• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Blue House Blog

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Truth
    • Contact Me
  • Recipes
    • Trim Healthy Mama
    • Nourishing Traditions
  • My Home
    • Remodeling
    • Before and After
  • The Fine Print
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy
    • Media
  • Shop

THE *MuY FaBuLoSo, DeLiCioSo*, BEST Mexican Rice Recipe. EVER.

Melissa Beene Ford/ Cooking

Look, if you don’t know it by now, you might as well know: There are few things in life that make me happier than Mexican food.

And I’ve been on a quest to duplicate the Mexican rice at my favorite Mexican restaurants for years now. Years.

I’ve tried recipe after recipe.

Ultimately, it was a combination of a few recipes I tweaked, with the help of a kind hispanic lady I accosted in the Mexican aisle at the grocery store and demanded she TELL ME ¿cómo su abuela cocinar el arroz? dangit! and by gosh….

I think I found it. WE found it. Rosa and I, together, we found it. Thank you Rosa!

Like all good Big Blue House recipes, you’re naturally gonna start with butter.
Not all of it, mind you. Just melt a couple of tablespoons of it in your iron skillet.
Then toss in one cup of white rice, and saute the rice in the melted butter, stirring constantly, until the rice is slightly browned.
Meanwhile, make your sauce.

I’ve tried Mexican rice recipes that call for a can of tomatoes, a can of tomato paste, or a can of tomato soup even. And let it be known forevermore that I HATE the tomato taste. HATE chunks of tomatoes in ANYTHING. HATE any and all red sauce, marinara, anything… with….tomatoes. HATE.

And Mexican rice from the GOOD restaurants doesn’t have any of that nonsense.

But this recipe? Well, Rosa down at the Mexican grocery store told me to use ONE REAL TOMATO. And Rosa knows. Cut it into large chunks….

Along with half an onion…

And throw them into your food processor with a couple of peeled garlic cloves.

Add a little water — I added a 1/2 cup –enough to make the mixture into a sauce.

Blend away, baby. Your sauce will look a little something like this…

Add a teency bit more water — enough to TOTAL about two cups, when combined with your tomato and onion sauce — and pour that sauce into your browned rice sizzling in your skillet and stir.

And now for the secret ingredient.

Don’t you LOVE secret ingredients???

Rosa and I searched high and low for this magical, mystical jar of Pixie dust that would turn my rice into the highly addictive and delicious Holy Grail rice recipe of my dreams, and finally found it…
Now don’t freak out.

This isn’t good, and it isn’t healthy, and in fact, the ingredients list is straight from the pit of the unholy place. 

But go ahead and stir about two teaspoons of it into your rice anyway. Trust me. Because when you eat this rice, you’ll fall. smooth. out. with your eyes rolled back in your head from the sheer exhilaration akin to what crack addicts experience.

I’m guessing.

And the reason would be, because there’s crack IN this bottle of stuff. Well, MSG, which is similarly addictive, but for which there is no 12-step program.

I didn’t know before I cooked it, ok? But this is why it tastes so good. And why you keep going back for more and more Mexican food. 

To keep things in the true spirit of Tex-Mex, serve up your rice on your commemorative Staffordshire plate depicting the Alamo and the yellow rose of Texas, if you’re cool enough to have one.


And that’s it. No stickiness. No tomato-y-ness.

Just pure Tex-Mexican perfection. Enjoy!

And if you LIKE THIS, click on the Facebook button below to share it on your wall!

Recent Posts

  • Narcissists and the Circular Argument
  • A Chicken and Egg Story
  • Pretty
  • Hiding
  • Lack and Abundance and Marketplace Sofas

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melissa from the Blue House says

    September 13, 2011 at 1:16 am

    I totally forgot to mention that you&#39;re gonna want to bring the rice and liquid to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. 🙂 <br /><br />Details…

    Reply
  2. Mimi in Texas says

    September 13, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    I&#39;m SUPER EXCITED!!!! Thank you Melissa for your hard work which will benefit my family! Woo to the Hoo……

    Reply
  3. Laura says

    September 13, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    Thank you Melissa for all your HARD work in getting this just perfect. I can&#39;t wait to try it!

    Reply
  4. Anil Planned says

    February 24, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    we wish to cooperate with you so please link us at:-http://www.chowcarte.com/?cat=10.<br /> and email at:-anuraagkola@gmail.com.

    Reply
  5. Melissa from the Blue House says

    March 28, 2013 at 6:35 pm

    Thank you for the secret ingredient!!! I&#39;ve been making the America&#39;s Test Kitchen recipe, but don&#39;t care for the tomatoeyness of it.

    Reply
  6. Melissa from the Blue House says

    March 28, 2013 at 6:36 pm

    It&#39;s a bad bad secret ingredient! LOL. But it sure is tasty… (Don&#39;t know why your comment shows up as me, when I can see that it&#39;s you, KB!)

    Reply
  7. Reidiculous Witt says

    December 10, 2014 at 6:28 am

    This was the most delicious mexican rice I have ever eaten. It tastes so authentic, light and flavorful. I made a huge 9×13 pan for a party and it was gone by the end of the evening. I&#39;m making it again this week for a work party. I will hang on to this recipe forever.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

I'll try my best to make you laugh (or cry? but only for a second...). Thanks for being here, friend!

Wanna follow along on Instagram? Click the link below!

...and be sure to subscribe to emails so you don't miss a post!

Search

Join Me On Pinterest

PAST DEEP THOUGHTS

Find the Blue House on Instagram!

[instagram-feed]

Footer

Search

Copyright © 2022 · Ella Theme by Code + Coconut