I enjoy cooking. I find it oddly relaxing to zone out while I frantically chop away at ingredients as I guide them in the process of becoming a dish. Making your own meals is also rewarding on both the sensory and financial fronts, plus you get to mess around with different ingredients and cooking methods thus you can make every cooking session a learning experience. At least that’s what I try to do. Sadly, lots of people still have no clue or interest in dabbling with this ancient practice of cookery, the one learned trait that separates us from the cockroaches. (Umm, there may be some others, but I’ve yet to see a roach pull out a mini-pan to fry up some vittles. At least not while I was sober.) So if you’re interested in some useful human habits other than opening up cans, unscrewing jars lids, or memorizing the microwave cooking time for your next boxed meal, I suggest you follow along with this next installment of my free cooking school: How to Make Mexican Rice!
hey I have been trying to make mexican rice since my mom tried teaching me, it comes out hard or soupy but after using your steps it came out muy buen, my husband liked it and so did my kids, you should think about a book or something. The way you write you stuff its like you right there with me, you seem so real not fake. Thanks for good rice
Hey: I agree with the other comments…Follow these directions and you can really make “Mexican” restaurant style rice….Not that Spanish mushy rice like my Mother always said was Mexican rice.
THANKS for posting your recipe!!
Just wanted to say how awesome my rice came out!! my husband is mexican and was soooooooo suprised it came out better than his moms!!!!!! thanl you soo much!
Well I left out a few things like the nutritional yeast because we could not find it, and the cumin because I forgot to put it in. It was still awesome. Thanks for the great recipe.
Hey, I really appreciate your recipes and commentary on things around East L.A.! I’m living in Japan right now, but I wanted to make some Mexican rice with the ingredients I brought from home. I couldn’t remember exactly how to do it, but one search on the internet for “how to make mexican rice” brought up your recipe and that thing guided me perfectly through the whole process. My food came out great! Once again, thanks a lot for putting this good stuff out there, and good luck with everything else! Keep it up!
Oh yeah, and I also appreciate your real cool and down-to-earth way of writing. It’s nice to feel like I’m communicating with and learning this stuff from a normal person like me!
3rd time I’ve made this rice … tried it about 3 months ago and then lost the link to this site. After much searching on the web, I found it again this Tuesday and made it Wed.. today is Friday.. and I am making it again! 15 minutes to go. I used to live in San Diego and had plenty of good mexican food, but the last 5 years have been in North Texas – and dang I miss it. Not so much a fan of Tex-Mex. Thank you for this recipe!
This is by far the best explanation for wanna be cooks (step by step with PICTURES). I’m trying to cook for wife and kids and this really helps. Thanks for sharing.
Sammy
Awesomeness! I made this and it was so easy and tastes great. You are so appreciated for posting this. Thank you!
My rice came out great next time i may ad more jalapeno. I couldnt find nutritional yeast. im probably the only white guy that can make mexican rice. I even tried to make menudo once. it wasnt bad but i need more work on that dish .Thanks for the recipe.from a person who really loves cooking.
Thanks for the recipe. It sounds great and you write the directions so well. I will be making this tonight. I hope it turns out great.
This recipe worked out great! Thanks so much for sharing some culinary secrets with the web. The only draw back: I was cooking only for myself and now I have rice for days!
Great “recipe” Chanfles!
Worked great the first time I tried it. I made a half batch, but still used a ½ of a jalapeño. Even so, it didn’t come out too spicy. Maybe, I got a very mild jalapeño or my taste is a little more spicy than most hillbillies.
I didn’t use the yeast, but maybe I’ll try it next time. There’s a big health supermarket near me that carries it. However, they don’t carry the sliced TVP so I can’t make your menudo. They have the flakes, but not the chunks or slices. I’d probably use the chunks if I could find them. Do you think that frozen tofu might work instead? I’d use the tripe, but I don’t like it and I’m pretty sure that my wife will not either.
Hey, my wife loves the nopalitos. I bought two cactus pads from a local supermercado and cooked them according to your directions. My first batch was quite small, so we could test them to see if we like them. My wife is a fan of canned greenbeans drained and sauteed. So, I treated the cooked nopalitos the same way and they were quite delicious.
I still can’t quite get over how inexpensive much of the produce in mexican supermercaods are. The nopales cost me less than a quarter for the small amount I tested. Dried chiles were also super cheap because you don’t need a heck of alot of them.
I look forward to more recipes if you have them.
I can t wait to try it. This is great instruction sssso easy! Thanks
BEST recipe for Mexican rice ever!!! Tried them all and this is the best. Next time I will use a whole Jalapeno. Thanks for the very informative editorial along with the recipe.
Muchas Gracias for providing this recipe. When I was younger, my mother made some great Mexican rice. When I got married, my wife, who was of Mexican background, made even greater Mexican rice. Now, my second wife, who is of Japanese ancestry, makes decent Mexican rice (she tries), but she is visiting Japan and I am (was) without Mexican rice. I wanted to make some but did not really know where to begin. Thanks to your recipe, I just made some pretty good Mexican rice. I am happy! Do you know how to make good enchiladas?
Mi’ nana makes it exactly the same
. I made it and its absolutely AMAZING!!
pos wow! your recipe sounds is just like my moms but everytime i make rice it comes out like mashed potatoes! i guess i need to practice bc i love rice and i need to get it down pa cuando me case! your directions sound easy! lets see how it goes
I have always tried making this type of rice. I am Cuban/Italian, so I’m good at the pasta making. My husband is Hispanic, and everytime we go to his house, his mother always has this rice, and I can eat it with everything, but I was always bummed cause I never knew how to make it.
I made this tonight with Tacos, followed all these steps.
It turned out GREAT!
Thanks, btw do you have any more recipes?
I’m amazed by all the people that keep finding this recipe, and I’m glad it has turned out well for many of you. And yes, I do have a few other recipes, take a look over here:
http://chanfles.com/photoessay.html
You rock dude. These directions were great I’ve been trying to learn how to make mexican rice forever. You def got a passion for cooking you should make a cookbook or open up a restaurant.
Muchas gracias mi amigo
Hey dude that recipe is amazing, the rice came out soo delicious I added greek taziki to the side and it was an amazing recipe.. thanks alot and your style of cooking is genuine and you dont hide any goodies, you tell us everything…. Great job..
Coming from someone who grew up in a Mexican border city, this is THE BEST MEXICAN RICE RECIPE ON THE INTERNET EVER!!!!
i have a question. why does the bottom of my pan always burn if i dont stir the rice and if i dont stir the rice the flavor gets all burned and taste weird i does feel like you were right there with me you a great help but why does mine always burn?
Jenny,
Yup, just as I mentioned, you need to keep stirring the rice so it doesn’t burn! Keep stirring it as it toasts, there’s way around the burning unless you stir. Maybe turn down the heat a little too.