Authentic Spanish Rice Recipe (2025)

Spanish rice is hearty, simple, and quick to make a delicious side dish that’s perfect to serve with tilapia fish tacos, enchiladas, chicken fajitas, burritos, and more. Rice is cooked with tomatoes, garlic, and seasoning in broth to make it a flavor-packed accompaniment for any Mexican meal.

Spanish Rice Versus Mexican Rice

Many people use Spanish rice and Mexican rice interchangeably. It makes sense to use either the term Spanish rice or Mexican rice as both have almost the same flavors and use the same ingredients. There is one minor difference between the two, Spanish rice has a more firm texture than Mexican rice. Spanish rice has a more tomato-y flavor. Try our Instant Pot Mexican rice and taste the difference.

The texture of Spanish rice is firmer as rice is first toasted in oil until it begins to brown. Toasting rice makes it translucent resulting in fluffy rice and not mushy or soggy.

It tastes as if it came from your favorite restaurant. Making Spanish rice is simple; you’ll cook rice in broth and tomato sauce along with spices.

Ingredients

1. Rice – use long grain white rice to achieve the best fluffy texture. Make sure not to use instant or quick rice for this recipe.
2. Broth – I used chicken broth. Feel free to substitute chicken broth with beef broth or vegetable broth. Broth boosts the flavor and gives a rich savory taste. I have tested using instant pot bone broth instead of chicken broth and it works too.
3. Crushed tomatoes – crushed tomatoes add a chunky tomato texture to the rice. Feel free to use any of these – canned diced tomatoes, canned crushed tomatoes, or canned fire-roasted crushed tomatoes.
4. Tomato sauce – I prefer Spanish rice with a rich tomato-y flavor to it. Using a mix of crushed tomato and tomato sauce gives that rich tomato flavor that you would love. I highly recommend you use a mix of both tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes. If you don’t like rich tomato flavor use only tomato sauce.
5. Bell pepper – optional. Adds extra texture, color, and taste to Spanish rice.
6. Olive oil – use extra virgin olive oil. For a richer taste use half olive and half quantity butter.
7. Spices – ground cumin, paprika (can use smoked paprika).

Variations

1. Feel free to add additional veggies like carrots, peas, and corn to the rice. You can also add a protein like cooked chicken chunks and sausage.
2. Substitute canned crushed tomato with fresh ripe diced Roma tomatoes.
3. Canned crushed tomatoes can be substituted with fire-roasted crushed tomatoes or even salsa for tons of extra flavor.
4. Add taco seasoning or cajun seasoning to pack in more flavors.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: In a large pan or skillet that has a lid, heat olive oil. Add onion, red bell pepper, and rice to the pan.

Step 2: Saute rice on medium heat until rice begins to turn golden brown. Keep stirring regularly to prevent rice and vegetables from burning.

Step 3: Once the rice is browned add minced garlic and saute for a few seconds.

Step 4: Add tomato sauce, crushed tomato, ground cumin, paprika, pepper, and salt to the rice. Pour in chicken broth.

Step 5: Stir everything together. Bring it to a boil.

Step 6: Cover the skillet with a lid, reduce heat to low, and cook for 20-23 minutes or until rice is tender and all liquid is absorbed.

Step 7: Remove the skillet from heat and let it rest undisturbed with the lid on for 10 minutes. Gently fluff rice with a fork or silicon spatula.

Step 8: Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves before serving.

Serve it with any Mexican meal of your choice.

To rinse or not to rinse rice

It’s really up to you to decide if you want to rinse the rice or not. If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you know I always recommend rinsing rice. Having said that, there are certain times I don’t rinse rice depending on what I am cooking.

The debate to rinse or not to rinse rice never settles. Rinsing by gently scrubbing rice with your fingertips not only removes dirt but also excess starch. The cloudy water you see when you rinse rice is starch and we want to remove the excess starch which will prevent the rice from becoming gluggy.

Note:rinsing rice only removes surface starch. As rice has starch, it will still be sticky after cooking. But if it’s overly sticky that is due to surface starch which can be removed from rinsing.

Serving suggestions

Spanish rice is more than just a side dish. Taco Tuesday would be a great opportunity to add this rice to your favorite taco. Whether it’s Taco Tuesday or Cinco De Mayo, you must have Spanish rice on your dining table.

You can serve the rice with any Mexican dish – with chicken fajitas, tilapia fish tacos, burritos, and enchiladas.

Tips

1. Follow the directions on your bag of rice to determine how much liquid you’ll have to use for a cup of rice. For long-grain white rice, the rice-to-liquid ratio is 1:2, for every 1 cup of rice use 2 cups of liquid.
2. Don’t skip toasting the rice in oil. To make it rice more flavorful I toast rice along with onion and bell pepper. Keep stirring frequently while toasting to prevent the rice from burning at the bottom.
3. If you choose to rinse rice, rinse it 2-3 times until the water runs clear. Drain water very well by shaking the rice in a strainer well to take out as much water as possible before you toast the rice in a skillet. Too much water will turn the rice mushy.
4. For a spicier kick add cayenne pepper or chili powder along with paprika.

Storage and Reheat

• Fridge – Store leftover rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
• Freezer – Once cooled completely, place rice in a ziplock bag or freezer-safe container and freeze for 3 months.
• Reheating instructions – Thaw frozen rice overnight in the refrigerator or leave it out on the counter for 3 to 4 hours. Once thawed reheat in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes until heated through.

Recipe FAQs