This easy One Pot Mexican Red Rice is ready in under 30 minutes, and is the perfect base for a burrito (or burrito bowl), tacos, or as side dish. Minimal cleanup and prep, maximum flavor, who's excited?
This easy Mexican rice is perfect for your Cinco De Mayo celebration or Super Bowl snack bar. Make it as spicy or mild as you like! It's similar to what you'd find in a Mexican restaurant - file this one under: arroz rojo.
(...yes, I've been working on my Spanish.)
Looking for more of a meal? A simple Mexican bowl with some some charred street corn and mango guacamole is a fabulous main dish. Or serve with fajitas, plus black beans, refried beans, pinto beans and/or and sofrito...this easy mexican rice recipe is up for the job.
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📋 Ingredients
These simple ingredients can be spiced up or cooled down depending on what you have on hand.
- Rotel or diced tomatoes with chiles - can replace one or both cans with petite diced tomatoes if you're not a fan of spice.
- Long grain rice of choice (see tips below for white rice vs brown)
- Smoked paprika & cumin or taco seasoning packet of choice
- Garlic cloves
- Onion - white onion is preferred, but yellow onion, green onion, shallot, and red onion all work
Pantry supplies:
- Salt and pepper
- Grapeseed oil, olive oil, or cooking oil of choice. Note that oils with a higher smoking point (like grapeseed oil) are preferred for cooking, while olive oil works better in salad dressings and sauces that aren't cooked.
- Water or vegetable stock/broth. Vegetable broth is preferred for more flavor, but use what you have.
If you have more spices like chili powder, coriander etc, feel free to use. For me, the rotel adds enough spice.
For the complete list of ingredients with measurements and instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
🔀 Substitutions & Variations
This mexican red rice is naturally vegan, gluten free, vegetarian, and dairy free.
It's also easy to make with whatever you have on hand in the kitchen. Here are some substitutions:
- Healthier with brown rice - brown rice takes more the time to cook than regular rice. So start with 40-50 minutes to simmer instead. You may also need a little more liquid - start with ¼ cup extra water or vegetable broth.
- Spicier - add a ½ teaspoon of cayenne to your seasoning mix
- Shortcuts - add your favorite taco seasoning instead of measuring out your own seasoning mix
- Milder - replace one or both cans of rotel with petite diced tomatoes.
- Low carb - check out this cauliflower mexican rice by our friends over at The Salty Kitchen
You'll see this vegan mexican rice recipe is made without tomato sauce. If you're a can of tomatoes short, it's ok to use tomato sauce or tomato puree instead. Season appropriately with salt and pepper, and be ready to adjust the amount of liquid after the first simmer.
This is a plant-based blog, so I always recommend vegetable stock...however this recipe will still work with chicken broth or stock. Adjust the salt content accordingly.
Looking for something a little sweeter and milder? Check out this coconut lime rice.
🔪 How To Make This Recipe
Before you do anything else, rinse your rice. Read that again - RINSE YOUR RICE. It makes a HUGE difference in the texture of the cooked rice and only takes a couple of minutes.
Place rice into a mesh strainer, and dip into a glass bowl filled with water. Use your hands to move the rice around, then start over with new water. It usually takes 3-4 cycles for the water to run clean.
Now, dice onion. Then saute in a medium saucepan on medium-high heat with a splash of oil.
Once the onions are soft and slightly translucent, add minced garlic. I love using a garlic press to mince, otherwise carefully chop into tiny pieces.
Now add the rice to the pan, and toast gently for 3-4 minutes, or until rice is lightly golden brown.
Once you're happy with the slightly nutty aromas coming from the pan and light golden brown color, add the canned tomatoes or Rotel and spices. Stir gently to combine, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Then add vegetable broth or water, and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Resist the urge to lift the lid...
Finally, fluff and serve.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
Pro Tips 1: DO NOT SKIP WASHING THE RICE. This will save you from needing most of the troubleshooting tips below.
Pro Tips 2: Pro tip #2: resist lifting the lid before time is up. The rice needs steam!
Troubleshooting Rice
If your rice is too crunchy after 20 minutes, it needs more time.
