On our last chicken enchilada night, I decided I wanted to add a fun side dish to our meal. What goes better with your homemade enchiladas then a little bit of Mexican Rice? I can admit that the Mexican Rice is actually my favorite part of going out for Mexican food.
I found this little recipe and dug through our pantry for all of the ingredients. The tomato sauce complimented the enchiladas that we dipped in that homemade enchilada sauce better than anything else and I was able to modify the spices to our taste. I used white rice, but I may need to try my brown rice experiment and use that instead. This is a fun and inexpensive side dish and even our rice-haters ate it with great enthusiasm.
I think this will be a repeat performer in our house!
Mexican Rice
1 cup uncooked rice (not instant rice)
2 tablespoons oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium white onion, chopped (omitted because of personal taste)
2 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I omitted this ingredient because I didn’t have any tomatoes)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup chicken broth or beef broth (we chose chicken broth)
1 tablespoon chili powder (you can reduce this- I added 1 teaspoon)
3/4 teaspoon salt
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Add the rice and stir over medium-high heat until rice is golden brown. Add the garlic and chopped onion, and sauté until the onion just begins to brown. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, chili powder and salt, lower heat and cover. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and allow to sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.
Rice is yummy and a frugal side dish! Do you have any favorite rice recipes you could share?
I’ll have to try this one! My mom often will cook rice to go with enchiladas by simply replacing 1 cup of the water with salsa. It’s super easy and very yummy!
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I too like the rice & beans on the side when going out for Mexican food. Just last week I was thinking I should make some Spanish rice soon.
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Yum! I’ve bookmarked this to try. I like making Lentil Curry over rice. It’s even cheaper, because you can make it as a main dish.
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I tried my hand at Mexican rice just last week w/o a recipe, and it was a complete disaster. Thanks for posting this recipe. I will be trying it this week. I’m sure it will turn out better than my own concoction.
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Sounds delicious! We love to mix cream of chicken soup with equal parts milk and minute rice to make a creamy wonderful rice side dish. I also like mixing salsa with rice for a super quick mexican rice knockoff.
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I’ve been wanting to add more rice dishes to our menu! Thanks for sharing! I’d love to learn more, including beans. We make a baked rice dish with chicken stock. We found it in the JOy of Cooking cookbook. It’s a staple with our family and costs pennies.
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Heather,
I have that cookbook and will definitely have to try that recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it!
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Trying this tonight.
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Lentil and Brown Rice Tacos
•3/4 cup dry lentils
•3/4 cup brown rice
•4 cups tap water
•4 beef bouillon cubes
•2 teaspoons chili powder
•1/2 teaspoon cumin
•1 teaspoon onion powder
•1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
In a 2-quart saucepan bring the water to a boil. As the water is heating, add the lentils, rice, bouillon, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder. Bring the whole thing to a nice fat boil. Reduce the heat to low. Place a lid on the lentils and allow the mixture to simmer for about 45 to 50 minutes. The water should be mostly absorbed.
Sometimes I just use water and no broth, other times I add 1/2 browned ground beef. I usually just through it in the rice cooker and cook on whole grain setting. The lentils and brown rice take the same amount of time to cook.
Just serve it like you would a normal taco filling.
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thank you for the recipe it sounds just like my moms minus the fresh tomatos lol thank you for posting
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