This Quick Mexican Brown Rice is the perfect side dish that goes with everything from tacos, enchiladas, refried beans –you name it!
Quick Mexican Brown Rice
This Mexican inspired side dish is perfect for those nights. It’s super quick and much healthier than using a boxed pre-seasoned rice (also MUCH lower in sodium and made with real fresh veggies as opposed to dehydrated ones). You can use frozen brown rice from Trader Joe’s or make your own frozen brown rice to keep on hand for busy nights!
Rice is my favorite carb, I love it more than potatoes or even pasta! But brown rice isn’t always as tasty as white rice, not true for this dish! This Mexican rice has so much flavor thanks to the onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro and spices. Trust me, your family will flip! I love this with this slow cooker salsa chicken and guacamole on the side when I need an easy weeknight meal.
You can make this with leftover brown rice, but if you’re live near a Trader Joe’s, I’m pretty obsessed with their frozen brown rice – it’s the perfect texture and takes just 3 minutes to heat up. Great for those days I don’t have time to make brown rice from scratch.
More Brown Rice Recipes
- Chicken Sausage Brown Rice Stuffing
- Dirty Brown Rice
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Shrimp Peas and Rice
- Brown Fried Rice
Quick Mexican Brown Rice
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked brown rice, if frozen, heated
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ medium onion, finely diced
- 2 medium plum tomatoes, small dice
- 1 jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 5 lime wedges, for serving
- chopped cilantro, optional
Instructions
- Heat the cooked rice. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onions, tomatoes and jalapeno and sauté until just tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another minute.
- Add the tomato paste, cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir to evenly coat the vegetables. Add the cooked rice, stir, and cook for 1 minute or until heated through. Serve with cilantro and lime wedges on the side.
