Whenever I’m making a Mexican or Tex-Mex dinner (from chili to enchiladas) I always whip up a side of this rice – often referred to as Spanish rice, though I haven’t eaten anything like it in Spain.
I’ve been making it for a while and I’ve tweaked it here and there until I developed a recipe that cooks evenly, quite quickly and is super easy. Oh, and it also uses brown rice rather than traditional white rice!
There are two steps to this recipe, but it is generally hands-off and it’s something that you can have bubbling away in the background while you get your main dish available.
Slightly more involved than my rice with scallions, but a little less so than my fried rice, this is sure to be a favourite side with all your south-of-the-border meals.
How to Make Mexican-Style Brown Rice
The key to success in this recipe and to ensuring that the rice cooks evenly and quickly is parboiling the rice.
This may seem fussy, but the rice takes close to and hour to cook if it’s not parboiled and the cooking time is halved when you do parboil.
To do this, simply cover some washed brown rice with cool water and set it over high heat. Bring it to a rolling boil, reduce the heat to medium, and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the rice off and set aside until needed.
The other piece of prep work I do is use a stick blender to quickly puree a can of whole, peeled tomatoes.
If you don’t have a blender, you can go ahead and crush these thoroughly with your hands. I do this sometimes, too – it just depends if I want bits of tomato in the rice or if I want it completely smooth.
Now, it’s time to move to a stovetop – use a skillet for which you have a lid as you will need to cover the pot. I like using a skillet as the surface area contributes to a bit more browning – and more crispy bits on the bottom of the rice!
Set over medium heat and pour in a bit of neutral oil.
Once shimmering, add a diced shallot (go ahead and use half a yellow onion if that’s what you have!) and a generous pinch of salt. Cook until softened and translucent – about two minutes.
To the shallot, add in some minced garlic, a bit of tomato paste and some ground cumin, chili powder and a touch of cinnamon. Cook all of this just until fragrant.
Then, add your parboiled rice to the pan and stir it to coat in the spice mixture.
Pour over the tomatoes, some soy sauce for some salty umami, and a little bit of water and stir to combine. Season the rice with salt and then cover the pan.
Let the rice bubble, covered, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is nice and tender – this will take about 20 minutes. After this, your rice is ready to serve!
Mexican Brown Rice
Ingredients
- 100 g (½ cup) brown basmati rice thoroughly rinsed
- 2 shallots finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 (400g/14oz) can whole, peeled tomatoes pureed until smooth
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Instructions
- Add the rice to a small saucepan and cover with cool water. Cover the pan and set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, add 1 tbsp of neutral oil to a large skillet for which you have a lid. Set over medium heat and, once shimmering, add the shallots and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and tender – 2-3 minutes.
- Add the garlic, tomato paste, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon. Cook for about 30 seconds, until very fragrant.
- Add the rice and stir to coat in the shallot and spice mixture. Pour in the pureed tomatoes, soy sauce, 100ml (⅓ cup) of water and ¼ tsp of salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cover.
- Allow the rice to simmer, covered, until all of the moisture is absorbed and the rice is fully tender – about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
And that’s all there is to making Mexican-style rice with brown rice! As you can see, it’s simple, relatively inactive and super tasty.
Are you looking for a great recipe for Mexican rice? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments!
