Easy Spanish Rice Recipe

Name: Easy Spanish Rice Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 tablespoon butter; 1/2 cup diced onion; 1 teaspoon chopped garlic; 2 cups white rice; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 2 1/2 cups chicken stock; 8 ounces tomato sauce; Chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

•Posted: Feb 24, 2025

•Dan

•7 comments

★★★★★5 from 4 reviews

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This Easy Spanish Rice Recipe is a delicious and flavorful side dish that’s sure to please any crowd. It’s super easy to make and comes together in less than 30 minutes with very little effort. Not only is this rice delicious as a side dish, we use it in burritos, taco bowls and so much more!

why we love this easy spanish rice recipe

When I say that we’ve been making this Easy Spanish Rice recipe for years…I mean years. It’s fast, tasty, and can be used in so many ways.

Easy To Make: If you follow our recipe and tips here, you really can’t mess this rice up. Just a few ingredients and less than 30 minutes is all you need.
Versatile: Not only is this a delicious side dish for chicken, steak or fish, but it can be used as a base in bowls and burritos too.
Meal Prep Friendly: We make a big batch of this rice over the weekend and have it to use in many different meals during the week.

ingredients you’ll need

A photo of the primary ingredients you’ll need, minus the basics like salt and pepper. For a complete list of ingredients with amounts needed, head to the recipe card below.

After the photo we’ll talk about the ingredients, why they work in this recipe and also substitutions if applicable.

Long Grain White Rice: Such as jasmine or basmati.
Yellow Onion: Sweet yellow onion is best, white onion or shallots can be swapped out.
Fresh Garlic: Try to use fresh garlic if you can!
Cumin: Smokey cumin is a key ingredient for an authentic flavor in this Spanish rice recipe.
Chicken Stock or Broth: Either will work, we love Trader Joe’s chicken stock.
Tomato Sauce: Gives the rice that wonderful red color and also it’s delicious, hearty flavor.
Chopped Cilantro: If you don’t like cilantro you can substitute parsley or just leave it out, it’s just added at the end for garnish. However if you love the flavor you can certainly stir some into the rice.

What Type Of Pot Works Best?

An important part of this recipe is the pot that you use to make it in. We prefer a wide, 4 quart dutch oven because it creates a big surface area for the rice to spread out as it cooks. If the rice is in a narrower, taller pot then the rice might turn out a little more gummy because it doesn’t have room to let the steam escape.

This wide dutch oven is the pot that we use, but we’ve also used a round dutch oven and it’s worked just fine. A non-stick pot is preferred because the rice can stick to the bottom. You can also use an enameled cast iron pot, this will result in a crispier bottom.

how to make

Step by step photos here with brief instructions for a visual aid. For complete, detailed instructions, head to the recipe card at the end of the post.

Cook the onions and garlic: Cook diced onions and garlic in butter and olive oil for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add 2 cups of rice and stir.

Toast the rice: Toast the rice for 7-8 minutes until lightly browned in color. Stir occasionally so that the onions and garlic don’t burn. Season with salt, pepper and cumin.

Add tomato sauce and chicken stock: Pour in tomato sauce and chicken stock and stir. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook the rice for 18 minutes and then turn the heat off. Let the rice sit, covered for 5 minutes off the heat.

Fluff the rice: Use a fork to fluff the rice and separate the grains. Garnish with chopped cilantro if using and serve.

How To Serve

Oh let me count the ways…we LOVE this rice recipe for so many more things than just a simple side dish recipe! Let’s start with a few ideas here:

A filling for burritos or tacos
An addition to a Mexican chopped salad or a taco bowl
Spoon it into Chicken Tortilla Soup
Use it in lettuce wraps with chicken and peppers
Use it as a base for a fried rice recipe

So yes, while we love this Spanish Rice as a simple side dish recipe, it can be used for meal prepping in as well. We keep a bowl of this rice in our refrigerator almost all the time.

Sliced grilled chicken or steak along with vegetables, lettuce and cheese and our kids are in heaven. They use these ingredients wrapped up in tortillas, to make quesadillas, taco bowls and so much more.

tips for success

Make sure that you do use the right type of pot for cooking rice, see the comments above. In addition to the right size and shaped pot, make sure that you toast the rice for the full 7-8 minutes so that it develops a deep, nutty flavor.

Lastly, when simmering the rice, use the smallest burner and the lowest heat setting so that the rice doesn’t burn and/or stick to the bottom of the pot. While the crispy rice bits on the bottom tend to be our favorite parts, burnt rice is a different story.

Looking For More Easy Side Dish Recipes?

This post and pictures have been updated since the original publishing.