This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.
This Restaurant-Style Mexican Rice is the perfect side dish for your next Mexican feast. With just a few ingredients, it’s easy to make and ready in less than 30 minutes. It is a perfect addition to any meal!
This Mexican rice recipe came from a close family friend from Mexico. She gave me the ingredients that she used and her cooking method but didn’t have the measurements because she always went by what looked right and she always made it in bulk. So I got to work with what I had and tested it until it was the perfect flavor and texture and a recipe amount that was perfect for the size of one family. This recipe is now a must in our home if we are making any kind of Mexican food and has been a favorite of friends that have tried it.
Restaurant Style Mexican Rice
This Mexican Rice is slightly on the dry side, which is just how Mexican restaurants serve their sides of rice. It isn’t wet, clumpy, or sticky like some homemade Mexican rice recipes can be. A good Mexican Rice has the perfect texture and is rich in flavor. That is exactly what the result will be when you make this easy Mexican rice recipe. You can only achieve this texture and flavor by frying the rice in oil before you cook it. Do not skip this step!
You can make this Mexican Rice recipe in bulk and freeze it for up to three months without losing freshness. This is great if you want to save money by buying your ingredients in bulk, or trying out a new recipe but want to make a manageable amount.
If you’re looking for a recipe to pair with our Mexican Rice, we recommend our Grilled Steak Tacos and Hatch Chiles Rellenos, but it goes as a great and easy side dish for just about anything.
Mexican Rice vs Spanish Rice
Have you wondered what the difference is between Mexican rice and Spanish rice? The terms are both used to describe the same basic dish. Most Spanish rice and Mexican rice recipes have the same ingredients – rice, a tomato based sauce, garlic, and chicken broth.
There can be some minor variations in the seasonings used and additions made to the dish, like onions and peppers. Most restaurants call this dish Mexican rice on their menus.
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:
- If you want to rinse the rice beforehand, rinse the rice through a fine mesh strainer until the water runs clear. Allow rice to drain off a little before sautéing. If you rinse the rice, reduce the broth amount by four ounces (or ½ cup).
- 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.
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 Restaurant Style Refried Beans. Also, be sure to include our Best Guacamole EVER, and our fresh Homemade Salsa.
With all of these recipes combined, you will have your sides covered for your next big fiesta! Your friends will think you had it all catered in from your favorite Mexican joint. We have tons of great Mexican recipes here on Favorite Family Recipes.
Our Mom is what you would call a Mexican food addict, she would eat it for every meal if she had the choice. Because of this, we learned at an early age how to make all different kinds of Mexican dishes. So as we got older and more adventurous, our Mexican food recipe collection grew even more.
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. A lot of Mexican-style restaurants will also add veggies. Here are some of the popular add-ins:
- Onions
- Peppers
- Peas
- Corn
- Carrots
- Tomatoes
- Green chiles
- Lime juice
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! I actually have celiac and I eat this rice all the time! Just be sure that your chicken broth is gluten free, I like to use Swanson’s Chicken Broth. Most chicken broths are GF but always check the labels to be sure.
I wouldn’t recommend cooking Mexican rice in a rice cooker. Frying the rice and cooking it in a pot over the stove is what gives it the perfect texture. It won’t be the same made in a rice cooker.
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.
How To Store and Re-Heat Leftovers
We will often double this recipe just so we can have easy leftovers. It re-heats great! Simply place the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to five days.
You can even freeze your Mexican rice by placing the cooled rice in a zip-top freezer bag and laying flat in the freezer. You can freeze it for up to three months without losing freshness.
To re-heat, just cover and place thawed rice in the microwave for a minute at a time until heated through. Fluff rice with a fork and add a teaspoon of water at a time as needed.
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!
More Delicious Rice Recipes
Restaurant Style Mexican Rice
Video
Equipment
- Stove Top
- Large Sauce Pan
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.Â
- Remove from heat and fluff with a fork, then stir in chopped cilantro.
Made this as part of our dinner tonight, it was very yummy and so easy to make! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I’m planning a family reunion for 100 people. We’ve got an award-winning Texas smoked beef brisket, and I would love to experiment with this recipe to complement that.
How would I scale this up for 100 servings? I might need to do several batches in order to fit everything into the pot. Any hints or tips?
You would probably need 12 times this recipe to feed 100. Maybe keep warm in crock pots.
By “Large Saucepan” do you mean the 4-quart size? Does that seem large for a cup of rice or is a smaller size, like a 2 or 3-qt., acceptable? Thanks!
As long as it holds at least 4 cups you should be ok!
