it just doesn’t turn out the same.
- For a spicier taste, your favorite medium or hot salsa can replace the tomato sauce.
- Long grain white rice is the best rice to use for this dish. The jury is out on whether the rice should be rinsed prior to cooking. You will get a wide range of opinions on this topic. I do not rinse the rice. My dear friend from Mexico did not rinse the rice when she made it. It turns out beautifully for me every time I make it.
- For more information on how to make the perfect Mexican rice, see our post on Mastering Mexican Rice: Common Mistakes and Helpful Tips.
Mexican Rice and Beans
What about the beans? Mexican rice and beans are a match made in heaven! This recipe goes hand in hand with our easy to make Cheater Refried Beans. These beans are easy to make and taste just like the creamy, chip-dippable beans served in Mexican restaurants.
Popular Additions
This rice is great as-is. We like to keep it simple and add as few ingredients as possible, but many people like to add more veggies to the mix. Some popular add ins are onions, red or green peppers, green peas, corn, diced carrots, diced tomatoes, green chiles, and lime juice. When adding in these vegetables, add them to the rice at the same time you add the liquids. They will cook along with the rice.
What to pair with Mexican Rice
Oh, the delicious possibilities are endless! This Mexican Rice tastes so good with any burrito, taco, chimichanga, enchilada, quesadilla, taquito, or flauta you can think of. Here are a few of our favorite Mexican recipes to get the wheels turning. Try one of these or add it to your own favorite Mexican dish.
Mexican Rice Recipe Reviews
My husband is very picky about his Mexican rice, and his love for this dish makes it a staple on the family menu plan. In addition to his five-star review, we’ve received many rave reviews from people who have made and loved this rice recipe. You can read them all in the comments below, however here are few of our favorites:
“I’ve made this about five times now and I love it! The last two times I was out of tomato sauce so I substituted half a cup of Chipotle Lime Salsa (Aldi brand). Wow! This made it even better. I love how easy it is to make and how beautiful it looks and smells when the time is up and you lift the lid.” – Ed
“This is EXACTLY the rice I have been spending YEARS trying to figure out. Everything was absolutely perfect. Flavor, texture, color, all completely spot on! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! You really just upped my taco game!” – Elizabeth
“I am a Puerto Rican woman married to a hard core Mexican man. I’ve tried just about every recipe available for this rice and it never quite worked. I made this today and IT’S PERFECT!! This is the way my MIL makes it. It is as authentic as it can get! Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is the recipe I will make my family from now on.” – Patty
We are so happy to see this has become a family favorite for so many!
Restaurant Style Mexican Rice
Video
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup long grain rice uncooked
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 14 ounces chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the rice and gently stir until rice begins to lightly brown. Add the garlic, salt, and cumin and stir the rice until it looks golden.
- Add the tomato sauce and chicken broth and turn the heat up to medium high. Bring the mix to a boil, then turn the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Remove from heat and fluff with a fork, then stir in chopped cilantro.
5 stars!!! So delicious!
My husband loves this rice, not just for a side dish but as a filling in a tortilla this is the tastiest rice and its spot on Better than any Mexican Restaurant makes!
Is there a way to do it with instant rice?
I have never tried it with instant rice and I would not recommend due to the fact that instant rice absorbs moisture too quickly for this recipe.
Wow is all I can say! This was the best rice I’ve ever had. I thought Mexican rice would be hard to make but this was super simple and tasted amazing!! So so delicious. I did half tomato sauce, half fire roasted diced tomatoes!! So so good! I’m so glad I found this recipe!!
I used this with chickpea rice (I’m allergic to grains), and it was delicious! I cut the time by about half, and stirred it pretty regularly.
I had another dry fluffy restaurant style Mexican rice recipe that I’ve been using, but this one blows it out of the water! It’s easier to make, and tastes completely amazing. I could have eaten the whole pot of this stuff tonight, but I didn’t, I shared it with my son. I did not measure the oil and I think I was a little heavy-handed, but that actually turned out to be a bonus. I can honestly say this is the best homemade rice I’ve ever made. Thank you!!!!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I will probably make it again this week. It’s just the perfect rice!
Pretty great
Does this reheat well? I would like to make it in advance. Looks and sounds amazing. Thanks!
It will be a little dry if you reheat it. You can try adding some more liquid to it, but I usually make this the day of.
This is the best recipe for Mexican restaurant rice I’ve found. It’s very good as written. For a vegetarian version I make chicken broth using Better Than Bullion No Chicken flavor. I also add about a 1/4 cup each of carrot and potato when adding the cut into 1/4 inch cubes when adding the garlic step 1.
So good. I make this every time I’m serving Texas Mexican.
I love this recipe and have made it several times. I have tried to double it a couple of times and always end up with hard grains of rice still left at the end. A single batch comes out great. Is there a trick to doubling the ingredients?
It sounds like you may need to add a little more liquid. I would add 4 cups of chicken broth. Hope this helps!
Can you sub quinoa for the rice?
I think quinoa takes a little longer to cook than rice, so you may need to account for that, but let us know how it goes if you do try it!
I love this rice but my pots don’t…I end up starting the rice in a pot and moving it to a glass bowl and microwaving to finish or else the rice burns to the bottom of my pot because my stove us really touchy and I have trouble simmering anything. Any suggestions for microwaving start to finish to eliminate the stove top use all together?
Love all the flavors here, I already know I’m going to enjoy this recipe a lot!
I always just cook plain rice so this is a great enhancement on that. What a versatile side dish!
This is as close to a restaurant’s rice as you can get! Love it, thanks for sharing 🙂
This was so perfect for our smothered tamales yesterday! Yum! Thank you for your attention to detail. It really helped to get just the right texture.
This was such a flavorful rice. It was the perfect addition to my street tacos for dinner last night.
Hi I would like to know can we subitute vegetable broth instead chicken broth
Absolutely!
If I may make one suggestion: drop in one cube of tomato bouillon (Knorr Caldo de Tomate) when you add the liquid. It deepens the tomato flavor and adds a wonderful richness. A sister in law is from Guadalajara and she gave me the tip. It really is a very nice addition. You can find tomato bouillon cubes in the Latin/Hispanic section of any major supermarket.
Someone else told me the same thing and it’s definitely a game changer!
Made this recipe exactly as printed. I will make this again. Was exactly what I wanted to serve with our enchiladas.
I LOVE Mexican rice!!!!! But I HATE homemade Mexican rice. It always get gluey and gummy and the flavor isn’t right…… OMG. This is FIRE! I just made it an hour ago and have gone one about the amazing flavor since!!!! It’s soooo good! Trust me! I measured everything and it was absolutely perfect! It was fluffy and not sticky and just the absolute best I’ve ever had. I would have guessed it to be take out of I didn’t make it myself! Thanks So much for this recipe! It is a game changer for me! I’m in love!
I am so glad you loved it! Thank you so much for the 5-star rating!!
This is my absolute favorite recipe from the girls at fav family recipes! It is super easy and it tastes as good as if not better then the Spanish rice served at your favorite Mexican restaurant! Definitely a recipe to keep on hand for every taco Tuesday!
I love how easy this was. We enjoyed this rice for dinner with chicken and then on the next day I used leftover for burritos, this rice was the perfect addition to those burritos so flavorful.
I always love your recipes. This was also a winner for my family. Easy for me to make and everyone ate it. My picky eaters will always eat your recipes… True Story! Thanks for this yummy mexican rice.