- If there's liquid leftover, cover and simmer for 5 more minutes
- If there's no liquid left, add another quarter cup and cover/simmer for 5 more minutes, repeating as needed.
If your rice is done, but there's too much liquid after 20 minutes, remove the lid to let the steam escape, then carefully strain like you would pasta.
If your rice is slightly burned (not black), that's ok! Think of it like a mexican paella...those burnt bits add tons of flavor when mixed into the rest of the rice. It's ok to use a little water or broth to loosen those bits from the bottom of the pan.
If your rice is too wet or mushy, go for spicy rice pudding - it's all in how you frame it.
Ideally we've prevented gummy rice with thorough washing, but if your rice is still gummy, embrace the risotto vibe and add a little more veggie stock or broth. Stir to make a creamy rice dish a la risotto.
Can you tell how many batches of rice I've messed up? Don't make my mistakes. WASH YOUR RICE BEFORE COOKING.
Hint: Be patient while the rice cooks and RINSE THE RICE to prevent a gluey sticky mess.
Equipment
This recipe was created using stainless steel equipment (such as All Clad), which conducts heat more efficiently than ceramic or nonstick pots. If you're using non-stainless steel cookware, you may need higher heat to bring the rice to a boil, and low heat to simmer.
Since this is a one pot mexican red rice, we need to choose our pot wisely. I recommend a medium saucepan or large pot for the rice - it needs space to expand and cook. Too small and your pot may overflow...nobody likes a burnt mess on the stove.
You also might need:
- Cutting board and sharp knife
- Can opener
- Spoon for stirring and serving
- Garlic press
💭 FAQs
There are a few key differences. Mexican rice is a bit softer and spicier than Spanish rice. Mexican rice gets its color from tomatoes, while Spanish rice typically uses expensive sa+ffron threads to get its distinctive yellow hue.
No, unless you add a product with gluten. Rice itself is gluten free, and tomatoes, onions, garlic and the spices we add here do not contain gluten. As always, if you have an allergy, always double check the ingredient list.
There are tons of options! Use it as a base for burrito bowls or tacos. It's a perfect side dish for fajitas. Classic Mexican food like refried beans, black beans, pinto beans, charred corn, bell peppers, guacamole and tortilla chips are all fantastic with Mexican rice.
This Mexican rice is great for meal prep! Store the cooked rice in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
To reheat in the microwave, transfer to microwave safe dish and warm on high for 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
To reheat on the stovetop, place rice into a frying pan on low to medium heat with a tablespoon or two of water, stirring gently every couple of minutes to break up the rice.
This recipe does not stand up well to freezing.
🍜 Related Recipes
Want more vegan recipes? Check out these great side dishes:
Did you make this recipe? Leave a review and a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below, or tag us in your photos on Instagram! Alternatively, bookmark it in your browser or save to Pinterest.
Easy One Pot Mexican Red Rice (vegetarian/vegan)
Ingredients
- 2 10 oz cans of Rotel or diced tomatoes with chiles see notes for milder options
- 2 cups rice of choice
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ large white onion
- salt and pepper to taste
- Grapeseed oil olive oil, or cooking oil of choice
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
Instructions
- First, rinse the rice. Do NOT skip this step. To rinse, place rice into a mesh strainer, and dip into a glass bowl filled with water. Use your hands to move the rice around, then start over with new water. It usually takes 3-4 cycles for the water to run clean.
- Now, dice onion. Then saute in a medium saucepan on medium-high heat with a splash of oil.
- Once the onions are soft and slightly translucent, add minced garlic. I love using a garlic press. Let cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the rice to the pan, and toast gently for 3-4 minutes, or until rice is lightly golden brown, stirring regularly to prevent burning.
- Once you can smell the slightly nutty aromas coming from the pan and see light golden brown color of the rice, add the Rotel and spices. Stir gently to combine, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Then add vegetable broth or water, and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes for white rice, or 40-50 minutes for brown. Resist the urge to lift the lid...
- Finally, season with salt and pepper, fluff and serve.
Angela Milnes says
Super easy, and so delicious. This is my go-to mexican rice recipe from now on. I love how many of the ingredients I already have in my pantry.