Thank You, Emily!
This rice ROCKS the taste buds! It is outstanding! Made a triple batch to go with the cheater restaurant beans on this blog (which are also to die for delicious) . I was hosting a huge family bbq of carne asada, the were no leftovers on the rice, they were THAT good. I like my mexi rice dry too 🙂
Did you just double the recipe? Curious if less or more stock will be needed when doubling the recipe!
This looks delicious, I’m in Australia can you clarify the tomatoe sauce, is it tomatoe purée or is it tomatoe paste sauce?
It is more of a liquid-y puree… it’s not as thick as a tomato paste… hope this helps!
can i say that i use regular short grain rice,i dont like long grain,it has a dif taste and doesnt hold together good,its calrose brand been using it for years,also i add small diced amounts of onion and cumin,just a shake.also i use diced tomatos w/liquid,no cilantro,i do add crumbled bacon up into it oh so good,and black pepper.so this is my version.thank you.
The key is the chicken broth if you can get it. One thing I always add…pick up some chili powder and mix it in with the sauce/broth mixture for a little kick…I also chop up 1/2 green and 1/2 Red Bell pepper, and a can of Vegal. Or sometimes just a can of corn and peas.
I have made this about 4 times and it is so delicious. Twice it was perfect but twice, including tonight, for some reason it was so crunchy. Am I doing something wrong in the beginning steps? Maybe I need to cook it longer at the front end? I never time it until the simmer time, I just go by the color of the rice in the beginning so maybe you can guide me in the right direction. 🙂 because I love this recipe! Thanks.
I would say maybe go on a lower heat for longer to get the rice cooked through when you are first stir-frying the rice. You don’t want it to brown up too fast or the inside of the rice won’t get cooked through all the way. Let me know if this helps!
I have made numerous attempts at restaurant style Mexican rice, plenty of Mexican friend’s have tried explaining how to make it, tried numerous recipes online and those pre-made boxes like rice-a-roni. I finally just drew the conclusion that you cannot be a white girl and make it right, it’s against the laws of nature or something. BUT SUCCESS! With your recipe! My son even told me it’s better than the local restaurants rice, which means I can absolutely die happy now. Thank you.
Thank you so much!! We love those kind of success stories! I’m so happy you all liked it. 🙂
Will this work using yellow rice
I bought that par excellence yellow rice ..can I use it??
I don’t see why not? 🙂
1/2 c. tomato sauce
I am guessing from your posts that c. is can. What size can is it?
It is actually 1/2 cup… so that is 4 oz.
I have basmati rice, would that work with this recipe?
We haven’t tried it with basmati rice before so I’m not sure what to tell you! If you try it let us know how it works out!
Just wanted to say that this mexican rice recipe is the one I have been looking for forever! It complemented black beans perfectly for delicious vegetarian burritos. Thanks so much for putting this out there.
So glad to hear that you liked it!!! We are SO picky about our rice so this is the only recipe we use… you must have great taste 😉
For those wanting to use brown rice, I tried this with Trader Joe’s quick cooking brown basmati and it was perfect. I just shortened up the cooking time to correspond with the package directions.
Made chicken lime taco meat in the crock pot. We ate the shredded chicken over this rice. Was wonderful. Added some black beans and corn to the rice.
GREAT idea!!! Thank you for sharing!
If made ahead, can this be kept warm in a crock pot?
definitely!
Have you cooked it in a crock pot? Not just keep it warm?
I haven’t cooked this in a crock pot. I did try it in a rice cooker, but I prefer the stove top method. It turns out great every time. Thank you for visiting our site!
Who needs a box of Spanish rice with a bunch of ingredients that you can’t pronounce when you can make this recipe from scratch? It was easy and tasted totally authentic. Loved it!
Turned out perfect! Great recipe. I used a big nonstick frying pan with a lid. When it was time to let it steam I put a piece of foil on top of the pan and then put the lid on top. That helps every piece of rice to get done perfectly. <3
Thanks for the tip! I always have trouble getting the rice to cook evenly – never thought of this before!
Can you use instant white rice? If so should I cook it before or cook it like the recipe says? Also I have rice a roni..would the rice from that work? Thank you!!
I don’t think I would use instant rice or rice a toni. Just regular rice.
We made this last night as a side dish, and everyone loved it. We are thinking about trying it with a little bit of salsa for a little extra oomph, but it was just like the rice that I’m used to getting at some of my favorite Mexican restaurants!!
This was the easiest and best Mexican rice I have made to date. Fluffy and spiced perfectly…