In honor of Cinco de Mayo I made Mexican rice and enchiladas. This Mexican rice is just like you get in the restaurant. It’s fluffy and not sticky, due to rinsing the rice and sauteing it before baking it in the oven. I originally got this recipe off of Recipe Zaar many years ago. The site has gone through a couple more changes over the years to Food.com and now Genius Kitchen. Here is a link to the original recipe Mexican Rice Genius Kitchen. This is by far the best home made Mexican rice that I have tried. But in full disclosure rice is not one of my favorite things to make. This recipe make a bunch, but it freezes really well. My daughter will eat just a bowl of the rice for dinner, but she’s not much of a meat eater.
A couple tips for making this rice dish:
First, rinse the rice very well for 1 1/2 minutes under cold water and dry out on a towel.
Second, saute the rice for 5-6 minutes in oil on medium heat. This helps the rice from sticking together.
Once you add all of the liquid it will seem like a lot but it will be just enough when you are all done.
Be sure and stir the rice half way through the baking time to make sure everything is absorbed evenly.
I hope you try this rice for your Cinco de Mayo dinner or any other time you want to have take out at home. Also coming up this week I will have easy sour cream enchiladas and a special spicy margarita on Saturday! Ole!
- ½ c. clinatro
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2-3 jalapeno
- 1 diced carrot
- 12 oz tomatoes or tomato sauce
- 1 white onion
- 2 c. chicken broth
- 1 T tomato paste
- 2 c. long grain rice
- 1½ tsp salt
- ⅓ c. canola oil
- lime and cilantro for garnish
- Heat oven to 350 degrees
- Process the tomatoes and onion in a food processor until pureed. Measure out 2 cups and discard the rest.
- Remove ribs and seeds from jalapeno and dice finely. Dice up carrot and garlic.
- Place rice in a strainer and rinse under running water until the water runs clear about 1½ minutes. Lay out to dry on a dish towel.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed oven safe pot with a tight fitting lid, on medium heat. Drop a couple rice grains in the oil to see if they sizzle. If they do, the oil is ready and you can add the rest of the rice. Fry stirring for about 5-6 minutes until the rice is toasty. Be careful not to burn the rice.
- Reduce heat to medium and add the garlic, jalapeno and carrots. Cook until fragrant.
- Stir in broth, pureed tomato and onion mixture, tomato paste and salt. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
- Cover pan and transfer to the oven to bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, 30 - 35 minutes. Stir well after 15 minutes.
- Once the rice is done baking stir in cilantro.
- Leftovers can be frozen for later.