The BEST, truly authentic Mexican rice is so easy to make, and a necessary side dish for all of your favorite Mexican recipes.
Having learned how to make this Mexican rice from locals in Puebla, Mexico, I can promise this recipe is the real deal! Don't miss my other popular Mexican recipes including Carne Asada Tacos, Esquites, and Chiles Relleño.
We never enjoy “Taco Tuesdays” without a side of this easy Mexican Rice that I learned to make while living in Puebla, Mexico during a college internship.
I was there with my husband, and we taught workshops to locals in the area that were interested in starting a small business. We met many amazing people while living there, including a chef who attended one of our workshops. I asked him if he'd teach me the right way to make a few authentic dishes, and he invited is into his home for a day.
We cooked up a storm, and I took detailed notes as we cooked this rice together, along with mole poblano, red and green salsas, and pozole.
Ingredients Needed:
- Long Grain White Rice: Washing the rice is crucial to remove the outer starch, allowing the rice to cook fluffy. If you'd like to use Brown Rice, increase liquid by ½ cup and cook for 40 minutes, following the same resting instructions.
- Oil: Canola or vegetable oil, for toasting the rice.
- Onion: a small piece, finely chopped.
- Garlic: one or two small cloves, minced.
- Tomato Sauce: I used this because it's fast and easy, but for a more authentic version, add 1-2 fresh tomatoes to a blender with the onion and garlic, and blend before adding to the rice.
- Tomato Bouillon: granules or cubes, found in the Mexican aisle or online. This adds color and flavor to the rice. If you can't find it, substitute chicken Bouillon.
- Water: Or use chicken broth, if you omit the Tomato Bouillon.
- Salt.
- Peas and Carrots: optional.
- Serrano peppers: It's optional to add 1-2 on top of the rice while it cooks, to add extra flavor (it wont make the rice “spicy”.
How to make Mexican Rice:
1. Wash and Toast the rice: Add rice to a fine mesh strainer and rinse it until the water runs clear. Sauté the rice in hot oil in a saucepan until golden brown.
2. Add remaining ingredients: Add tomato sauce, garlic, and diced onion to the pan. Stir in tomato bullion, salt, carrots, peas, and water.
3. Simmer: Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Pro Tips:
- Rinse the rice. Take an extra second to rinse your rice with water to remove the starch film on the surface that can cause the rice to clump together.
- Toast the rice. When you add the rice to the oil, toast it really well! This extra step takes a few minutes, but it adds really great flavor to the rice.
- The trick to get that great color and flavor: Tomato bullion cubes add great flavor, and they're what makes the rice turn that perfect orange color that you're looking for. It should be easy to find at your local grocery store. I buy mine at Walmart, in the Mexican food aisle. You could also buy them from Amazon. They look like this. If you can't find them, substitute chicken broth for the water in this recipe.
- Rest and Fluff. It's crucial to give the rice time to rest after cooking, before serving, and to only gently fluff it with a work (don't “stir” it). This will make the difference between wet, clumpy and mush rice, and fluffy rice.
- Instant Pot Mexican Rice: If you own an instant pot, I've adapted this recipe for Instant pot Mexican rice.
Serve Mexican Rice with:
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Recipe
Authentic Mexican Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice *
- 1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
- 1 teaspoon garlic , minced
- 1/4 medium onion , finely diced
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce , or 2 pureed tomatoes*
- 2 teaspoons tomato bouillon granulated, or cubes*
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 carrot , diced
- 1/2 cup peas (frozen or fresh)
- 3 cups water
- 1-3 whole serrano peppers , optional
Instructions
- Rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer until the water runs clear. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the oil. Once hot, add the rice and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the rice is lightly golden brown all over (about 10 minutes).
- Add tomato sauce, garlic, and diced onion to the pan. Stir. Add tomato bullion, salt, carrots, peas, and water (and serrano peppers, if using. They add a little flavor, but not spice.).
- Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes or until the water is completely absorbed. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
Notes
Nutrition
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe September 2011. Last updated May 2021.
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Process photos by Nikole of The Travel Palate.
This post contains affiliate links.
Best Mexican rice! Everyone loves this rice. My kids request it more than any other recipe. Make it. 😉
I just tried this today, and it is spot on identical to the rice I had a at a restaurant yesterday. I am so excited and will keep this recipe for sure.
I made this for my daughters work party! I never made Mexican Rice before but it was so delicious and very easy to make. Everyone loved it and I am new to the southwest US so I feel very proud that it was well received. I will keep this recipe forever.
Thank you
Ok, this the only Mexican rice I will ever make. Don’t even think about cooking it without the tomato or tomato/chicken bouillon. Love, love this recipe and I’ve made dozens of Mexican rice dishes before trying this. I did cut one Serrano in half lengthways and added it to pot. Yummmmm!
Too wet!!! 3 cup of rice, 6 cups of water, so 5 cups of rice and 10 cups of water. Way too wet!!!
Sounds like your rice-to-water ratio is off! This recipe uses 1.5 cups rice to 3 cups water (a 1:2 ratio), so if you used 5 cups of rice, you’d need to scale everything else up too—veggies, oil, seasoning, etc.—or it can end up too wet. Hope that helps for next time!”
Your instructions are not clear you’re adding water in your video but not in the description!
It’s at the end of Step 3, Jon..
Can I use basmati rice instead of long grain rice?
Yes, you can use basmati rice, but it will have a slightly different texture and fragrance than traditional Mexican rice. Basmati is more delicate and cooks faster, so start checking it around 15 minutes instead of 20, and reduce the water slightly—try 2½ cups water instead of 3.
My rice turned out mushy. Can you tell me what I did wrong?
It usually means too much water or not enough sauté time before adding the liquid. Make sure to really toast the rice until golden (like 8–10 min!), and don’t skip rinsing it first. That outer starch is sneaky and causes clumping!
I set a timer for 10 minutes, total mush with no taste! So disappointed!
I have a terrible double vision and apparently the bag of frozen peas and carrots we got also has green beans chopped 1” and corn! Hahahaha so this doesn’t look authentic at all! I also had to substitute the tomato bouillon because #1 I couldn’t find it and #2 that turned out to be a good thing because it has chicken which is against my diet. I used Better Than Boullion paste instead. I also forgot salt so I added it during the last 20 minutes of cooking. I tripled the recipe to feed church so…. I think it tastes good and I realized that I don’t really eat enough Mexican food to know if it tastes authentic! 😂 like I said though, it tastes good! Thank you for sharing!
This sounds delicious. Could it be cooked in advance to take to a dinner and how would you reheat it to keep it fluffy?
Absolutely! You can make the Mexican rice ahead of time. To reheat and keep it fluffy, I recommend adding a splash of water or broth to the rice and warming it in a skillet over medium-low heat. Cover with a lid and stir occasionally until heated through, then fluff with a fork before serving.