Mexican rice
40 min · 6 g protein · 211 cals / serving
Restaurant-style red rice: long-grain rice toasted until nutty, then simmered in a blended tomato, onion and garlic broth so every grain turns a warm orange-red and soaks up the flavour. Diced carrot and peas go in the pot, a whole jalapeño steams on top, and lime and cilantro brighten it at the end. Fluffy, savoury and made for tacos, burritos and grilled chicken.
Ingredients
- 2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth, low-sodium
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp long-grain rice (uncooked) white rice, rinsed and well drained
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3 medium carrots, in small dice
- 1 jalapeño, left whole, slit once
- 1 1/2 cups cooked frozen green peas
To finish
- a handful fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp lime juice, plus wedges to serve
Steps
- Blend the tomatoes, onion and garlic with the broth until completely smooth.
- Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pot with a lid over medium heat. Add the drained rice and stir constantly for 5–6 minutes, until the grains turn opaque and golden in spots and smell toasty.
- Pour in the tomato broth (it will sputter), then stir in the cumin, salt and carrot and lay the jalapeño on top. Bring to a boil, stir once, cover tightly, turn the heat to low and cook 18 minutes without lifting the lid.
- Scatter the peas over the top, cover again, take the pot off the heat and leave it to steam 10 minutes.
- Fluff with a fork, fold in the cilantro and lime juice and taste for salt. Serve with the jalapeño for anyone who wants the heat.
Good to know
Why toast the rice?
It gives the nutty, slightly toasty flavour that makes restaurant rice taste the way it does, and it coats the grains so they cook up separate rather than sticky. Rinse and drain the rice well first so it toasts rather than steams.
Canned tomatoes instead of fresh?
Use 1 cup of plain canned tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes in place of the fresh ones and cut the broth to 1 cup, since the sauce brings its own liquid.
Make it vegetarian
Use vegetable broth; it's about the same score. A spoon of tomato bouillon powder, as many Mexican cooks use, adds the deep savoury note back.
Per
- Calories
- 96
- Protein
- (12%)
- 3 g
- Fat
- (11%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (78%)
- 19 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 368 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1264 kcal goes into the pot and 1391 g of ingredients comes out as about 1320 g of food: 96 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.