Easy Mexican Rice Recipe

Here's my healthy and easy Mexican rice recipe. It's quick to make using a microwavable rice cooker at the same time as doing any veg prep. Then it's as simple as doing a little sauteing.

Now that the weather has been heating up, I've been enjoying a few more healthy Summer recipes sat on my decking. And this easy Mexican rice bowl recipe is one of them! Please note, this isn't authentic Mexican rice, but one that I love.

As with all of my mid-week meals, I like to add lots of fresh vegetables and spices. So you'll find this is perfect on a Slimming club plan or if you want to eat healthily.

I know many of us see rice dishes as boring, but this definitely isn't one of them. Particularly as I keep all of the flavours by not simmering with water for a long period. And I have a time saving hack where I do veg prep at the same time as cooking rice in stock using a microwave rice and vegetable steamer.

Why You Should Consider Making This Mexican Red Rice

✂️ It uses mild chilli, making it perfect for the family

✂️ It's a great Summer recipe where you can pack lots of vegetables in

✂️ You can prep and cook it in 20 minutes as the rice cooks while do veg prep

✂️ Can be made as Vegetarian Mexican rice with vegetable stock, or with a vegan bouillon

✂️ Suitable on a Slimming club plan

✂️ It's delicious and full of flavour!

What Equipment Do I Need?

• Rice cooker
• Weighing scales
• colander
• Measuring jug
• Measuring spoons
• frying pan
• Chopping board
• Chopping knife
• Cheese grater
• Spatula
• garlic press

How to Make Mexican Rice With a Rice Cooker

*Also known as a Mexican red rice or Spanish rice.

Ingredients For 4 People

• Cooking oil spray
• 320g long grain rice
• 500ml water or until your rice is just covered in your rice cooker
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 25g ginger peeled and grated
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 1 red onion, peeled and diced
• 50g tomato puree
• 200g tinned chopped tomatoes (½ a can)
• 50g sweetcorn
• 50g garden peas
• ½ teaspoon mild chilli powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• Fresh herbs (I used torn lemon balm leaves from my herb garden)

Method For Easy Mexican Rice in a Rice Cooker

First you'll need to wash and rinse your rice first to prevent it from going sticky. This Mexican rice will still use the absorption method, but without simmering flavour to prevent loss.

And once I put my rice in my rice cooker, I pour in cold water until just covered, along with a stock cube. Then I microwave for 5 minutes and quickly move on to the next step.

Now spray a large frying pan with low calorie cooking oil spray. Then chop and add your onions, garlic, ginger and peppers and saute until softened, but not blackened. This should about 5 minutes.

Now remove your rice from the microwave, stir and season with salt and pepper before microwaving for a final 5 minutes.

Back to the Frying Pan

Once you've left your rice to cook during its final phase, I then add the tinned tomatoes, puree and spices.

Continue cooking and stirring for a minute until everything is coated.

Now add the frozen peas and sweetcorn and stir while cooking for another minutes or two.

Mixing in The Rice

Once your rice has finished in the microwave, add it to your frying pan, including any water left behind.

Then cook and stir everything for a final 3 minutes or until the rice water has evaporated. If your rice is still hard, add a splash more and continue cooking until it's soft.

Adding More Chilli to Your Homemade Mexican Rice

If you like even more heat in your dishes, now's the time to add any jalapenos you wish. And then drizzle with the juice of a lemon, extra virgin olive oil (if using) and fresh herbs.

Although not easily accessible, I'm currently mostly using torn lemon balm leaves in my meals for extra zest. Or you could parsley, coriander and mint before serving.

What Goes With Mexican Red Rice?

Above, you can see I enjoyed mine with roasted and skinless salmon. But together, you could eat chicken and Mexican rice or with lean ground beef. In fact, any other meat could be eaten on the side. It also great as a:

• Mexican rice burrito or burrito bowl
• Yorkshire pudding wrap
• Tortilla bowl with salad or enchiladas
• Taco filling
• A filling for stuffed peppers or stuffed tomatoes
• Unofficial Slimming World tomato salsa

Could I Cook it in a Multicooker Instead?

Yes, I've often cooked rice dished in the multicooker, like my Slimming paella here. I would simply use your multicooker first to saute your veg first. Then once you've washed your rice, add it along with everything else to the pot.

Close and cook for 10 minutes. Note, you won't find it that much quicker as it will take time to heat up anyway.

Also, if you do cook it in a slow cooker or crockpot, then please let me know how you get on!

What If I Don't Have a Rice Cooker?

If you don't have a rice cooker or you want to dump everything in a pot, then:

• Follow all of the frying pan methods first, but using a deep saucepan instead
• Wash and rinse your rice and add to the pan
• Add the stock and water and simmer with a lid on for about 25 minutes.
• Remove the lid and add the lemon, herbs and oil if you want to enhance the flavour

Is this Mexican Rice Healthy?

With the Mexican rice calories being an average of 358 between 4 people, I personally think it is healthy. It's also perfect for Slimming clubs as it uses cooking oil spray when frying. And it contains vitamin A, C, calcium and iron.

If you'd like to reduce your calorie intake even more, then you could:

• Swap the rice for cauliflower Mexican rice
• Use brown rice instead of white *which will require more water and cook for longer

Can Mexican Rice Be Made Ahead?

Any rice dishes are better to be eaten immediately to prevent the risk of food poisoning. Uncooked rice contains Bacillus cereus, a bacteria that can continue to survive even when rice is cooked.

So it's important that you don't leave your cooked rice to sit at room temperature for long. If you do need to leave your rice to cool, then the NHS suggest:

• leaving it for no longer than 1 hour
• When reheating, check that it's steaming hot
• And don't reheat more than once

You can read more information on the NHS website here.

More Rice Recipes You Might Like

• Horseradish egg fried rice
• Chicken and rice soup in the slow cooker
• Slow cooker rice pudding
• Italian fish and rice soup
• Peri peri chicken and chorizo rice
• Diet coke chicken with rice
• Healthy paella in a multicooker
• Sticky chicken paella
• KFC rice box review

📖 Recipe

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