Skip Going Out—This Spanish Rice Is Perfect For At-Home Weeknights (2024)

How To Make Spanish Rice

Ingredients

• Yellow Onion: A good all around option, yellow onions tend to have a stronger flavor than their red and white counterparts. Their tendency to caramelize helps bring an inviting texture and sweetness to the dish.
• Garlic: Spanish rice is known for being garlicky–and this is a good thing! We love garlic here. Doing double duty, garlic will serve to provide both strong flavor and aroma to the dish. I add it here before toasting the rice almost as a way of pre-seasoning the saucepan.
• Long-grain White Rice: I developed this recipe with long-grain white rice since that’s the most commonly used rice to create this dish and a staple in Latin cuisine, but truthfully, this flavor profile would be delicious for any cooked grain. But keep in mind, if you want to try out a different rice or grain, you will have to change the amount of liquid and the cooking time to reach your ideal result.
• Low-sodium Chicken Broth: This is going to bring a depth of flavor to the rice that you just don’t get when using water—keeping the fluffy texture while imbuing the flavor of the broth. If you’re in the market for a vegan version, all you’ll need to do is swap the chicken broth for your favorite low-sodium vegetable broth. And if you’re all out of vegetable broth, water works well too!
• Canned Crushed Tomatoes: A staple of Spanish rice, using canned crushed tomatoes saves you the hassle of hand-mashing whole tomatoes without sacrificing any of the flavor. This will provide much of the flavor and color of the dish, as well as added moisture to assure that our rice is perfectly cooked through.
• Sazón Seasoning: The staple seasonings are tomato, garlic, cumin, and oregano, but we decided to give this version a boost with some sazón seasoning blend, which is a staple seasoning mix in many Latin dishes. It’s typically a blend of coriander, cumin, achiote, garlic powder, oregano, salt & pepper, and it can also include MSG, which adds more depth of flavor. You can find it in the spice aisle or the international aisle at the grocery store.
• Cayenne Pepper: This will add a hint of spice to the rice, without overpowering it. It is all about balance.
• Fresh Cilantro: I get it, cilantro is divisive, so if you aren’t a fan feel free to remove this garnish and replace it with an herb like parsley or Thai basil, or any other fresh green you feel partial to. Personally I'm a big fan, so I include it here to provide a bit of freshness and bite to the dish, but again, you do you!

Step-By-Step

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat your olive oil until slick in your pan. Then go ahead and add your finely chopped onion, stirring occasionally until softened and translucent. This should take about 3 minutes. Toss in the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes while stirring frequently until it is softened and fragrant.

Once fragrant, add your rice, stirring frequently, until toasted and lightly golden, about 6 minutes, before adding in the broth of your choice, tomatoes, salt, Sazón, oregano, cumin, black pepper, and cayenne. Stir this mixture until evenly distributed. Once your seasoning is evenly mixed, increase your burner heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, before covering with a lid and reducing heat to low. Allow this to cook, covered, at a bare simmer for about 18-20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed into the rice.

When you are confident there is no more liquid, remove the saucepan from the heat. With a clean kitchen towel in hand, remove the lid from the saucepan and replace it with the towel, before once again putting the lid on over the towel and allowing the rice to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. This is going to give your rice that extra chance to cook without overheating. If you don’t have a clean kitchen towel on hand, don’t worry, you can still achieve a well-cooked Spanish rice by simply keeping the lid in place.

After allowing the rice to rest, remove both the towel and lid and fluff the rice with a fork–you don’t need to go crazy here, a light turn and lift will do—before seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. When you’ve reached the flavor you are seeking, top the dish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve.

Recipe Tips

• Toast the rice before cooking. Toasting the rice in olive oil, onion, and garlic will amp up the flavor of the rice in addition to slightly reducing the cooking time and keeping the rice grains from clumping together. The rice should be toasted until it starts to smell nutty and fragrant, about 5 minutes. To make sure the rice toasts evenly, spread it on a sheet tray after rinsing so that it dries evenly before toasting.
• Allow your rice to rest. To keep the dreamy rice texture we all crave instead of a mushy or undercooked pot of grains, the rice should be allowed to rest and gently steam for 5 to 10 minutes after it’s cooked. Simply cover the pot with a clean kitchen towel and a lid, and let it sit before fluffing it with a fork and adding the cilantro.

Storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the rice before reheating it so that it doesn’t dry out.

What To Serve With Spanish Rice

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