Mexican Brown Rice Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Mexican rice with brown rice is a flavorful side dish that's a healthier alternative to white rice. Easy to make, fluffy and full of delicious taste.

Prep Time5

Cook Time30

Total Time35

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 115kcal

Rinse, drain, and thoroughly dry the rice as much as possible. Set aside to drain.
In a blender cup place a little water, the roughly chopped tomatoes, white onion, garlic cloves, some salt and blend until perfectly smooth. Set aside.
Heat oil over medium-low heat. Once warm add the brown rice - be careful to remove all excess water so you don't splash oil onto yourself. Sauté the rice until it turns a light golden brown color and make sure to stir often so it doesn't burn.
Give the blended tomato mixture a quick pulse in the blender then very carefully pour it over the rice. Stir and let it simmer until nearly all of the tomato sauce has been absorbed, it'll take about 8 minutes or so over medium heat.
Pour the vegetable broth and veggies, if using. Stir to well combine and allow the come to a gentle boil.
Lower temp down to low heat, cover the pan and let it simmer until the rice is cooked through, tender, and all of the broth has evaporated. It will take about 20-25 minutes but keep an eye so it doesn't burn.
Uncover the pan and use a fork to gently push aside some rice to see if all the broth has been absorbed.
If it has then use the fork to fluff the remaining rice then cover pan and let it rest another 8 minutes or until ready to serve.
If all the broth hasn't absorbed yet then cover and continue to simmer over low heat until it has. Then you can fluff and rest before serving.

*The 8 servings are side dish servings.

For the vegetables you can add peas, carrots, corn, zucchini, green beans, whatever you'd like. Fresh or frozen work well.